It’s hard to deny that we experience the start, progress, and end of our friends' relationships though social media.
Though Facebook doesn’t provide any real information on what possesses people to publicly declare their coupling or uncoupling online, Facebook Data Science does give insight into what kind of social media activity people are likely to be having before, during, and after they've been hit by Hurricane Committed Relationship.
You know how it starts, first some innocent stalking – gotta make sure this new crush's favorite show isn’t Two and Half Men. Then the exchange of cute cat videos and Spotify tracks on each other's walls. Basically, your online meet-cute is a strong indicator that this courtship will turn into a relationship soon. So you’re not totally nuts when you tell your friends, “He keeps sending me Grumpy Cat memes, he’s interested in me, right?”
According to Facebook, from the moment you make it official, you become just as boring as your friends warned you about – meaning, your online activity takes a dive. Does this mean your relationship has already lost its spark? On the contrary, this is when your thread will be most filled with messages of love and happiness because you’re spending physical time together. It’s only a matter of time before your friends will be liking your engagement ring photos.
But in the end, if you find yourself un-tagging those couple pictures, your Facebook pals will rally. As the Data Science team morbidly points out, on the day of users' breakups, a surge of posts and messages can be found. The company doesn't provide any sample comments, but we’ve all written the, “screw ‘em! let’s get a drink” one.
So whether you’re looking, in a relationship, or cursing someone's existence, the digital age allows us new ways to analyze who's falling in and out of love.
Images from Facebook Data Science