The social networking website Facebook is mentioned in 1 out of every 5 online-divorce petitions filed through the Divorce-Online.co.uk website according to site's managing director Mark Keenan. The shocking statistic was reported by the British newspaper, the Telegraph in December 2009. Keenan said one of the reasons why Facebook is to blame is because people use the website to have "inappropriate sexual chats with people they were not supposed to."http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/6857918/Facebook-fuelling-divorce-research-claims.html

Though Facebook is intended to be a medium for networking and staying in touch with friends and family online, the website's "wall" can be used in more negative ways, especially when used by sparring couples. A Time magazine article over the summer of 2009 explained how divorce lawyers sometimes advice their clients to check-up on their spouses pages for anything that could potentially be used against them in court. One attorney told Time that it is "now just routine for us to go over with clients whether they have an active presence on the Web and if they have Twitter or a MySpace page."http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1904147,00.html

There is a Facebook group called "Facebook ruins relationships" where users discuss how "temptations" and "jealousy" can lead to the destruction of relationships.http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=ce68e5da53bae87f3fd2e5a65c521fe4&gid=18190344424 The group was mentioned in a February 2009 ABC News report titled "Facebook Status Update: I'm Divorcing You!" Among the issues related to Facebook breakups were "high school sweethearts", "old flings" and "new crushes." The option for users to change their 'relationship status' from "in a relationship" to "single" with the click of a button was also cited a cause of breakups and arguments.http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=6821042&page=1