'What Were You Thinking?' For Couples, New Source of Online Friction
By LAURA M. HOLSON April 25, 2012
The more than 43,000 Twitter followers of Rosanne Cash, the singer and daughter of Johnny Cash, have come to expect her tart commentary on married life with her husband, John Leventhal, a Grammy-winning musician.
She chided him for performing at a concert in jeans he had worn three days in a row. Another day, she posted that he had cajoled her to help organize his "stuff." But Mr. Leventhal, known as Mr. L to Ms. Cash's followers, apparently is not a fan of her enthusiasm for sharing online.
Ms. Cash said in an interview that another time she wrote about her husband taking a nap. When he showed up at the studio, the sound engineer was puzzled, since he had just read Ms. Cash's post online. "I thought you were taking a nap," the engineer said to him.
"John called me and he was really annoyed," she recalled. "He said, 'Don't tell people I'm taking a nap!' "
Relationships are hard enough. But the rise of social media - where sharing private moments is encouraged, and provocative and confessional postings can help build a following - has created a new source of friction for couples: what is fair game for sharing with the world?
If one half of a couple is not interested in broadcasting the details of a botched dinner or romantic weekend, Facebook postings or tweets can create irritation, embarrassment, miscommunication and bruised egos.
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