A Change in Relationship Status

Ahh... The beauty of over sharing. It's definitely a part of the American culture that I really miss.

God bless the oversharing Walmart employees. In three minutes, I've learned she's given up soda and that her daughter is anorexic.

— arkansassy. (@arkansassyblog) June 28, 2013

That right there. I miss that. It's entertaining, and it makes people seem more real. That woman will probably never see you again, so it's not like the awkwardness will live on forever, and you get to make someone's day better just by listening.

I'm sick of stale pre-structured conversation. I get that French is a codified language and that a high level formality is really important in certain situations. But that doesn't mean I like it. Every business exchange is just too cold and calculated for my taste.

I read somewhere once that your blog posts should always have lots of photos. Which is why you're getting this photo that has nothing to do (at all) with this post. You're welcome.

Also the ring and the earrings are from Fifth & Mae

If you had asked me what I thought about over sharing two years ago, I would have given you a short and sweet speech about how people need to stop asking for medical advice on Facebook every time their kid takes a funny colored dump.

But sometimes, I really like over sharing (within reasonable limits of course). I like making connections with strangers. I like putting my thoughts and wonderings on a blog, with the hopes that someone random stranger will get back to me with a "Hey! That's me too!" Wanting to over share with strangers is the reason we have lifestyle bloggers, after all. We're a weird bunch of girls who get a kick out of posting our day-to-day lives on the internet for everyone to see.

There aren't nearly as many bloggers in France, and usually they talk about make-up or other subjects that don't reveal too much of their private life. There is definitely a higher respect for private life in general here, which is awesome.

Example:

When I was dating my husband, we weren't at all in agreement over that whole Facebook Relationship Status question. My opinion was that if he wasn't embarrassed about our relationship and had nothing to hide, there was no reason not to put it up. I actually took it really badly. It also didn't help that I had everyone back home asking why he was too "ashamed" to put it up. One friend suggested that maybe he didn't want other girls to know he was in a relationship.



Turns out, he just has a healthy respect for privacy and believes that it's inappropriate to blast something private and special all over the internet. In retrospect, I probably should have worried less, as he'd already brought up marriage at this point. It's not like he wasn't planning on getting serious.

Let's sum the "No Status" reactions up:

American Friends = Really appalled (and a little bit judgey)
French Friends = Didn't understand why I wanted it up in the first place.

After almost a year of dating, he finally came around, but not because his philosophy changed. We'd been living on different continents for about 6 months at this point, when I casually mentioned over Skype how another guy had asked me out over a Facebook message that week.

Monsieur Right was shocked! In France, everyone in our circle knew we were dating, so there really was no need to announce it. But in America? I was a young college student meeting guys everyday through work and classes, with a boyfriend that was no where to be seen. I was definitely getting asked out, and there wasn't even so much as a warning on my Facebook to alert the poor fellas. Apparently, the then-future-husband had no idea it worked like that.

Let me tell you - Monsieur Right got that status changed within the hour.
Is it bad that I kind of felt smug for winning that one?

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Alright friends. Where do you stand on the over-sharing issue? How would you feel about relationships on Facebook? I wanna know, because I'm ridiculously nosy like that.