January 2012: As the New Year begins, a study shows that Facebook is a factor in a large number of divorce filings. According to Divorce Online, one third of all breakups that cite unreasonable or outrageous behavior blame Facebook as a cause. This kind of divorce is up 50% in the last two years, they say.
In my practice, the cases where Facebook is involved are not at 30%. I tend to attract people who want to end their marriage peacefully, without all the drama, and that suits me just fine. I've had a few Facebook cases, though, and I must say it astounds me what people will put up on their page.
When I was growing up, we used a diary to put all of our personal information and dirty little secrets, and locked it with a key (and hid it!). When my kids were growing up, I used to tease my daughter that, if it wasn't online, it didn't exist for her. To me, a "private online journal" seems like an oxymoron. And in fact, a few years back I heard the CEO of Google saying that once something is on the internet, it stays there - forever. (Scary, isn't it?) I believe it's the 20-30 age group who are the most prolific on Facebook, and the biggest source of ammo for divorce cases. When you want to find out something about someone on Facebook, it really isn't too hard to find legitimate ways to mine that gold. Food for thought before making your next post.
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