Facebook is shaping how 120-million people stay in touch with their friends, family, co-workers and acquaintances.
>> Friends no longer need to initiate conversations through phone calls. Simply update your status (a one-liner about what you’re currently doing or thinking), and Facebook friends (FB friends) immediately receive your status on their profile page.
>> Don’t have time to email a bunch of people with what’s going on in your life? Post a note or send a message to your group of FB friends with one push of the button.
>> Forget pulling out outdated pictures of your kids from your wallet. Upload a photo (or video) of yourself, your kids, and your experiences to your Facebook page and everyone in your social network receives the picture or video clip on their profile and can comment on it.
Facebook has become the new method of communication for people of all ages. It is a convenient way to keep in touch with friends, family, old acquaintances, and childhood pals.
So, whether you are an active Facebook user or have a tepid interest in joining one of the largest online social networks in the world, how can Facebook improve and enhance your marriage?
Read our five practical ways to improve your relationship through Facebook on our NEW blog (techlationships.com) >>
………………………………………………………………………………….
K. Jason and Kelli Krafsky are “The Social Media Couple” who speak, teach and write on all things technology and relationships. Their hope is to empower couples, parents and families to use common sense and healthy boundaries in this social media age. Jason and Kelli wrote Facebook and Your Marriage (2010), the first book ever written on the topic, and have written extensively on how couples, parents and families can survive and thrive using technology. The Krafskys have been married since 1994 and live just outside of Seattle with their four children. Contact them at the SocialMediaCouple.com website, techlationships.com blog, via email at info@techlationships.com, on Twitter (@techlationships) or through Facebook (Social Media Couple).
Copyright © 2009 K. Jason and Kelli Krafsky – Permission granted to use and reproduce with proper source citation.
January 23, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Thanks for putting yourself out there and sharing how you and your wife are using the social networking at the couple level.
I think it’s great conversation to be a part of.
Last Decemeber, Corey Allan of The Simple Marriage Project and Parent To Launch explored the idea of using Twitter to get more out of family relationships. Link: http://bit.ly/JgAf
Your post is a great addition to have this as more wade into this topic.
January 24, 2009 at 11:19 am
Hey guys,
great work. I love how you both work together on this. Sounds like you have a great marriage.
bless you
lance
January 24, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Thanks Lance. Didn’t realize you were at Puget Sound Christian Center. Interacted with Kaj a couple years back.
January 26, 2009 at 8:46 pm
Not married yet, but want to be. Do not consider myself a traditional Christian by any means, but your words resonate! Thanks for the great job and wisdom you impart. I’m going to share your blog with a friend who is a spiritual coach specializing in relationships and personal development!
Best -
Laura
February 2, 2009 at 10:34 am
Thanks again Jason for speaking into our current culture in a relevant way. In our counseling we are dealing with this issue more and more. Thanks for your passion for ministry.
Joe
February 20, 2009 at 10:43 am
I thought this was a joke: you’re serious about building marriages via Facebook. Although I appreciate your #5 above (communicating when you’re away at different events), I wonder if not being apart at different events would be better. If my lifestyle “requires” electronic mediation in my relationships, then the solution is not the more efficient use of more electronic mediation, it is a changed lifestyle.
I’m not sure that a culture that takes us more and more from direct human-to-human interaction to mediated human-to-human interaction is one to be accommodated.
Men and women were created to be relational – directly relational. I’m sure you would agree with that, no?
February 21, 2009 at 10:08 am
Gabe -
Thanks for visiting the blog and leaving a comment on the Facebook and Your Marriage articles my wife and I wrote.
I am serious about building marriages period! I’ve been actively involved on a regional and national effort to improve the condition of marriages and the culture of marriage for a dozen years. (I’ve even had a hand in helping a marriage initiative in your neck of the woods in Charlotte.) I’m not sure how to respond to your comment because no where in the article do we state that a couple should forego the human-to-human interaction and develop a relationship solely on Facebook. The point of the article is to give tips for those who are actively using Facebook (a mere 120-million people) and sparking some ideas on how they can improve and enhance their communication, intimacy and relationship with their spouse by using the online social network.
Should we discourage couples from talking on the phone because that encourages voice-to-voice (and not human-to-human) mediation? How about discouraging couples from giving each other cards or writing love letters because that encourages a form of communication they should be able to express verbally instead of on paper?
By being intentional and thoughtful in how you communicate about and interact with your spouse on Facebook, you can have a positive affect on your friends, and may even influence how they interact with their spouse (both electronically and in real life).
My friend, I am glad you are in a position to influence the up and coming generation of marriages in Matthews, NC. With serving that population group, you must witness first hand how much “electronic mediation” they’re involved with. It is the reality we live in in the 21st Century.
I don’t beleve our article will foster a lifestyle of moving from “human-to-human” to electronic mediation. All we’re trying to do is give helpful relationship enhancing tips to those couples who use Facebook.
Look me up on Facebook and invite me to be a friend and you’ll see firsthand what I’m talking about!
Best,
KJK – MarriageJunkie
February 21, 2009 at 11:09 am
How interesting! Hey, I appreciate your comments. I thought your article was thoughtful and helpful for those who need the help in keeping connected. Please don’t think I didn’t.
There’s no doubt many people (more and more) are turning to “connectedness” via some electronic group. I even had a friend try to convince me to “Twitter” – yikes.
I’m in the marriage mending business (among other things) and I find more profit in face to face than in any other type of communication for couples. I’m sure you agree. I expect to start seeing marital problems that are directly related to choosing e-communication over face to face. I hope not, but it is inevitable: e-commo is too sexy…and easy!
It is hard to imagine fewer people actually using Facebook et.al., but if they did we’d all be better off.
Regards friends,
Gabe
February 27, 2009 at 10:11 am
Great articles and advice! I appreciate your comment on my Examiner article and for directing me to your site. I too am in a very happy and secure marriage built on trust, respect and compromise. I decided to write my column on Examiner because I believe that others should do more to strengthen their marital bonds and to protect the sanctity of those bonds.
I am a spiritual person who gives thanks each and every day. I hope you can excuse that some of my articles are a bit on the spicier side by mentioning the importance of intimacy (namely good intimacy) in a successful relationship. I try to stay objective on these subjects and it is always my hope to enlighten couples to create greater happiness within their relationship.
Thank you,
Chuck Altmix, Marriage & Sex Examiner
Link: http://www.tinyurl.com/bbjech
PS: I added you to my Twitter too!
April 8, 2009 at 9:04 am
I do not agree with you on this comment that face book can save a marriage. My husband is on this site 24/7 unless he is working. Playing games, mob wars, sending stupid notifications in excess of what is cute and staying in touch with so called friends from the past. From the day he joined it has just added to my disconnection with my husband. Working out of town all week and when get home he cant stop himself getting on this site or any other site. I feel this computer used to be a tool for work, searching for things that is important and e-mail real friends was good now it is a joke and my husband has no time for me or his little girl when he has her as a result from divorce. So I don’t know what to do but I know I’m venting.
December 3, 2009 at 9:07 pm
[...] spouse: a poorly worded joke, an awkward comment by a FB Friend, or an unexpected chat session. Deal with hurt feelings or concerns in the privacy of your own home. If handling conflict is difficult for you and your spouse, attend a Marriage Education class to [...]
December 10, 2009 at 3:49 am
[...] spouse: a poorly worded joke, an awkward comment by a FB Friend, or an unexpected chat session. Deal with hurt feelings or concerns in the privacy of your own home. If handling conflict is difficult for you and your spouse, attend a Marriage Education class to [...]
February 3, 2010 at 6:24 am
We are a couple from Ethiopia Johney & Mekdes-Marriage & Family Ministers,
May God bless your valuable effort to keeping the honored institution (marriage & family).
We appreciate your deep concern for God’s kingdom. We will forward this special message to our friends here in Ethiopia and beyond.
Abundant blessing to you and your family.
March 31, 2010 at 6:38 pm
[...] and Don’ts for Facebooking Couples, Is Facebook a Cyber-Threat to Your Marriage?, and How Facebook Can Improve Your Marriage) that have been widely distributed, written about and reposted. Jason also authored Before [...]
May 4, 2010 at 11:19 am
[...] 1994 and been on Facebook since 2008. They have written a number of articles, including “How Facebook Can Improve Your Marriage Relationship“, “Is Facebook a Cyber-Threat to Your Marriage“, and “Our Top Dozen [...]
May 7, 2010 at 7:44 am
[...] and Don’ts for Facebooking Couples, Is Facebook a Cyber-Threat to Your Marriage?, and How Facebook Can Improve Your Marriage) that have been widely distributed, written about and reposted. Jason also authored Before “I [...]
September 4, 2010 at 4:01 pm
[...] and Don’ts for Facebooking Couples, Is Facebook a Cyber-Threat to Your Marriage?, and How Facebook Can Improve Your Marriage) that have been widely distributed, written about and reposted. The Krafskys have been married [...]
April 19, 2011 at 7:34 pm
[...] and Don’ts for Facebooking Couples, Is Facebook a Cyber-Threat to Your Marriage?, and How Facebook Can Improve Your Marriage) that have been widely distributed, written about and reposted. The Krafskys have been married [...]
April 19, 2011 at 7:44 pm
[...] and Don’ts for Facebooking Couples, Is Facebook a Cyber-Threat to Your Marriage?, and How Facebook Can Improve Your Marriage) that have been widely distributed, written about and reposted. Jason also authored Before [...]
April 19, 2011 at 7:46 pm
[...] spouse: a poorly worded joke, an awkward comment by a FB Friend, or an unexpected chat session. Deal with hurt feelings or concerns in the privacy of your own home. If handling conflict is difficult for you and your spouse, attend a Marriage Education class to [...]
April 19, 2011 at 8:01 pm
[...] and Don’ts for Facebooking Couples, Is Facebook a Cyber-Threat to Your Marriage?, and How Facebook Can Improve Your Marriage) that have been widely distributed, written about and reposted. Jason also authored Before [...]
April 19, 2011 at 8:04 pm
[...] and Don’ts for Facebooking Couples, Is Facebook a Cyber-Threat to Your Marriage?, and How Facebook Can Improve Your Marriage) that have been widely distributed, written about and reposted. Jason also authored Before [...]
April 21, 2011 at 5:18 pm
[...] and Don’ts for Facebooking Couples, Is Facebook a Cyber-Threat to Your Marriage?, and How Facebook Can Improve Your Marriage) that have been widely distributed, written about and reposted. Jason also authored Before “I [...]
November 5, 2011 at 10:19 pm
Owen Kerr is busted…
[...]How Facebook Can Improve Your Marriage Relationship! « Ramblings of a Marriage Junkie[...]…
November 13, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Reference…
[...]How Facebook Can Improve Your Marriage Relationship! « Ramblings of a Marriage Junkie[...]…