There’s been plenty of anecdotal stories thrown around about how Facebook impacts relationships. You see stories of breakups exacerbated by Facebook, or jealousies created due to Facebook, but how prevalent is it really? According to one UK law firm, they went through recent divorce petitions and found around 20% of them cited Facebook in some manner. While the article goes into the ridiculousness department by suggesting this means that Facebook is “fueling” divorce (rather than recognizing it’s probably just a symptom), it seems likely that if a marriage is heading for divorce anyway, it isn’t that surprising that some of the evidence might come from Facebook. But that doesn’t mean that the site is to blame. In fact, hidden all the way at the bottom of the article is the rather relevant fact that the divorce rate in the UK has been falling recently, just as the popularity of Facebook has shot upwards. It seems like you’d have to suggest a lot more to prove that Facebook is to blame for these divorces, rather than just an additional element in the proceedings.
I also wonder if there’s a bit of a generational thing going on here. I would guess that those who have grown up with Facebook probably won’t be as freaked out to find out that someone is still friends with an ex-. There will always be some aspect of jealousy, of course (especially among young people), but we’re reaching an era when it’s no longer that strange to stay in at least some form of contact with lots of people you meet. The older you are, the more used to losing touch with people you are, and thus a reconnection seems like a bigger deal than it might be to groups of people who have remained in touch constantly.
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