Facebook’s relationship status feature allows users to display their romantic partnership status publicly on their profile. Users can choose from several preset options including “Single”, “In a Relationship”, “Engaged”, “Married”, “In a Civil Union” or “In a Domestic Partnership”. There is also an option for “In an Open Relationship” and “It’s Complicated”. Users can also choose to hide their relationship status entirely from their profile.
What are the different relationship status options on Facebook?
Here are the main relationship status options that Facebook users can choose from:
- Single – Indicates the user is not in a romantic relationship
- In a Relationship – Indicates the user is in a romantic relationship with someone
- Engaged – Indicates the user is engaged to be married
- Married – Indicates the user is married
- In a Civil Union – Indicates the user is in a legally recognized civil union with someone
- In a Domestic Partnership – Indicates the user is in a domestic partnership with someone
- In an Open Relationship – Indicates the user is in a non-exclusive romantic relationship with someone
- It’s Complicated – Indicates the user has a complex romantic relationship status that is difficult to define
- In a Relationship with [name] – Allows the user to specify the name of the person they are in a relationship with
Users can also entirely hide their relationship status from their profile if they wish. The default setting is “Single” unless the user specifies otherwise.
Who can see my Facebook relationship status?
By default, your Facebook relationship status is public and part of your profile information that anyone can see. However, you do have some options for controlling who can view your relationship status:
- Public – Anyone including non-friends can see your status
- Friends – Only your approved friends can see your status
- Only Me – Completely hides your status from everyone else on Facebook
- Custom – Allows you to customize visibility to show status to some friends/groups/pages but not others
You can adjust the audience for your relationship status by going to your profile, clicking on your current status, and selecting “Edit Privacy”.
How do I add or change my relationship status?
It’s easy to add or change your relationship status on Facebook:
- Go to your Facebook profile
- In the intro section under your name, click on your current relationship status (or where it says “Add your relationship status”)
- Select your new relationship status from the dropdown menu
- If desired, add your partner’s name by typing it in the input field under your new status
- Click “Add Relationship Status” to save changes
Your updated relationship status will now display on your profile for others to see based on your privacy settings.
What happens when I change my relationship status?
Here’s what happens when you change your relationship status on Facebook:
- The new status immediately updates on your profile and news feed
- For major status changes like “Engaged” or “Married”, you will get prompted to share a post announcing the news
- Friends and followers will be notified of your new status when they visit your profile or see your post announcing the change
- Any photos/posts with your old status will remain as they were originally posted
- Previous statuses are not publicly visible but are tracked in your Activity Log history
In summary, the new relationship status will be live and public right away allowing friends to see the change and react with likes/comments.
Can I temporarily hide my relationship status?
If you want to temporarily remove your relationship status from Facebook without deleting it, you have a couple options:
- Change audience to “Only Me” – This hides it from everyone else
- Temporarily change status to “Single” – You can always change it back later
- Remove your partner’s name from the status – Your status will show but without a named partner
Using one of these options allows you to effectively hide your current relationship status on Facebook until you are ready to make it public again.
What happens when I delete my relationship status?
If you want to delete your relationship status entirely from Facebook, here is what happens:
- The relationship status will be removed from your profile
- Your profile’s relationship section will show as empty or “Add your relationship status”
- This change will be visible to others immediately
- Any existing posts/photos with your previous status will remain unchanged
- You can always add a new relationship status again in the future
In essence, deleting your relationship status simply removes it from your profile without affecting any of your previous posts or photos.
Can someone else post my relationship status without permission?
No, only you as the user can post and change your own relationship status on Facebook. Someone else cannot manually update it without your authorization. However, here are some cases where your status could be changed or updated without your direct input:
- If you set your status to “In a Relationship with [Partner’s Name]” – your partner can edit their own name in the status but not the overall wording
- Facebook may automatically update your status if it detects a major life event like marriage or engagement based on your activity
- A Facebook glitch or bug could potentially alter information unexpectedly
But in most cases, the control lies entirely with you the user when it comes to your displayed relationship status text.
What happens if I don’t update my relationship status after a major change?
Nothing happens if you don’t update your Facebook relationship status after a major life change like an engagement, marriage, separation, divorce, etc. Your current status will remain as-is until you decide to change it manually. However, here are some potential effects:
- Friends may wonder about your true current status if your Facebook status is visibly outdated
- You won’t get the social recognition posts that often accompany major relationship milestones
- Facebook may automatically generate a post for you about a relationship change if it detects activity indicating that
- You may get tired of constantly explaining your status if people are confused by an outdated relationship status
Ultimately it comes down to your personal preference. But keeping your Facebook status up to date can help avoid confusion down the road.
Can I re-add a past relationship status?
Facebook allows you to re-add old relationship statuses that you previously had on your profile. To do so:
- Go to your relationship status section
- Click on your current status to edit it
- At the bottom of the relationship status window is an option “Use a status from your past”
- This will display a list of your previous relationship statuses that you can choose to re-add
This makes it easy to revive an old status like “In a Relationship” or “Engaged” if those statuses accurately reflect your current situation once again.
Can I disable relationship statuses entirely?
Unfortunately there is no setting to completely disable relationship statuses sitewide across Facebook. However, you do have a few options to minimized relationship status visibility:
- Set your own status privacy to “Only Me”
- Unfriend or unfollow people who post too much relationship content
- Use News Feed preferences to see less posts about relationships
- Avoid using Facebook’s Relationship tab that aggregates romantic content
While you can’t completely eliminate relationship talk on Facebook, you can tailor your personal experience to minimize relationship content you don’t want to see.
Should I post about my relationship status changes?
Here are some pros and cons to consider about posting relationship status updates beyond just changing your profile status:
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Lets all your connections know your news | May be seen as oversharing by some |
| Can be exciting to share relationship milestones | Opens up discussions about your personal life |
| Clarifies your situation if status previously unclear | Excess posts about your relationship may seem braggy |
| Can strengthen bonds by sharing intimate life details | Drama if a breakup happens soon after |
In the end it comes down to your personal preferences and comfort level. Posting sparingly about major relationship updates can be a nice way to share your joy. But oversharing or bragging about your love life can risk alienating some friends.
Conclusion
Facebook’s relationship status feature allows you to publicly display your romantic circumstances in a simple format like “In a Relationship” or “Married”. While the status appears on your profile, you have controls to limit visibility or temporarily hide it as needed. When making major relationship status changes, you can also announce it more broadly in a post. But be thoughtful about how much you post about your relationship – sharing key milestones is great but oversharing or bragging excessively may cause annoyance. With good judgment, Facebook’s relationship status can be a fun way to share selective relationship highlights safely with your closest social circles.