Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

How IM Sapped My Ability to Deal

End of an intense online relationship forces writer to examine IM dependency

By Michael Foreman, Newser User

Posted Sep 7, 2008 5:05 AM CDT

(Newser) – After breaking up with his live-in boyfriend online, writer Will Doig realized IM had become an intimate part of their relationship, and the fallout was crushing. "At the first hint of crisis, my response had always been the same"—instant message his boyfriend... Read full story »

COMMENTS

Read the comment policy

You need to Log in to Newser to comment. Don't have an account yet? Sign up now!

There are no comments

A snapshot of the day's best news stories.

View Larger Grid

All Today Yesterday Pick a Date

What's Popular Now on Facebook

Cops Shoot Naked Guy Eating Man's Face on Highway

Japanese Artist Serves Up Own Cooked Genitals

Nerve (Source Grid »)

IM etiquette for the office
Forbes

Lifestyle

social networking • love • breakup • Instant Messenger • instant messaging • relationship

More Newser Stories

Can a Broken Heart Heal? Sure, Give It 10 Weeks

We get over break-ups faster than we think, researchers say

(NEWSER) - Break-ups don’t break us up as much as we expect, a study finds. Researchers at Northwestern University followed 70 romantically-entwined freshmen over 9 months, regularly asking them to update a survey analyzing their current feelings and how they imagined a break-up would feel. The pain of eventual splits was milder than they had foreseen, and they beat the blues twice as soon as predicted, LiveScience reports. More»

60% Remain Facebook Friends With Exes

And three in four at least Google them

(NEWSER) - The Internet—and Facebook in particular—is making it hard to break up and stay broken up, a new survey suggests. Nearly 60% of people stay Facebook friends with their exes after the split, and 74% admit to Googling them, the New York Post reports. One-third say they've had sex with their ex after reconnecting online. "We're seeing this pattern where it's so much easier to reconnect with an ex, where in the past, they were out of sight, out of mind," says the CEO of survey sponsor YourTango.com. More»

Can Facebook Predict Breakups? Don't Bet On It

Status updates might not be best data

(NEWSER) - A graphic attracting attention across the web purports to show when it's most common for couples to break up—based, of course, on Facebook status updates. By searching for the phrases "broken up" or "break up," it delivers supposed revelations. For one, we are collectively shrewd about breakups, cutting the chord before vacation times like spring break or summer—but we won't dump someone on Christmas Day. And Mondays are the most likely day of the week to sever ties, Mashable notes. More»

Why You Must Delete Your Ex

Technology has made breakups very complicated

(NEWSER) - Thanks to Facebook, Twitter, tumblr, and GChat—not to mention good old email—breaking up with someone today is even harder than it used to be. “How do you get over your ex when they keep popping up all over YouFace and you've got 32 mutual friends to keep your online bubbles connected?” writes Christine Borden in the San Francisco Appeal . At some point, as difficult at it seems, there’s only one answer: Remove all—all—those "e-mementos." More»

Look Up Exes on Facebook at Your Own Peril

He's probably gay, she probably hates you, and it could ruin your relationship

(NEWSER) - Back in the halcyon pre-Facebook days, Elizabeth Bernstein writes, you didn't just pick up the phone and ring up an old flame. “If you went looking for a former partner, you knew you were looking for trouble.” So why it should be any different on Facebook? A survey of botched reconnections suggests it shouldn’t. "We need new rules now.” More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

How IM Sapped My Ability to Deal

End of an intense online relationship forces writer to examine IM dependency

social networking • love • breakup • Instant Messenger • instant messaging • relationship

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Can a Broken Heart Heal? Sure, Give It 10 Weeks

We get over break-ups faster than we think, researchers say

60% Remain Facebook Friends With Exes

And three in four at least Google them

Can Facebook Predict Breakups? Don't Bet On It

Status updates might not be best data

Why You Must Delete Your Ex

Technology has made breakups very complicated

Look Up Exes on Facebook at Your Own Peril

He's probably gay, she probably hates you, and it could ruin your relationship

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?