Flaws of study about Twitter and divorce are quite apparent

Many Phoenix residents may have heard about a new study that was released concerning divorce and the use of Twitter. The point of the study was to find out if Twitter use is related in any way to divorce. What the study found is that, yes, Twitter is linked to divorce.

Just based on that information, married couples all across the country should delete the Twitter app from their phone and close their Twitter account. However, there is much more to this study than the above information. As it turns out, this study may not be all it’s cracked up to be.

First of all, as our source article points out, the people who participated in this study were all Twitter users, and it disqualified potential participants if their partners or former partners did not use Twitter. Secondly, there was no control group for the study. There were no participants who did not use Twitter, and thus, there is nothing to compare the data to. Third and finally, the study doesn’t address whether issues that stem from incidents offline contribute to a divorce as opposed to the incidents that may occur online.

Ultimately, as our source article points out, this study is flawed. Yes, social media may impact a person’s marriage or divorce — but it isn’t a foregone conclusion, nor is that exactly a revelatory statement. When a couple’s marriage becomes untenable, regardless of the circumstances that triggered it, they need to consider what the solution to their problem is. That solution is often divorce, as it can help people get out of an unfulfilling relationship and move on to a better chapter in their life.

Source: Slate, “Such Tweet Sorrow,” Amanda Hess, April 8, 2014