So I’ve reached that age in life when the majority of my friends are engaged, married, and/or having kids. I’m sure many of you can relate to how you go on your Facebook feed and every day there are statuses of people starting to date, getting engaged, wedding photos, pregnancy announcements, and then the onslaught of baby photos.

And then because birds of a feather flock together, when you see the first initial post of a relationship status change or the baby announcement, everyone and their mother and tech-savvy grandmother likes and comments on those posts.  And it keeps building.

Again not that it’s a competition and may I be the first to say that any time any of my friends have a major life event happen to them I am thrilled beyond belief.  I AM NOT BITTER!

But to quote Carrie Bradshaw: “Think about it. If you are single, after graduation there isn’t one occasion where people celebrate you. … Hallmark doesn’t make a “congratulations, you didn’t marry the wrong guy” card. And where’s the flatware for going on vacation alone?”  It’s true.  If one does not get married or have a baby, whether by personal choice or beyond their control, but has friends who do both, the single friend is always celebrating for them, yet does not really get the same treatment in return.

So I have been conducting an informal tally of my Facebook statuses and it’s been determined that if you’re single, things that get the most votes (at least for me) are getting a new job (which happened to me this Friday!) and buying a car after you get into accident caused by a deer. Seriously, people come out of the woodwork for those things.  These are people from high school you never talk to, college friends you thought forgot about you, people you can’t remember friending, etc.  I mean these folks don’t even tell you happy birthday. I guess it’s easier to like a post vs. write a comment.  I can assume that if I bought a house or graduated with a major degree, these two events might fall into this category as well.

I will be curious though if/when I do change a relationship status, if that would generate more likes/congratulatory comments.  Are people happier when they know you are with someone or still happy for you when they see that you can handle things on your own?  Also is it different when you do these things as a single woman vs a single man?

Not that any of this matters. I do not need social media to give me validation on what is important in life or how important I am. I just find it interesting what kinds of life events that people will approve of and be happy for…..as I like the status of news of a friend’s engagement.