Social Media Sites Linked to Divorce

 Posted on June 19, 2013 in Family Law

There are all sorts of unprecedented threats to marriages in today’s busy and less than traditional society, and new research suggests that social networking could be one of them. According to the Huffington Post, a new study “which will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, found that people who use Facebook excessively (interpreted by the researchers as checking it more than hourly) are more likely to “experience Facebook-related conflict with their romantic partners, which then may cause negative relationship outcomes including emotional and physical cheating, breakup and divorce.” The study considers just over 200 Facebook users between the ages of 18 and 82. Nearly 80 percent of those surveyed considered themselves to be in a romantic relationship.  

It’s not that using Facebook or other social media inherently has negative effects on your relationship; it has to do with feelings of jealousy that are sparked by monitoring a significant other’s page. Russell Clayton, a PhD candidate at the University of Missouri who was one of the head researchers on the report told the Huffington Post that the study also found that “excessive Facebook users are more likely to connect or reconnect with other Facebook users, including previous partners, which may lead to emotional and physical cheating.”

This isn’t the first time that the social networking site has been linked to divorce. In 2012, a survey conducted in Britain by the U.K. divorce Website Divorce-Online found that “33 percent of divorce petitions in 2011 contained references to Facebook,” up a significant amount from the 20 percent of petitions in which it was mentioned in 2011, according to PC Magazine.

If you or someone you know is considering divorce because of transgressions that occurred on social media—or for any other reason—don’t go through it alone. Contact a dedicated Chicago-area divorce attorney today.

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