88 percent of Facebook users 'creep' on their ex-lovers, study shows

Nearly nine out of 10 Facebook users may be using the giant social network to "creep" on their ex-lovers, a new study by a Western University researcher has suggested.

 

Veronika Lukacs said she conducted the study to see how breakup distress is related to Facebook use, according to a report on Ontario-based news site Niagara Advance.

 

“What I found was that whether you were on Facebook all the time or not, your distress level changed based on how much surveillance you were doing (post break-up),” she was quoted in the report as saying.

 

Lukacs is to defend next week her Masters thesis, titled "It’s Complicated: Romantic breakups and their aftermath on Facebook."

 

For her research, Lukacs surveyed people who had broken up with a boyfriend or girlfriend in the past 12 months.

 

Her subjects filled out a survey form about their breakup experiences.

 

The report suggested that Facebook increased post-breakup distress, with an ex “creeping” or checking out an ex-partner's profile to see what they were doing.

 

88% creep on exes' facebook page, 80% check suspected new partner

 

The study found 88 percent –nearly nine of 10– of the respondents creeped their exes’s page, while 80 percent –four of five– looked up their ex’s suspected new partner.

 

“The more surveillance there was, the more distress there was, but it’s difficult to say why. Does surveillance make you more distressed, or are you distressed so you do more surveillance? My hunch is that it’s a bit of both,” Lukacs said.

 

However, the study also found 48 percent remained Facebook friends with their exes.

 

Other findings of the study included:

 

 

Unfriending not necessarily a solution

 

Lukacs said her research showed unfriending, or deleting an ex from a friend list, may not be the simple solution to the problem.

 

The Niagara Advance report noted Facebook has added a tricky dimension to a breakup, where people have to change their relationship status.

 

People may also have to deal with seeing an ex in pictures posted on a mutual friend’s wall.

 

“Deleting seemed to be really effective but it depends on the severity of your creeping behavior. Some people are active Facebook creepers and seek out information while others are affected by what comes up on their news feed,” she said.

 

Also, deleting a friend on Facebook is seen as rude and may strain relationships with mutual friends.

 

'Change passwords after breakup'

 

Lukacs' study suggested that people change their Facebook passwords after a break-up.

 

Her study also found several survey subjects admitted to hacking into their exes' profiles, or being hacked themselves. — TJD, GMA News