Facebook cited in a third of British divorces

01/04/2012

New figures show that a third of UK divorces cited Facebook as a primary factor in the break-up of the marriage.

The figure is significantly up on the 20 per cent that cited the social networking site back in 2009. Research carried out by Divorce-online, a divorce guidance website, found that the number one reason that Facebook caused problems within marriages was said to be spouses sending inappropriate messages to members of the opposite sex.

Other social networking behaviors that were reported to have caused problems for married couples included: Facebook friends reporting back to a husband or wife about their partner’s inappropriate behavior, or couples that have already separated driving each other toward divorce with nasty comments on Facebook.

A spokesperson for the website stated, "Social networking has become the primary tool for communication and is taking over from text and e-mail in my opinion. If someone wants to have an affair or flirt with the opposite sex then [Facebook is] the easiest place to do it.”

He added that divorce courts can sometimes use comments written on Facebook ‘walls’ as evidence in a divorce dispute, so those going through a divorce need to bear this in mind.