Essay on "Divorce: Does the Internet Cause Divorce?"

Essay 3 pages (1077 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

However, available evidence suggests that from a statistical analysis of households, Internet use actually makes couples less rather than more likely to cheat. Actual, hard data yields the finding "that increased access to the Internet decreases divorce…the addition of control variables (like income, education, race, number of children etc.) makes the effect of having access to the Internet on divorce completely disappear" (Adshade). Couples with Internet access are no more or less likely to cheat: it is other, exacerbating tensions in the relationship that generate infidelity, this suggests. While one UK study found that today "42% of all divorce cases involved one partner finding a new lover online" the fact that houses with increased access to the Internet do not have higher divorce rates suggest that "the Internet is only a tool that shortens the search that those people who want out of their marriage use to find new love" (Adshade). The Internet may be a tool but it is not the cause of infidelity. Still, the perception that heavy Internet consumption leads to divorce can result in an individual's frequent online posting and Internet use being used against him or her in a court of law, even in the absence of proof of actual infidelity.

Thus once a marriage has gone 'south,' the Internet can also be a tool in a personal war between partners. Divorces and marital breakups are still continuing to occur and even if the Internet is not generating a higher rate of divorce, it is clearly injecting a new element of monitoring and contention to divorce proceedings and changing the way people negotiate the end of relationships. Divorce attorneys advise clients: "Imagine that anything that you text

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or post or write is going to be put up on a white board in court in front of the judge and everyone in the courtroom" (Oakes & Jolicoeur). Even seemingly innocuous posts of the individual out drinking with friends can be used to paint him or her as an irresponsible lush in the eyes of a courtroom.

Social media has thus changed the landscape of divorce. It has not made divorce more common or fundamentally changed the nature of human beings: marriages break down for a variety of complex reasons and infidelity is one cause of many. However, it has made divorce proceedings in many instances far uglier by virtue of giving ammunition to the various warring parties in the fray. In some instances, it may bring to light unpleasant truths and expose falsehoods while in other instances it may create a false and negative impression that impedes rather than facilitates a just settlement.

Works Cited

Adshade, Marina. "Looking for new love online is a major cause of divorce -- BUSTED."

Big Think. 2011. Web. 12 Jul 2015.

Baudean, Cassie. "The impact of social media and technology on divorce and custody cases."

Law Technology Today. 17 Jul 2014. Web. 12 Jul 2015.

Dewey, Catlin. "Back up husbands, emotional affairs, and the rise of Internet infidelity."

The Washington Post. 3 Oct 2014. Web. 12 Jul 2015.

Landers, Jeff. "How social media can affect your divorce." Forbes. 20 Aug 2013. Web.

12 Jul 2015.

Oakes. Bob… READ MORE

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