SINK

Yesterday, the two SINKs who run this fine blog decided to get engaged on Facebook for April Fool’s Day. We discussed the possibility of our day-long engagement via mid-morning texts and sealed the deal within ten minutes with few clicks and a status change accompanied by a fun diamond ring icon. Little did we know, at some point, engagement on Facebook became a serious thing. Within hours, people we don’t even remember confirming digital friendships with were liking our statuses and mutual friends were offering congratulations and well wishes. Amused, we exchanged a few more texts along the lines of, “Really? Do people actually think we’re engaged??? Don’t they know this is an April Fool’s Joke? Is the date lost to them because it falls on a Sunday this year?” Slightly bemused, we laughed at our successful trickery, wondering if people would be disappointed when we annulled our engagement the next day.

It wasn’t until texts and phone calls began to trickle in from our family members that we became moderately alarmed. There were accusations of keeping secrets and annoyance that they learned of our engagement through friends of friends who had seen it on Facebook. We actually felt kind of bad. Remember when people used to get into relationships with their same sex best friend on Facebook in college? (Either to mask the fact that they were insecure about not being in an ACTUAL relationship or highlight the obvious non-seriousness of Facebook relationships, we’re not sure, but nonetheless…) Did these people receive calls from friends and family members congratulating them on coming out of the closet and making such a bold, public step? Probably not. Since when did declaring a relationship on Facebook actually carry weight? I guess since we got into our mid-twenties, where statuses declaring engagement and marriage and childbirth are actually REAL. Moreover, when you’ve got a guy and a gal who are well-known to be very good friends, it seems it really wouldn’t be that much of a surprise if, despite the fact that they seem to have never even dated, they got engaged. The really shocking and disappointing thing, we thought, was that our close friends and family members actually thought we would announce something that would actually change the trajectory of our lives as we all know them VIA FACEBOOK. (SINK—>DINK!) Do people do this? Have joyous tears and laughter-filled phone calls been eliminated by technology?

We found this all very curious. We know, like, five people read this blog, but if you do and have an opinion, we’d love to hear it. Why did people react the way they did? Is it because we are in our mid-to-late twenties, when engagement is a very real and socially acceptable possibility? Is it because we are very close friends and, uh, close friends become engaged despite never dating all the time? (Do they??) Is it because people actually DO use Facebook as the primary means to announce engagement and other important life events these days? We’re curious and would love to know— what do you think?