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Cornell University Press
July 2010
On Sale: July 15, 2010
225 pages
ISBN: 080144859X
EAN: 9780801448591
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
A few generations ago, college students showed their
romantic commitments by exchanging special objects: rings,
pins, varsity letter jackets. Pins and rings were handy,
telling everyone in local communities that you were spoken
for, and when you broke up, the absence of a ring let
everyone know you were available again. Is being Facebook
official really more complicated, or are status updates just
a new version of these old tokens? Many people are now
fascinated by how new media has affected the intricacies of
relationships and their dissolution. People often talk about
Facebook and Twitter as platforms that have led to a seismic
shift in transparency and (over)sharing. What are the new
rules for breaking up? These rules are argued over and
mocked in venues from the New York Times to lamebook.com,
but well-thought-out and informed considerations of the
topic are rare. Ilana Gershon was intrigued by the degree to
which her students used new media to communicate important
romantic information—such as "it's over." She decided to get
to the bottom of the matter by interviewing seventy-two
people about how they use Skype, texting, voice mail,
instant messaging, Facebook, and cream stationery to end
relationships. She opens up the world of romance as it is
conducted in a digital milieu, offering insights into the
ways in which different media influence behavior, beliefs,
and social mores. Above all, this full-fledged ethnography
of Facebook and other new tools is about technology and
communication, but it also tells the reader a great deal
about what college students expect from each other when
breaking up—and from their friends who are the spectators or
witnesses to the ebb and flow of their relationships. The
Breakup 2.0 is accessible and riveting.
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