In a relationship? Of course, because we all are. Several different kinds.

Tweet

I'm not sure whether to post this in a discussion on Facebook, Myspace, or relationships, since it fits all three, so I'll cut and paste, place it in all three, and let myLot decide which ones to delete. I have a pet peeve, you see, about the modern use of the word "relationship". Today, social networks like Facebook, Myspace, et al, use the word to mean a romantic relationship exclusively. But the word has more than one meaning. We are all in several forms of relationships. We all belong to families. We all have friends. There are communities, parishes, congregations, synagogues, clubs, organizations, and social networks. And guess what? ALL of these are relational. ALL. We also are in a relationship with the natural world around us. We interact with nature in one way or another, whether we realize it or not. Have pets? That's relational. Have allergies to pollen or molds? That, too, is relational. Do you have a nature related hobby, like bird watching? Yes, you guessed it. We all somehow are connected to nature. That's a relationship. If you have any sort of religious or spiritual belief, then your belief system puts you in relationship to whatever power or powers you follow. At the very least, if your belief is shared by others, you are in communion with them. That's relational. Even if you are an atheist, you are in agreement, or communion, with others who are atheists. The fact is, life is chalk full of all sorts of relationships. so why do social networks put such a narrow definition on the word? If they want to know if one is in a romantic relationship, fine. They should put the word "romantic" in front of the word "relationship". Or they could ask if one is romantically involved with someone else. Or how about saying "Taken" instead? Or "Not available", or even "dating someone exclusively"? Or how about "In an exclusive relationship"? Any of the above would be an improvement over narrowing the definition of a word so drastically as to exclude all other possible meanings. I thank you for your time in having read my rant. I'm more than likely to rant on other pet peeves. (Maybe this discussion should go under pet peeves as well.)