Facebook PDA

In high school, many students get into trouble for PDA- public displays of affection. I always viewed PDA as a way of expressing yourself, specifically your sexual identity. With the new age of social networking profiles, the concept of PDA has changed. Almost all profiles on social networking sites have a section for your "relationship status". The new way of showing PDA is to post photos of yourself and your significant other, make your rellationship status read "in a relationship," and then "tag" the person so everyone knows who you are dating. On Facebook, you can even put your anniversary date on your page. It serves all the purposes of PDA in high school, only you do not have to worry about going to detention. In fact, some social community sites, like Alloy.com, celebrate relationships in a "PDA" section where girls can post photos of themselves and their boyfriends. I say girls and their boyfriends not because I only approve of heterosexual couples, but because these sites are only heterosexual friendly. The idea of homosexuality is frowned upon because it does not fit into the idea of the "popular" girl and these sites udually emphasize that all girls should try to fit into that stereotype. However, there is a plus side to social networking sites and their forms of PDA and expression of sexuality. You can choose to put your sexual preference on your profile. Girls can choose to prefer girls, boys, or both. This, to me, is a great way to express a part of your identity. By studying girls and their relation to social networks I am sure there are girls who are bullied online if they choose to publicly display a preference other than heterosexuality, just as many girls suffer ridicule in high school. However, giving the option to express homosexuality is a step towards society accepting the LGBT community and it gives girls a way to express themselves publicly.