Amanda, I like your comparison of the boundary-less world of Facebook to the typical small-town life. If we can’t bump into the former homecoming queen at the grocery store ( OMG she works at the grocery store now? And did you hear she got dumped by her high school sweetheart who we were all sure she’d marry, like, the day after graduation? ), we can at least follow her fall from grace remotely.
Still, it seems like there’s something unique about the unraveling of a marriage-or any relationship, really-as it’s broadcast on these social networking sites. Although news spread through your small town, Amanda, about relationships crumbling or adulterous ones sparking, I doubt the lead players in those romances would find a perch in the town square to shout out their latest feelings or relevant song quotes about the whole thing. Dahlia’s chick lit novel, which is unfolding on Slate now , gives us a great example of the divorce as narrated through Facebook and Twitter. I can see how someone might actually see this as the ultimate retaliation against small-town-style gossip: Instead of being talked about behind your back, you’re blasting out your own take on the matter.
We’ve asked before for you to share your awkward and wrong stories about Facebook , Twitter, texting , and the like, and now seems like a good time to ask again. Has anyone had a particularly trying or hilarious or uncomfortable experience with a social networking break-up? Did you have to watch your mom’s TMI tweets during the trial separation, or negotiate with your ex about when to finally update your Facebook relationship status? Send your tales to us , and-with your permission, of course-we’ll run our favorites here on the site.
