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Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison recently looked at dating couples’ use of Facebook and how it related to their relationship. In the couples that they studied, each partner had a similar amount of Facebook use and portrayed their relationship in similar ways. But  it gets more interesting…

When men indicated on Facebook that they were in a relationship, both they and their partner said they were more satisfied in the relationship. When women included their partner in their profile picture, again, both they and their partner said the relationship was more satisfying. Finally, if there was a disagreement between partners about the relationship status on Facebook, women reported less satisfaction in the relationship.

Two things to keep in mind about this study. First, the relationship between Facebook content and how people feel about their relationship is not based on cause and effect according to this study. Updating your Facebook status to being in a relationship is not going to suddenly improve a relationship. Based on this study, we only know that if your partner does use Facebook, having them change their relationship status may be a good sign. Second, this study only involved 58 couples, so your experience may vary.

How do you use Facebook in your relationships? Is it important for you or your partner to update the status?

(Thumbnail image by birgerking)

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