As my younger brother can attest to, this is not a good idea. He allowed his ex girlfriend access to his Facebook, Yahoo email, Skype, and several other accounts.
After a nasty breakup she logged into his accounts, changed the passwords effectively locking him out and went on a smear and harassment campaign that included all of his friends and family on Facebook and his email contacts, including myself.
He had to actually report her to the military police (he is in the Army) after she used his Skype account to phone and harass people, because those people where threatening to have him arrested, not realizing his account was hijacked. They took the matter seriously and somehow scared her into stopping.
Young Couples Sharing Passwords as Sign of Devotion: Stupid or Sweet?
SodaHead Living
2012/01/23 00:39:00
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Sharing locker combinations, exchanging class rings, wearing a significant other’s letterman jacket—young lovers have long found ways to symbolize their commitment to each other. But does the newest teen trend—revealing online passwords—take devotion a step too far?
Many parents, and some teens that have been burned, believe that the practice is harmful. But others, like Tiffany Carandang, argue that the potential risks are what make the symbolism so powerful. Carandang, a high school senior in San Francisco, and her boyfriend exchanged e-mail and Facebook passwords several months ago.
“It’s a sign of trust,” she explained. “I have nothing to hide from him, and he has nothing to hide from me. I know he’d never do anything to hurt my reputation.”
However, this so-called romantic gesture does not always end well for those involved. If the relationship goes south, it’s easy enough to change your password, but sometimes the damage has already been done. In other cases, the password exchange and the subsequent spying breed tension and distrust, sometimes even leading couples to break up.
When Alexandra Radford, now a 20-year-old junior at San Francisco State University, was in high school, she and her boyfriend changed their passwords to ILoveKevin and ILoveAly. She now admits, “We did it so I could check his messages because I didn’t trust him, which is not healthy.”
What do you think about young lovers exchanging online passwords? Is it stupid or sweet?
Many parents, and some teens that have been burned, believe that the practice is harmful. But others, like Tiffany Carandang, argue that the potential risks are what make the symbolism so powerful. Carandang, a high school senior in San Francisco, and her boyfriend exchanged e-mail and Facebook passwords several months ago.
“It’s a sign of trust,” she explained. “I have nothing to hide from him, and he has nothing to hide from me. I know he’d never do anything to hurt my reputation.”
However, this so-called romantic gesture does not always end well for those involved. If the relationship goes south, it’s easy enough to change your password, but sometimes the damage has already been done. In other cases, the password exchange and the subsequent spying breed tension and distrust, sometimes even leading couples to break up.
When Alexandra Radford, now a 20-year-old junior at San Francisco State University, was in high school, she and her boyfriend changed their passwords to ILoveKevin and ILoveAly. She now admits, “We did it so I could check his messages because I didn’t trust him, which is not healthy.”
What do you think about young lovers exchanging online passwords? Is it stupid or sweet?
Read More: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/us/teenagers-sha...
Top Opinion
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kick2head 2012/01/23 10:39:05
the people who say "sweet" obviously have insecurities in their relationship or themselves...
Too many couples breakup over spilled milk and that can cause many of the situations you are reading about in the comments section. Just be smart.
I already see it happening."mom, I have multiple passwords in my life.."
"whaat, change them all to the same one naow"
"uh-ok.."
meanwhile somewhere in China there's this dude brute-force-ing passwords for accounts, and automatically uses them to log in elsewhere yells BINGO! or the Chinese
equivalent.