To Share or Not to Share? That Is the Engagement-Period Question

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In the afterglow of an engagement or in the throes of wedding planning, it's simple — if not natural! — to take to social media, sharing every photo, every idea and even a countdown to your big day. But a recent study revealed that people dislike others who post too many details about their relationships, sappy messages to their partner and "relfies" (selfies taken with your significant other).

"Too often, we end up comparing ourselves to others and wondering if we are being shortchanged in life — especially when it comes to relationships," explains Shannon Belew, author of The Art of Social Selling. "The problem escalates when sharing becomes a seemingly endless stream of status updates and pictures from these super cute and happy couples. And as you would expect, newly-engaged couples and brides have a tendency to over share."

So what's a bride-to-be to do? While there's no magic formula to prevent over-sharing, these simple tips should keep you from losing Facebook friends.

— Make sure you're mixing up the number and type of posts you're putting online each day. "Balance out the number of all-about-you posts by sharing and commenting on posts from others," suggest Belew. "And share a greater amount of non-personal posts, like trending videos, interesting articles and news."

— Consider sharing milestone events when in comes to your engagement and wedding, such as your engagement party and bridal shower photos, and leave out the updates on your floral choices.

— "If you're worried you might be crossing the line of over-sharing, look to your friends for confirmation," Belew says. "Indicators that you're over-sharing often come directly from your friends' responses — or their lack of responses." So if the number of likes or positive comments on your posts start to dwindle, consider dialing it back a bit.

— Friends, family members and especially coworkers who see you post about your engagement and wedding but who are not involved in your planning or big day could be resentful of your updates. "You may also want to consider creating a specific list of your closest friends and post the majority of updates only to that list," Belew suggest. "Then, you can make sure that fewer posts go out to your 'public' list of Facebook contacts."

— But perhaps most importantly: "Don't feel bad about sharing exciting engagement and wedding news — it is your special day after all!" Belew says. "And your friends generally want to share in that happiness, but in measured amounts. Think about how you feel when friends over-share. If you can honestly admit that it's at a level where you would be irritated by the barrage of happiness, then your friends are probably over it, too."