UK divorce website Divorce-Online carried out a survey in December 2011 that found Facebook showed up in 33 percent of behavior petitions; increased from 20 percent when the same survey was conducted in December 2009.

Since the 2009 survey, the reasons for Facebook being cited as evidence have not changed. The most prominent reason was a spouse’s interaction with the opposite sex on Facebook. Other prominent reasons included using Facebook to comment on exes pages after the couple had split or attacking the spouse’s wall during the divorce proceedings.

The top three reasons according to Divorce-Online are:

1. Inappropriate messages to members of the opposite sex.

2. Separated spouses posting nasty comments about each other.

3. Facebook friends reporting spouse’s behavior.

In comparison, Twitter was only mentioned 20 times in divorce filings, which puts it at only 0.4 percent. It was still used in the same way, however, with exes making comments about each other.

“Social networking has become the primary tool for communication and is taking over from text and e-mail in my opinion,” a spokesperson for Divorce-Online said. “If someone wants to have an affair or flirt with the opposite sex then the easiest place to do it. Also the use of Facebook to make comments about ex partners to friends has become extremely common with both sides using Facebook to vent their grievances against each other. People need to be careful what they write on their walls as the courts are seeing these posts being used in financial disputes and children cases as evidence.”

In a similar study conducted in the US in 2009, Facebook was blamed for 20 percent of divorces. There has not been a similar study conducted in the US since then, so it’s hard to make a comparison between the US and UK in this regard.

Just ask eBay seller wyliewalczykracing and his latest auction, which stems from a nasty-looking divorce. Granted, I’m not privy to the details of the divorce proceedings, but with the description wyliewalczykracing offers on his current item up for bid — the aforementioned 2010 Camaro SS — it’s plain to see he’s not happy about the way things have played out with his soon-to-be ex-wife, and he’s sure as hell not happy about having to sell his Camaro, which is a casualty of said unhappy ending.

The devil, as they say, is in the details, and the description for his auction item is filled with them, as wyliewalczykracing offers a biting comparison/contrast between his beloved Camaro and the woman he’s divorcing. Let’s just say the Camaro comes out looking like a gem. Not so much for his less-than-significant other. First, the introduction to his comparison:

As much as this car & my wife are loved and will be missed. I am forced to part with both, So my loss is your gain here. The car has less than 10,000 miles on it, her- a little more-just saying. The car has never seen snow, she can be as cold as ice. The car was garage stored when not in use, she is making me move out to the garage. This car has extraordinary acceleration with the 6.2L V8, superior handling, excellent value, head-turning looks, unique interior design, great fuel economy, and a throaty boasting exhaust, which beats a bitchy mouth any day.

Ouch, but then again, the title and subtitle for the description are as telling as anything on the page:

2010 Chevrolet Camaro – Muscle Car

Soon To Be Ex-Wife – Pretentious Witch

2010 Chevrolet Camaro – High Performance Motor

Soon To Be Ex-Wife – Motor Mouth Low performance brain

2010 Chevrolet Camaro – Precision Handling

Soon To Be Ex-Wife – Loose on entry (Take from that, what you will – Ed)

2010 Chevrolet Camaro – Neon Trim Lighting Color Matched To Interior

Soon To Be Ex-Wife – Carpet does not match the drapes

Again, the word “ouch” is applicable. Here’s a screenshot of the entire spec comparison, just in case the auction goes away:

With that in mind, a rebuttal auction from her would be too good to be true.

Email was the most commonly used form of electronic evidence, with 82 percent citing it as the main source. The survey found a gender difference in that women are more likely to use electronic evidence than men. In all 27 percent of lawyers said wives used electronic data more often during a divorce case while only 5 percent said husbands did.

Text/instant messaging and Internet browsing history tie for second behind email with 7 percent each, while 1 percent of the respondents cite data taken from GPS systems.

"As in all other areas of our lives, technology is having a big impact on the way that divorces are now conducted," said James Hennenhoefer, president of the AAML.

"Many people still don’t realize how much evidence can be gleaned from personal electronics ranging from computers to cell phones and GPS devices. In the Internet age, there is often a very clear trail that has been left behind and can be easily traced."
 

To be fair, Hitwise’s Robin Goad writes, "We aren’t morbid enough to have a Hitwise ‘Lifestyles – Divorce’ category . . ."  And to be accurate, this data comes from the UK, not America.  Still, marriage certificates are getting thrown out with sad-looking Scotch pines at what seems like a record rate.

About 0.0012 percent of UK Internet traffic went to a divorce site on January 8th, according to Goad.  This was down from 0.0015 on January 7th, but still up significantly from the December 25th standing of 0.0004 percent.  Goad also reveals "the number one downstream site visited after quickie-divorce.com": Her Majesty’s Courts Service.

Yikes.  Well, at least the visitors’ follow-through can be commended.  That’s the follow-through on their divorce site visits, of course, rather than any original marriage vows.  In that respect, well, everyone may need to do some work.  But Goad also explores a happier subject – wedding site stats – for the optimists out there.