The Hartford Courant reports this morning on the new trend of breaking up with a romantic partner via social networking sites such as Facebook. This article draws upon the demonstration of this breakup technique in a new movie opening today called He’s Just Not That Into You.
The Courant reports on the trend, with some sociological commentary:
Indeed, all that interwoven connectedness, which can help ease the way into a relationship, makes it all the harder to disengage at the end. Even if you do “unfriend” an ex, you’ll still most likely encounter him often on the Facebook sites of mutual friends where his photos and comments may likely turn up.
“If it’s over, it’s not quite over on Facebook,” said Pepper Schwartz, a professor of sociology at the University of Washington and the author of 14 books on sex, love and relationships. Updates like “Barry is in a new relationship” or “Sarah went dancing all night last night” or photos of your ex with a new woman are sure to rankle.
“It’s a transparency that’s kind of sweet when nobody’s heart is breaking,” said Schwartz, who is also the chief relationship expert at Perfectmatch.com. “It’s not so sweet when you’d like to be on another planet.”
Another sociologist weighs in with a comment on notifying someone of a breakup via a change in ‘status’ on your profile page…
After such an experience [a facebook breakup], many Facebook users opt not to record any details about their romantic status, so that if it changes, at least they avoid having any notifications sent out. After the break-up, Simpson also weathered the Facebook updates containing tidbits about Andrew’s whereabouts, reminding her of what he was doing, which friends he was seeing.
Kathleen Bogle, a professor of sociology at La Salle University in Philadelphia and the author of “Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus,” said having so much access to information about your ex “can really take jealousy to a new level.”
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