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Can Facebook and romance mix? Study suggests hazards

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, June 17, 2013: Facebook may be a tool designed to foster relationships, but it can also be a device that hurts them.

Russell Clayton, a doctoral student at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, and his two research partners Alexander Nagurney and Jessica R. Smith found that excessive use of social media can damage romantic relationships.

As an undergraduate student, Clayton himself witnessed the negative effects of Facebook on friends’ relationships. His interest in the subject was also spurred by the growing body of research on Facebook.

He and his partners found that higher levels of Facebook use were related to higher levels of physical and emotional cheating, breaking up and divorce. The researchers identified high levels of Facebook use as daily to hourly use, with excessive levels as more than hourly use.

Although the press release for the study was just published late last week, Clayton noted that it has already received a good amount of attention.

“I would say most people tend to agree with our findings,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of people [on Twitter] putting [the] hashtag ‘true story.’”

The study surveyed 205 Facebook users, aged 18 to 82. Some of the questions included were: “How often do you have an argument with your significant other as a result of excessive Facebook use?” and “How often do you feel jealous when an opposite sex Facebook user comments on your significant other’s wall, photos, and statuses?”

In his own observations and in the study, Clayton found that newer relationships of three years or less were the only ones affected by overuse of Facebook.

“Participants who have been in a relationship for longer than three years may not be as likely to be on Facebook as often, or they may have more mature relationships, and therefore Facebook may not be a concern,” he said.

Gabrielle Rajerison, 21, said in a comment on Facebook that the results of the study sounded "about right to me." She noted the fragility of relationships in their early stages.

“You're still learning about someone at that point, which means their life, where you fit into their life, and how other people fit into their life,” she said.

Rajerison also recognized how easy Facebook makes it for people to get and stay quite involved in each other’s lives.

“You look at pictures of someone you might not have seen in person in years and feel like you're in their life and vice versa. And in the case of rekindled affairs, you decide you've fallen for them in some respect,” Rajerison said. 

As Clayton expected, not everyone who has seen the study agreed with it.

Danika Hill, also 21, said in a comment on Facebook that someone who wants to connect or reconnect with someone else will eventually do it.

“Facebook [serves] only to speed up the process of finding someone new,” she said.

Aside from the threat to younger relationships, the study also suggests that Facebook is a threat to younger people. Clayton noted that "older couples may not have Facebook accounts," meaning that Facebook would not be a problem.

Some couples also use Facebook differently as they and their relationship mature.

“As a Ph.D. student, I have friends getting married. A lot made joint [Facebook] accounts just to reduce any kinds of conflict,” Clayton said. Couples share an email address and password for these accounts.

Although the success of these efforts cannot be determined until the future, Clayton suggested that joint accounts might help reduce Facebook-related content overall, making Facebook “one less thing to worry about.”

Whether couples take preventive steps or not, Clayton said that the study proves that overuse of Facebook has consequences.

“Facebook users should try to be cognizant about their levels of Facebook use, and attempt to use Facebook at more moderate, healthy levels,” he said. "[Any use] less than hourly is probably better."