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Report: 1 in 5 US Divorces Due to Facebook

- By - Source : Zdnet

It's worse if you get "unfriended."

Although Facebook is mostly used as a social networking tool to keep in contact with friends and family, it's no surprise that a friendly poke, comment or maybe even a 'like' could cause some jealousy or suspicion within relationships. 

It also isn't too much of a surprise that simple online correspondences can evolve into complicated affairs. Whatever the case is, social networking has become engrained in our culture and is at the heart of many relationships being created, maintained and unfortunately ruined.

In a survey conducted by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), researchers found that Facebook was mentioned in 1 out of every 5 divorces in the United States.

In addition, 81% of the country's busiest divorce attorneys mentioned an increase in the number of divorce cases that used social networking for evidence. Of course, Facebook was most often used as a primary source of evidence in 66% of online divorce evidence.

Steven Kimmons, a clinical psychologist practicing in Illinois stated that "We're coming across it more and more. One spouse connects online with someone they knew from high school. The person is emotionally available and they start communicating through Facebook."

"Within a short amount of time, the sharing of personal stories can lead to a deepened sense of intimacy, which in turn can point the couple in the direction of physical contact," Kimmons explained. "I don’t think these people typically set out to have affairs. A lot of it is curiosity. They see an old friend or someone they dated and decide to say ‘hello’ and catch up on where that person is and how they’re doing.”

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rpgplayer 03/03/2011 11:47 PM
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lol, everyone has to have something to blame. 9/10 if a marriage is going to fail it isn't facebook that did it, it was the lack of commitment to the marriage. in the early years marriage was a LIFETIME commitment, now it's just a hey let's get married, if it doesn't work out you can just get divorced next week.

jhansonxi 03/03/2011 11:58 PM
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I wonder how it compares to World of Warcraft or excessive game playing in general?

maestintaolius 03/04/2011 12:06 PM
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ZOMG! Facebook threatens the holy institution of marriage! Ban it!

Ciuy 03/04/2011 12:06 PM
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people tend to exagerate....Facebook is no excuse.

burnley14 03/04/2011 12:09 PM
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jhansonxi :
I wonder how it compares to World of Warcraft or excessive game playing in general?


I think you missed the point of the article. Do you typically chat it up with ex-girlfriends on WoW?

SteelCity1981 03/04/2011 12:17 PM
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How about blaming their spouses for their infidelity actions in the first place instead of blaming it on some social networking site for the reasons why their marriages have failed.

hoofhearted 03/04/2011 12:31 PM
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I seem to remember a show called 'cheaters'. Where is facebook cheaters? Hire a team of hackers. Create a website that solicits investigative services to disgruntled spouses and post all the gory details on the site.

ProDigit10 03/04/2011 12:32 PM
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what kind of a crap title is that? (totally not true)

ProDigit10 03/04/2011 12:32 PM
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99% of world's death caused by facebook!

Camikazi 03/04/2011 12:40 PM
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SteelCity1981 :
How about blaming their spouses for their infidelity actions in the first place instead of blaming it on some social networking site for the reasons why their marriages have failed.


Haven't you heard? Taking responsibility for your own actions is out, blaming others is in now.

f-14 03/04/2011 1:31 AM
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ProDigit10 :
99% of world's death caused by facebook!


+1 hahaha

derstarke 03/04/2011 1:34 AM
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burnley14 :
I think you missed the point of the article. Do you typically chat it up with ex-girlfriends on WoW?



I disagree. I think the point of the article in relation to this tech-news site is that technology is changing the way people interact, and as a result, how that effects marriage. Or more specifically, divorce.

So while this particular article is not about World of Warcraft or gaming in general, it does lend itself to that line of thinking. It's certainly an interesting question that I'd be curious to see data for.

wolfseeker2828 03/04/2011 3:16 AM
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I think the article is not so much that facebook is CAUSING affairs, but that its very nature makes it easier to find people you could have an affair with (old flame, etc)

Xaios 03/04/2011 4:54 AM
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Sheldon: Yeah, furthermore, earlier this evening, she threw a digital sheep at some guy named Mike. Who's Mike? Why does he get a digital sheep and not you?

ta152h 03/04/2011 5:16 AM
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Well, even if it's true, I'd be willing to say that 3/5 of all divorces are caused by big knockers. Not that they are mutually exclusive, there's probably some overlap; surely many of the Facebook incidents are caused by this disturbing phenomenon.

It's much easier to avoid Facebook, I've never used it, and I don't know why I ever would. Boobs? They're thrust in our face, literally, at a young age, and it's hard to avoid them, especially with implants making them a larger social attraction. I don't see banning them as a feasible (or desirable) solution.

I don't know what the solution is. Maybe just accept if people get divorced, for whatever reason, maybe they didn't belong together at that point in time anymore, anyway. Life is about moments in time, when situations and reality sometimes help two paths merge, only to diverge at a later time. I don't know that this is all bad, or always bad. I don't know if staying together when better and more enlightening experiences could be had with another person is all good. Probably staying with someone that you have a strong connection with is good, but it's not always possible, and if it's not it's hard to say what's good and/or bad. I do know a big rack is good though.

thejerk 03/04/2011 7:19 AM
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fb is life, yo

thrasher32 03/04/2011 3:10 PM
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ProDigit10 :
what kind of a crap title is that? (totally not true)



Happened to me.

barsausa 03/04/2011 3:56 PM
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Sheer idiocy.

jfby 03/04/2011 4:20 PM
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A more meaningful article would be a more thorough analysis to see if Facebook had actually increased the divorce rate; my guess is that it's just another way to get the information. Affairs existed long before Facebook or the internet existed.

sunflier 03/04/2011 4:21 PM
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This was news a year ago. Nothing's changed.


//stop blaming Facebook for your indiscretions.

thrasher32 03/04/2011 8:48 PM
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wolfseeker2828 :
I think the article is not so much that facebook is CAUSING affairs, but that its very nature makes it easier to find people you could have an affair with (old flame, etc)



That's exactly right. If your spouse is a low-life lying cheater, then Facbook just makes it that much easier for him or her to find people to cheat on you with. So try not to marry loser cheating scum, that's where I went wrong...

avoidfacebook 03/05/2011 12:40 PM
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Breaking up is never painless, and the healing time may be long and hard.

Question we need to ask is Facebook increasing the Divorce rate?

There is no such thing as small, private conversation on Facebook. Private conversation doesn’t stay private and this leads to break up’s and eventually leads to divorces.

For all of us who are concerned about Facebook issues we have created the website called Avoid Facebook @ www.AvoidFacebook.com

mayankleoboy1 03/06/2011 5:10 AM
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so ban facebook

eddieroolz 03/07/2011 8:59 PM
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I still yearn for the days when facebook was closed.