Facebook Cited as Evidence in More Than 30 Percent of U.K. Divorces

For husbands and wives in the United Kingdom deciding to call it quits, a recent survey has revealed that "Facebook" is cited as evidence in 33 percent of the cases, which is up 13 percent since a similar survey was conducted two years ago.

The survey of 5,000 divorce petitions released by Divorce-Online (via PC World) states that Facebook was not only referenced in terms of a spouse's negative behavior but also was used as a "weapon" against exes after separation had occurred. Here are the top three reasons Facebook was cited:

1) Inappropriate messages to members of the opposite sex.

2) Separated spouses posting nasty comments about each other.

3) Facebook friends reporting spouse’s behaviour.

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Mark Keenan a spokesman for Divorce-Online said “Social networking has become the primary tool for communication and is taking over from text and e-mail in my opinion. If someone wants to have an affair or flirt with the opposite sex then the easiest place to do it. Also the use of Facebook to make comments about ex partners to friends has become extremely common with both sides using Facebook to vent their grievances against each other. People need to be careful what they write on their walls as the courts are seeing these posts being used in financial disputes and children cases as evidence.”

Check out this local Boston news report on the survey:

A second popular social media site, Twitter, was also found in many of the petitions, but only 20 percent of the time, according to Divorce-Online.

In 2009, Facebook was cited in 1 of every 5 divorces in the United States, and it was listed as the number one online source of divorce evidence, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers.