Taylor and Alex are now an item. They’re making it “official” by declaring it on Facebook. Thank goodness your news feed keeps you up-to-date on all the latest, right? You wouldn’t want to be the last one to know. But, really, how are Facebook and other popular social networking sites changing teen relationships?

From boldly stating your interest in people of certain genders to declaring your relationship status, social networking sites make our relationships very public. With a simple click or an update to our information, whole networks of friends (and random people we’re virtual “friends” with) get notified. But relationship status aside, there are other considerations when it comes to dating and Facebook.

How often do you check your partner’s page? Do you know what your partner is up to—who he is talking to or whose pages she is commenting on? Researchers are starting to get interested in the psychology behind Facebook and whether it fuels jealousy through the ability to lurk and check out what another person is up to online. And how do you handle breakups? Certainly changing your relationship status is a not-so-subtle hint to your partner that it’s over, but is that the best way to give or receive that kind of news?

There are definitely great things about Facebook and other social networking sites. They offer another way to connect, stay in touch and spread information. But they also raise questions about the rules of relationships and how people interact. Is Facebook flirting cheating? What kinds of pictures of you and your partner get posted, and what about pictures of either of you with exes? What does “It’s Complicated” as a relationship status even mean? Certainly the popularity of Facebook and other social networking sites adds a layer to relationships, and probably warrants some discussion between partners about what’s OK for Facebook and what’s not OK. Maybe you can add that to the list of things to talk about and negotiate with your partner before you find yourself having a fight over whether or not she or he leaves you enough “likes” or comments on your latest status update.

It seems like every other day a new story about teens texting nude photos pops up in the news. This cultural phenomenon has been called “sexting,” and as many as 20 percent of teens say they have sent or posted nude or seminude pictures or videos of themselves, according to a recent survey.

It’s OK to be flirty and feel sexy, but sexting isn’t harmless fun. You have no control over what happens to those pics—or your reputation—when sexting. Here’s a list of five things to think about before you hit “send” from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and Cosmogirl.com:

• Don’t assume anything you send or post is going to remain private. Your messages and images could get passed around, even if you think they won’t.
• There is no changing your mind in cyberspace-anything you send or post will never truly go away. Even if you have second thoughts and delete a racy photo, there is no telling who has already copied that photo and posted it elsewhere.
• Don’t give in to the pressure to do something that makes you uncomfortable, even in cyberspace.
• Consider the recipient’s reaction. Just because a message is meant to be fun doesn’t mean the person who gets it will see it that way.
• Nothing is truly anonymous. Even if someone only knows you by your screen name, online profile, phone number or e-mail address, they can probably find you if they try hard enough.

These tips don’t just apply to texting; posting racy or nude pics to your MySpace profile can have negative consequences as well. Check out this public service announcement from the Ad Council, urging you to think before you post: