So I’ll Have to Say I Love You in a Password

The NY Times ran an article the the other day a bout the trend of teenagers showing their love & dedication by sharing of passwords. So romantic, you can sing along with me

Well, I know it’s kind of late
I hope I didn’t alert you
But what I got to text can’t wait
I know you’d get over it
‘Cause every time I tried to txt you before
The words autocorrect came out wrong
So I’ll have to say I love you in a password

Yeah, I know it’s kind of emo
But every time I’m on your wall
I just run out of witty things to say
I know you’d want to know
‘Cause every time I tried to text you
The autocorrect just came out wrong
So I’ll have to say I love you in a password

‘Cause Every time the time was right
All the links just came out wrong
So I’ll have to say I love you in a password

Yeah, I know it’s kind of late
Not to worried if woke you
But there’s something that I just got to text
I know you’d get over it
‘Cause every time I tried to text you before
The word autocorrect came out wrong
So I’ll have to say I love you in a password

(obviously adapted from Jim Croce’s “I’ll have to say I Love You in a Song”)

photo from NYTimes Article

It is an interesting behavior here. Passwords are the most secret thing in some peoples lives. To give up a password might be to give up access to all things held secret in your life. With social media it might be showing access to chats or messages, emails, etc. Then there is some who couldn’t care if everyone knew their password/s. But is it a “real” event/behavior within a relationship that brings people closer together?

The digital era has given rise to a more intimate custom. It has become fashionable for young people to express their affection for each other by sharing their passwords to e-mail, Facebook, and other accounts. Boyfriends and girlfriends sometimes even create identical passwords, and let each other read their private e-mails and texts.

They say they know such digital entanglements are risky, because a souring relationship can lead to people using online secrets against each other. But that, they say, is part of what makes the symbolism of the shared password so powerful.

“It’s a sign of trust,” Tiffany Carandang, a high school senior in San Francisco, said of the decision she and her boyfriend made several months ago to share passwords for e-mail and Facebook. “I have nothing to hide from him, and he has nothing to hide from me.”

Maybe, maybe not. Does this just signal that there is a lack of trust deeper in the relationship that will eventually become apparent?

Will it go away at some point?

In a recent column on the tech-news Web site Gizmodo, Sam Biddle called password sharing a linchpin of intimacy in the 21st century, and offered advice to couples and friends on how to avoid missteps.

“I’ve known plenty of couples who have shared passwords, and not a single one has not regretted it,” said Mr. Biddle in an interview, adding that the practice includes the unspoken notion of mutually assured destruction if somebody misbehaves. “It’s the kind of symbolism that always goes awry.”