How Social media use can Impact the Strength of your Marriage and what you can do about it
You would be hard pressed to find someone who isn’t active on one social platform or another. From Pinterest to Facebook, Twitter to Instagram, there are a vast range of social sites to satiate the interests of virtually anyone. The very preface of social media is to connect, share, create and exchange information which is why it comes as little surprise that a recent Boston University study has linked social media to infidelity and even divorce.
The Findings
The study, titled “Social network sites, marriage well-being and divorce; Survey and state level evidence from the United States” published in the journal Computers in Human Behaviour, has found that Facebook use provides a positive indicator for both an increased divorce rate and marital troubles.
While the study did not prove that social media is the sole perpetrator for troubled marriages, it suggested that it may a common link as future studies progress. One of the first reports to receive widespread acknowledgement of the social shift was in 2009 when Mark Keenan, executive of Divorce-Online in the UK found that the term “Facebook” appeared in 989 of the company’s 5000 most recent divorce petitions.
Study results suggest that, “results show that using SNS is negatively correlated with marriage quality and happiness, and positively correlated with experiencing a troubled relationship and thinking about divorce,” according to coverage of the study. The study concluded that when social media use in a state increased, so did the divorce rate. So, are you a part of the 1.28 billion active monthly Facebook users in existence today? Is your relationship strained by your partners use of social media?
Tips to Curb Social Media Strife with your Partner
- Set up reasonable boundaries to ensure your marriage remains healthy – dedicate an hour or two a night where mutual social surfing occurs, or maybe you both decide on a time where social media use ends and you go incognito from that period on.
- Be open with your partner and share your log-in details to promote transparency
- Spend some time thinking about the people you befriend online – was there a prior history? Could it make your partner uncomfortable? Adding your ex boyfriend or ex girlfriend to Facebook is going encourage issues with your current relationship
- Be sure to keep your spouse and children out of any social conversations
The Burning Question
Could information pulled from social networking sites provide solid evidence against you in Court, during divorce and separation process? In short, yes, so be smart and don’t share anything that you wouldn’t to the entire world. A vast amount of evidence can be collected through social media that could implicate a spouse during the divorce process. Nearly 81% of American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers have encountered evidence taken from social media websites.
If social networking is compromising the quality of your relationship, the team at Epstein & Associates is able to help. Let us help you navigate through the stressful situation of divorce and or separation with conflict-resolution in mind. We welcome you to contact us for a complimentary consultation to discuss your unique family situation.