It's complicated.

Part of the allure of Facebook, besides keeping tabs on what all 934 of your friends are up to, is the ability to completely control how you are portrayed to others. Sure, you can carefully choose the clothes you wear and how you act, but you're bound to leave an unflattering impression on at least one person after many an awkward moment. Maybe that's just me. But on Facebook, I can untag any photos in which I don't look red-carpet ready (and sometimes persuade the poster to delete especially heinous shots all together), remind everyone I know that I listen to interesting music by posting some Avett Brothers' lyrics as my status, and let even strangers know that I'm witty by posting something hilarious and clever on my friends' walls. My Facebook profile is really a carefully maintained image of myself, but not statement I can make about myself on Facebook is as crucial as the "Relationship Status."

Now we know how the Facebook powers that be
 in Palo Alto voted on Prop 8!

The powers that be at Facebook recently added "In a civil union," and "In a domestic partnership," to it's now eleven different options to set as one's relationship status. This addition alone is a triumphant gesture made by Facebook, but the fact that so many options are available in a fabricated world of social networking emphasizes the importance one's "Relationship Status" holds in today's culture. With Facebook being a relatively new facet of social life, there is no official etiquette for posting these statuses (stati?), but below I have listed what I have perceived to be the general consensus about a few common statuses:

• Single - A pretty standard status. Some people choose just to not have this status appear on their profile at all, either to simplify their page or to hide the fact that they're sad and alone. (Just kidding. All mah single ladies!)
• In a relationship - In my age bracket, this status is reserved for the most serious of couples. The kind whose names are said together as if they're one, such as, "Mike-and-Emily." These duos have usually been dating for several weeks, at least, and have already met the parents, etc. In other words, going "Facebook official," with your relationship with someone is the younger equivalent to moving in together or whatever old people do. 
• Engaged & Married - I've combined these two because they're pretty self-explanatory. The only actual married couples I see with this status on Facebook are my friends' parents. One of my friend's status reads "Married to Da Streets." I think that's a different kind of relationship, though...
• It's complicated - I'm going to spare everyone my rant about this status, but if you're taking time out of dealing with whatever issues you're having with your significant other to change your relationship status on Facebook to something nobody cares about, things are more complicated than you think. 
• In an open relationship - This kind of goes with the one above. If you want to have a relationship status that says you're still open to hooking up with other people, you might as well just leave it at "Single."

P.S.: It's worth noting here that good friends who think they're funny will enter any two-person Facebook relationship with each other so everyone can know they're best friends. That girl is probably not engaged to her roommate. There are other people that defy the unspoken laws of relationship statuses as well, like my friend who refuses to change her status from "Single," even though she recently celebrated her 19 months anniversary with her boyfriend. Okay. If you want some other tips on how not to be hated on Facebook, go here.