Written by: Lamarcus Wilkerson

Students, staff and faculty connect in various ways through social media, and now romantic relationships are not immune to the complex world of cyber communication.

More often than not, there is a student or faculty member nearby that’s texting their significant other.

If that’s not the case, he or she may be tweeting publicly about last night’s fight with a sweetheart.

Or worse, these individuals may be committing the social media sin of twatching (tweet-watching on Twitter).

Whatever the case may be, VSU students, faculty and staff use technology to communicate in romantic relationships.

Today’s technology makes communication easy and accessible. This is one of the many pros offered by new technology, but there may also be cons to technological advances.

“It may take away some of the surprises that are nice to unfold in a relationship,” Dr. Kathleen Lowney, VSU professor of sociology said.

According to Lowney, social media like Twitter and Facebook can provide a bio of a person before conversations happen. Communication outlets like these reveal things about a person, which may affect the level of suspense one experiences when getting to know a person.

However, with profile bios, “you can see similarities and differences,” Lowney said.

According to Lowney, individuals that use social media can find out if they are compatible with one another.

“You might have a better sense of who this person is,” Lowney said

There are those who utilize social media in order to determine if they want to pursue a certain relationship.

Additionally, people use social media to vent about the problems they are having in their relationships.

“Most people don’t have these conversations with their partners; they would rather vent on Twitter,” Mia Rawls, junior undergraduate student, said.

Yet, there are those who disagree with social media venting.

“People should be straight up with each other; that’s how problems get solved,” Samuel Intermann, junior history major, said.

As social media rises in popularity, the connection between romantic relationships and the online world becomes even stronger.