We use public data from Twitter to study the breakups of the romantic relationships of 661 couples. Couples are identified through profile references such as @user1 writing "@user2 is the best boyfriend ever!!". Using this data set we find evidence for a number of existing hypotheses describing psychological processes including (i) pre-relationship closeness being indicative of post-relationship closeness, (ii) "stonewalling", i.e., ignoring messages by a partner, being indicative of a pending breakup, and (iii) post-breakup depression. We also observe a previously undocumented phenomenon of "batch un-friending and being un-friended" where users who break up experience sudden drops of 15-20 followers and friends. Our work shows that public Twitter data can be used to gain new insights into psychological processes surrounding relationship dissolutions, something that most people go through at least once in their lifetime.
Apart from facilitating breakups, increased importance of technology in romantic relationships @cite_27 potentially has other negative impact on romantic relationships such as jealousy, or surveillance @cite_38 @cite_4 @cite_26 . On the positive side, researchers have looked at if technologies such as video chat can positively affect long-distance relationships by making it easier to feel connected @cite_5 @cite_29 .
@cite_38 @cite_26 @cite_4 @cite_29 @cite_27 @cite_5
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Many couples live a portion of their lives in a long-distance relationship (LDR). This includes a large number of dating college students as well as couples who are geographically-separated because of situational demands such as work. We conducted interviews with individuals in LDRs to understand how they make use of video chat systems to maintain their relationships. In particular, we have investigated how couples use video to "hang out" together and engage in activities over extended periods of time. Our results show that regardless of the relationship situation, video chat affords a unique opportunity for couples to share presence over distance, which in turn provides intimacy. While beneficial, couples still face challenges in using video chat, including contextual (e.g., location of partners, time zones), technical (e.g., mobility, audio video quality, networking), and personal (e.g., a lack of physicality needed by most for intimate sexual acts) challenges. Abstract Relationship dissolution now occurs through technologies like text messaging, e-mail, and social networking sites (SNS). Individuals who experience relationship dissolution via technology may differ in their attachment pattern and gender role attitudes from those who have not had that experience. One hundred five college students (males=21 and females=84) completed an online questionnaire about technology-mediated breakups, attachment style, and gender role attitudes. More than a quarter of the sample had experienced relationship dissolution via technology. Attachment anxiety predicted those subject to technology-mediated breakups. Attachment avoidance and less traditional gender roles were associated with increased likelihood of technology use in relationship dissolution. Implications are discussed in regards to future research and practice. Abstract In this study, we examined two behaviors that could evoke Facebook jealousy and cause relationship problems among romantic partners: (1) Facebook solicitation behaviors (i.e., making or accepting friend requests with romantic interests) while in the current relationship, and (2) having romantic interests on existing Facebook friends lists. In our sample of 148 undergraduates, those who had lower commitment to their partners were more likely to make and accept Facebook friend requests with romantic interests during their relationship. However, commitment was unrelated to the number of romantic alternatives contained on one’s Facebook friends list or the frequency of Facebook solicitation while single. Additionally, attachment anxiety predicted Facebook solicitation behaviors, but this relationship was mediated by Facebook jealousy. Our findings confirm that Facebook is used to solicit connections with romantic interests both while single and during committed relationships; however, it is only those connections that are made during the relationship that are markers of lower commitment. Moreover, our study adds to a growing body of research that connects face-to-face relationship theories to the virtual environment. The Internet revolution has made long-distance communication dramatically faster, easier, and cheaper than ever before. This, it has been argued, has decreased the importance of geographic proximity in social interactions, transforming our world into a global village with a borderless society. We argue for the opposite: while technology has undoubtedly increased the overall level of communication, this increase has been most pronounced for local social ties. We show that the volume of electronic communications is inversely proportional to geographic distance, following a Power Law. We directly study the importance of physical proximity in social interactions by analyzing the spatial dissemination of new baby names. Counter-intuitively, and in line with the above argument, the importance of geographic proximity has dramatically increased with the internet revolution.