Online Relationship Overload

Monitoring the social media sphere this week, I noticed that love is in the air. In particular, these two virtual, relationship-related articles grabbed my attention:

•  Active Twitter Users have Shorter Relationships
• Facebook to Ad Agencies: Let’s Be ‘In a Relationship’

Okay, I’ll admit that one of the articles has a more substantial impact on the advertising industry, but what about those social media-ites searching for love?

photo credit: Likeable Media

Well, according to stats published by the dating site OkCupid, the romantic relationship of active Twitter users doesn’t last as long as the rest of the population. OkCupid’s study found this revealing gem:

• People who use Twitter everyday tend to have shorter relationships and the problem worsens with age.
  • According to its analysis of 833,987 OkCupid users, the average relationship for an 18-year-old who uses Twitter is about nine months while “everybody else” usually has a relationship of nine-and-a-half months. At the age of 50, a frequent tweeter’s relationship lasts 15 months while the non-frequent tweeter stays in a relationship for approximately 17 months.

What about Facebook’s recent relationship development? Well, the rumors are true. On Monday, the social network asked its creative partners to be in a committed relationship.

Facebook launched a stand-alone community site where ad agency creatives can share ideas, comment on campaigns and learn what it takes to create a successful page for a brand. The community, called “Facebook Studio,” is a platform aimed at agencies, PR firms and media strategy companies.

photo credit: Facebook Studio

Facebook executives say this move is the first step in a creating a dialogue between Facebook and the ad world. Until now, Facebook has let ad mavens navigate the social network’s frequent changes alone.

By making this first move, Facebook obviously still wears the pants in this relationship, but it may only be a matter of time before power shifts?

We’ll have to wait and see if Facebook stays faithful. I’d hate for the broken heart and status “Facebook is single” to appear on my newsfeed.