Facebook Cheating Leads To Divorce News4Jax Exclusive

Facebook Cheating Leads To Divorce

Poll: 20% Of Divorces Involve Social Media Network

POSTED: Wednesday, May 4, 2011

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Some have called it the new-age "lipstick on the collar."The "it" isn't referring to traditional infidelity, but spousal cheating through social media.

A recent poll revealed that 20 percent of divorces now involve Facebook somehow, and 80 percent of divorce lawyers are reporting a spike in cases where Facebook is used for evidence.

Attorneys said cheating begins with innocent Facebook messaging and checking status updates, but it's more than just a computer; it's a portal into someone else's life."I've had a lot of friends and a lot of other acquaintances, they either split up with past relationships because they're married or their friends were like, 'Oh, my ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend is on Facebook,'" said one woman who doesn't want to be identified because she said Facebook led to infidelity in her relationship.

The woman said her boyfriend was slowly led astray by other women online."Come to find out, he had been sending messages to his ex-wife and to all these other people on Facebook," she said."It gives me an opportunity to find things the other side may not necessarily tell me up front. I can now find it from Facebook," Jacksonville attorney Eric Friday.

Therapists said the social media network is reconnecting former lovers. Even celebrities are not immune.Actress Eva Longoria has said that her ex-husband Tony Parker strayed with a woman he kept in touch with on Facebook.

"People are on there looking for old high school sweethearts, and most of the time when they're doing that, they're looking to reconnect with old friends, but it actually turns out that it leads to cheating and infidelity," said private investigator Joshua Askew of JMA Investigative Services, Inc. "There's so much out there. You can easily find someone, as well as all the pictures that people post," Askew said. "There's the temptation with these pictures that you haven't seen someone in years and now you know exactly what they're up to."

So how do you know if your Facebook conversations are threatening your love life? When is the information you get online too much information?

"It's not just the temptation. There's the perception of the spouses on there," Friday said. "If the other spouse sees you've got contact with all these old flames, whether you're doing anything or not, it might look funny to your spouse."

Experts suggest spouses share their Facebook passwords to prevent secret dialogue with others.