Can Facebook predict relationships break-ups?

ITHICA

A new study by Cornell University and Facebook suggests the social network can predict how healthy your relationship is.

Researchers got insight from more than a million Facebook users.

The yardstick used to measure a relationship was something the researchers called dispersion, or how well a couple's mutual friends are connected.

Researchers found that a couple with a low dispersion, or when the couple's friends are well-connected on the site, are 50 percent more likely to end the relationship over the next two months than a couple who has a high dispersion, or connections to different groups of people.

So, in simple terms, the study suggests people in the healthiest relationships have their own lives and friends.

The findings will be presented at a conference on social computing in February.

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