• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, February 5, 2014

Social media contributes to the demise of most romantic relationships nowadays, according to a survey of 1,953 Brits, who had all ended a serious relationship or marriage in the last two years — meaning they were the “dumper,” not the “dumpee.” That number includes various types of married and unmarried relationships, as 24% of the respondents had been married, 41% had been living together, and 35% had been living separately before parting ways.
 
Social media was certainly “in the mix” for a good number of the breakups: 79% of respondents said they were using social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram during their relationships, and 36% had met their ex online, including dating sides. Now the key figures: 54% said they felt that social media played a role in the breakup, with 34% saying their ex met someone new on social media, and 17% complaining their ex ignored them in favor of social media.
 
Social media also played a role in breakups by giving people a false sense of confidence, with 23% of respondents saying they entered a relationship believing they knew the person better than they did, given their social media profiles. There was also a comparison component: 12% said that seeing other happy couples on social media led them to realize they weren’t happy in their own relationship.
 
These findings echo some other survey results. In March 2013, a survey of 2,000 men and women in the U.S. and the U.K. by Havas Worldwide found that 50% knew someone whose romantic relationship started online, while 25% knew someone whose offline relationship ended because of their actions online.
 
Here’s an idea: Since it’s helping start and end the relationship anyway, why not tie everything up in a neat little package by breaking up over social media? In May 2013, a survey of 4,000 women around the world by AVG Technologies found that 19% of women ages 18-25 said they have ended a relationship by posting on Facebook, while 38% of women in the same age-range said they have broken up via text message.