Facebook Ex-iquette revealed: Unfriend after three weeks. Delete ALL their friends. And post photos of new beau within a month

  • Having a 'social media cleanse' is increasingly common after a break-up
  • And 17% of people think it's OK to 'stalk' ex on Facebook

By Martha De Lacey

PUBLISHED: 09:26 EST, 28 August 2013 | UPDATED: 09:47 EST, 28 August 2013


Modern break-ups are, it would appear, a lot more complicated than those of past generations.

It used to be that ending a relationship was between two people, and two people alone; now there are the opinions of others to consider, as well as the post-break-up feelings of your ex when he reads about what you're doing online... and it's all down to wretched social media. A particular debt of 'gratitude' is owed, of course, to Facebook.

As a result, having a 'social media cleanse' when a relationship crumbles into dust is increasingly common, with 42 per cent of people 'unfriending' their ex on Facebook or unfollowing them on Twitter before they've been broken up for a month, and 34 per cent deleting all online images of their former love, according to research.

How long must you wait before posting photographs of your new relationship online?
Facebook ex-iquette has made modern dating and breaking up a minefield of problems

Facebook ex-iquette has made modern dating and breaking up a minefield of problems

Having a 'social media cleanse' when a relationship crumbles into dust is increasingly common, with 42 per cent of people 'unfriending' their ex on Facebook or unfollowing them on Twitter before they've been broken up for a month

Having a 'social media cleanse' when a relationship crumbles into dust is increasingly common, with 42 per cent of people 'unfriending' their ex on Facebook or unfollowing them on Twitter before they've been broken up for a month

Furthermore, almost a third (31 per cent) would extend the cull and remove all contact with their ex-partner's friends and family as well.

Dramatically, one in three (34 per cent) of 18 to 34-year-olds consider it acceptable for break-up cleanses to also involve deleting all photographs which feature their ex-partner; effectively removing the relationship's digital footprint and rewriting their personal social media history.

 

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The survey of over 2,000 British people makes up part of Diffusion's UK Social-ology Study 2013 into on how our personal lives are played out in our social media activity.

The research also revealed that social media is a stage upon which the broken-hearten can publicly announce that they have moved on.

As many as 17 per cent of people think it's OK to 'stalk' your ex online to see if they're with someone new
Social media is a stage upon which the broken-hearten can publicly announce that they have moved on

The survey of over 2,000 British people makes up part of Diffusion's UK Social-ology Study 2013 into on how our personal lives are played out in our social media activity

It used to be that ending a relationship was between two people, and two people alone; now there are the opinions of others to consider, as well as the post-break-up feelings of your ex....

It used to be that ending a relationship was between two people, and two people alone; now there are the opinions of others to consider, as well as the post-break-up feelings of your ex....

Two in three (65 per cent) deem it acceptable to flaunt their new unattached status by changing their Facebook profile to 'single' within the first month of a break-up, while one in five (18 per cent) would happily change their Facebook status to 'in a relationship' with someone new within the first month.

Similarly, nearly a third (30 per cent) say that it's OK to upload and tag pictures with a new love interest within the first month of a break-up.

But this pubic display of moving on goes both ways: nearly a fifth (17 per cent) think it acceptable to 'stalk' an ex-partner's social media channels for evidence they are with someone new.

Modern break-ups are, it would appear, a lot more complicated than those of past generations

Modern break-ups are, it would appear, a lot more complicated than those of past generations

Psychologist and behavioural expert, Professor Craig Jackson, of Birmingham City University determined that: 'These findings confirm what many psychologists have suspected about those who have grown up surrounded by social media - that they fall in "digital love" quickly (that is, to provide on-line confirmation and validation of a new relationship) but are just as capable of falling out of it quickly too, and with some clinical precision.

'When new romances form, the digital confirmation (e.g. Facebook status) is often viewed as THE confirmation of the new relationship that makes it both real and public.

'It makes sense then that this method is also used as a decisive means of confirming to the world the end of a romance.'

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deleting facebook seens strange for a few weeks, but boy does my house look cleaner,

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Had a short spell on a facebook group. Quickly came to the conclusion there were many only interested in bad-mouthing anybody more popular than they were. So much jealousy. If you want to see humanity at its worse go onto a social media

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I hate social media and yet I use it all the time. Id like to go back to when life was simple please - once upon a time, Manchester, United Kingdom, 28/8/2013 17:35 - Simple solution, update your status to 'Deleted', as many others have done, myself included. Of course, like not being able to attend your own funeral, you won't know how many 'friends' will notice...but that's perhaps something to know before then...

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New beau? That would assume that you were one of those emotionally unstable people who jump from relationship to relationship :)

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the only reason i knew my relationship of 3 years with a yorkshire man was over is when i saw pics of him and his new gf on his facebookpage......the sign of modern age,hey? no common decency....

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I had 60 "friends" on fb but now im down to 11 cos I deleted all the numpties who bored me, so now I've got my TRUE friends left.

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or do what i did and don't bother joining!

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Grow up Facebook users, it's juvenile.

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I don't have a Facebook.

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"Didn't you know, if it's not on FB then it didn't happen and if you haven't announced your relationship then you are obviously still single. - Emily, Exeter, 28/8/2013 13:19" The modern day "I think, therefore I am." Thank you, Emily, you made my day.

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