The truth is it doesn't always end so well. Changing a password is simple, but students, parents and counselors say that damage is often done before a password is changed and that the sharing of online lives can be the reason for a faltering relationship.

Rosalind Wiseman, author of the book ‘Queen Bees and Wannabes’, a book for parents to help girls survive adolescence said the sharing of passwords, and the pressure to do so, was somewhat similar to sex. She said that sharing passwords, feels forbidden because it is generally discouraged by adults and involves vulnerability and there is pressure in many teenage relationships to share passwords, just as there is to have sex. She also added that "The response is the same: if we're in a relationship, you have to give me anything."

A surprising telephone survey had also revealed that girls aged 12 to 17 were almost twice as likely as boys to share their passwords. It was also noted that in more than two dozen interviews, parents, students and counselors said that the practice had become widespread.

On the other hand students say there are reasons apart from a show of trust, to swap online keys. Many college students said they regularly shared Facebook passwords - not to snoop on each other, but to force themselves to study for finals. A girl would give her password to a friend to change it and the deal was not to disclose the new password. Hence, helping in temporarily locking out the Facebook account holder and taking away a big distraction to studying.