What Facebook Knows About Our Break-Ups And Romances
By analyzing changes in users' relationship statuses in 2010 and 2011, the social network's data team has unearthed some noteworthy patterns that offer insights into the ways people break up and hook up throughout the year. The data also sheds light on just how much information Facebook has about even the most personal matters in our lives.
Facebook researchers compared the number of users who changed their relationship status from a "non-coupled" status to a "coupled" status (i.e. single to engaged), as well as those who went from coupled to non-coupled, in an attempt to uncover the boom and bust periods for relationships.
The summer months have a chilling effect on romances, Facebook found. "In 2010 and 2011, May through August were clearly lower than the other months of the year, suggesting the daily net change in relationships reaches a low during the summer," Facebook writes in its blog post. While other months saw a net increase in relationships, the summer months tended to have a greater number of breakups.
New couples outnumber the freshly-solo around Valentine's Day and Christmas. Facebook recorded 49 percent more new relationships than break-ups on February 14 and 34 percent more on December 25.
Relationships tend hit a rough spot at the end of the week -- Friday and Saturday saw "relatively more" splits, especially among users over 25 -- but romance blossoms over the weekend. Sunday,
Monday and Tuesday are the top days for new couples to declare their "coupled" status.
Of course, there are a few blindspots in the data, as users might choose to hide their relationship status altogether. Prank hook-ups are also common: Facebook notes "[t]he fifth biggest day for a net increase in relationships was April 1st, or April Fool's Day, which saw 20% more relationship initiations than splits. But unsurprisingly, many of these appear to be short-lived: April 2nd was the year's most extreme day in the other direction, with 11% more break-ups than new relationships."
