Facebook members have increased pressure on the social-networking site over its reluctance to expand the 'relationship status' option in profiles to include civil partnerships.

Currently members have the option of declaring whether they are single, in a relationship, engaged or married when completing their profile page.

One Facebook group campaigning for the social network to change the relationship bar has 12,875 members. One member wrote that "it will take someone all of five minutes to perform the task of adding this category, so why can't they say how long before it will get done?"

Health Minister Ben Bradshaw MP has joined the campaign. Bradshaw said it is "very disappointing that Facebook still doesn't include civil partnerships".

Facebook responded, saying that: "Our current relationship status options allow anyone, regardless of gender, to choose whether they are single, in a relationship, engaged or married."

"We do, however, understand that many people may want to define their personal relationship(s) beyond a drop-down option, so we also provide additional ways within a user's profile that allows them to express and describe their life situations, including their relationship status," it added.

www.facebook.com

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