Social media is interwoven in all facets of life. It has provided platforms to communicate with friends and family. While some use Twitter, Facebook, and other platforms to share happy stories of their lives, others weaponize their accounts with negative and highly personal posts.
Divorce can bring out the worst in people, whether spouses are still in the process of the dissolution has been finalized. While many spouses seek emotional support, others who feel particularly spurned by their ex-partner may take their issues online and post diatribes.
Troubling trends
Statistics from separate studies paint a dire picture:
- Computers in Human Behavior revealed a connection between social media use and reduced quality of marriage. Those who avoid social media are 11 percent happier in their marriages. Conversely, regular users are prone to neglect their unions, with many having affairs.
- Loyola University Health System found that Facebook is mentioned in twenty percent of domestic divorce proceedings.
- American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML) surveyed divorce attorneys, finding 81 percent seeing an increased number of spouses searching for online proof of bad behavior or infidelity.
Difficult decisions
While the easy and best advice is to stay away from social media and focus on the positive, other options exist to minimize potential online drama. Avoid negative and highly personal posts that your loved ones, particularly children, can easily access. Specifically, avoid sharing information about the divorce proceedings.
Equally as important is to keep tabs on what children are posting on their online platforms. Social media is already filled with bullies and predators. Suffering silently during and following a divorce only makes these bad situations worse for children.
Proactive online strategies and conduct can make a difficult chapter in life a little easier.
