By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Apparently, fewer Americans are getting married these days. (Check out the PBS Newshour story.)

But lots and lots of people are doing the next best thing: making a public declaration of being in a relationship — on Facebook.

Neither of my twenty/thirty-something kids is married. But both are telling the world they’re in a relationship … and they’re naming names.

The computers over at Facebook keep you honest, I notice. You can’t say you’re in a relationship with somebody unless they agree to it.

Read more about getting committed at “The Day She Popped the Question” and “Why He Never Called Me Back.”