Yahoo Lifestyle Social Media Can Predict Your Breakup
If you're one of those couples that nauseates entertains everyone with tales of your relationship on Twitter, it may be worth noting that the more you flaunt your status, the more accurately the social network can predict when you’ll break up.
RELATED: Why it's great to be single
According to new research, if online communication with your significant other starts to slide, it's a clear indicator that the demise of your relationship is near.
To reach the conclusion, researchers studied 661 pairs of Twitter users who'd been in a relationship and broken up over a six-month period compared to the same amount of users who'd been, and stayed, in a relationship over the same time period.
"We were interested to see if there would be a noticeable change in tone when one partner would message the other, either before or after the breakup," said researchers from Finland, Qatar and the USA.
"The change is roughly from 'I love you so . . .' to 'I hate when you . . .', indicating (to us) a surprising amount of public fighting and insulting happening after the breakup," they wrote.
And, just like in real life, when a breakup happens, friendships are lost on both sides.
"We observed sudden drops of size 15 to 20 for both the number of friends and followers a user has around the time of the breakup."
But just because you've unfriended each other (and all your mutual friends) doesn't mean a little stalking isn't prevalent on both sides.
A survey from love and relationships website YourTango found that 70% of men have looked up an ex on the internet, with 40% of those surveyed admitting to viewing their ex's social media profiles often. And the stats are similar for women, with up to 80% admitting to viewing an exes profile online.
If you really want to convince your friends that all is fine in your relationship though, relationship selfies - or relfies (yes, this word actually exists) - are the way to go.
"Your Facebook page is a window into your relationship. Simply by looking at your Facebook page, strangers can guess your relationship quality. If your relationship is going well, your relfie and other aspects of your profile show it," said Dr Benjamin Le.
RELATED:
Study says expensive engagement
