Divorce-Online: Survey shows 33% of divorced British couples blame Facebook

According to the latest survey by the British divorce website Divorce-Online, Facebook is increasingly being blamed in the UK, as 33% of British divorcees use Facebook as a reason or evidence when filing for divorce, compared to only 20% in 2009. Divorce-Online conducted two surveys in December 2009 and December 2011, with 5,000 people in each survey.

The most common reasons for using Facebook as evidence in divorce have not changed between the two surveys. They are usually related to one spouse's behavior with the opposite sex, including using Facebook to comment on the other's behavior after the divorce and using the comment wall to start a war. The top three reasons are as follows:

1. Sending inappropriate messages to the opposite sex;

2. Divorced spouses curse at each other;

3. Facebook friends report the other party’s behavior.

Twitter, by contrast, was mentioned in just 0.4% of divorces, but the platform has also been used as a communication tool for divorcing spouses to attack each other.

"Social networking has become a fundamental communication tool, primarily in the form of text messages and emails," a Divorce- Online spokesperson said in a statement. "If someone is looking to have an extramarital affair or flirt with someone of the opposite sex, social networking is the easiest place to do so. It is also very common to use Facebook to complain to friends about an ex-spouse, and both parties to a divorce will use Facebook to air their complaints against each other. However, people should be careful when commenting on wall posts, as courts may use these posts as evidence in a divorce case involving property and child custody."

It doesn’t really matter what proportion of divorces Facebook appears in now in the UK; what matters is that the proportion has increased significantly compared to two years ago.

In fact, Facebook is not a significant factor in divorce, and couples in strained relationships should never use the service. Moreover, Facebook-induced extramarital affairs are not necessarily a stage in divorce.

At the end of the day, Facebook is just a social tool. For a single individual, social networks can help him meet many special people. Even for a marriage, social networks can help maintain the relationship between the couple. But like other social media, even the most innocent tools can have very bad consequences if used in the wrong way.

Even the average person can realize that Facebook speeds up the divorce process. Many marriages that are ruined are caused by extramarital affairs on social networks.

Experts recommend that netizens keep their original intentions in mind when using social services and regularly evaluate their friends' intentions. Facebook may not be a dating site, but countless netizens are using it to communicate with others.