Twitter Has Damaging effects on Romantic Relationships, Leads to Divorce and Infidelity

A latest study claims that Twitter users are more likely to experience Twitter-related conflicts that have a negative impact on their romantic relationships. 

Social media is booming and has become a norm in today's society. Networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have revolutionized the way people maintain relationships. Despite the positive and life enhancing benefits, social media sites in real are known to affect relationships. Researchers at the University of Missouri School of Journalism highlight the negative impact twitter has on romantic relationships, leading to infidelity, breakups and divorce.

Led by Russell Clayton, a doctoral student, the study was based on a survey conducted on 581 Twitter users of all ages.  As a part of the study, participants were asked about their Twitter usage and the frequency at which they login in to Twitter, tweet, scroll the Twitter newsfeed, send direct messages to other twitter users and reply to followers.

Apart from these questions, the researchers also enquired on the frequency of conflict, if any, which occurred between the participant's current or former partners due to the use of Twitter. Questions he asked included, "How often do you have argument with current or former partner because of too much Twitter use?"

The researcher found that the more active users were on Twitter, the more likely they were to suffer from Twitter-related conflict with their partners. This predicted the ugly outcome of the relationship such as cheating and divorce.

"I found it interesting that active Twitter users experienced Twitter-related conflict and negative relationship outcomes regardless of length of romantic relationship," Clayton said in a statement. "Couples who reported being in relatively new relationships experienced the same amount of conflict as those in longer relationships."

Clayton's previous study was focused on Facebook-related conflict and the negative impact on relationships. He found that this conflict was high among couples who were in new relationships of just 36 months or less.   The difference in Twitter-related conflicts, he noticed is that the negative outcomes were not based on the duration of the relationships.

This study suggests that the people experiencing twitter-related conflicts with their romantic partners should consider limiting their daily twitter use.

"Although a number of variables can contribute to relationship infidelity and separation, social networking site usage, such as Twitter and Facebook use, can be damaging to relationships," Clayton said. "Therefore, users should cut back to moderate, healthy levels of Twitter use if they are experiencing Twitter or Facebook -- related conflict. Some couples share joint social networking site accounts to reduce relationship conflict, and there are some social networking site apps, such as the 2Life app, that facilitates interpersonal communication between partners."

The 2012 statistics of AIITwitter, a site that monitors all social media, revealed that every minute nearly 100,000 tweets are sent out and three quarters of a million pieces of content are shared on Facebook. 

The finding was documented in Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking.