Facebook philandering: '20 years of marriage is over'
BOISE, Idaho - More and more people are using social media to cheat - and giving divorce attorneys an Internet full of evidence in the process.
Randy should know. He believes Facebook, without a doubt, played a big part in the end of his marriage.
“Twenty years of marriage is over,” he said. “Over.”
And Randy says it all began with the click of the 'friend button' on Facebook.
Randy asked us to conceal his identity to protect his child.
What seemingly began as a harmless reconnection between his then wife and her old college flame on Facebook led to heartbreak.
“It tore my heart out of my chest, threw it under the bus and the bus ran over it 100 times," he said.
Randy said it began with his wife's addiction to Facebook.
“It got to the point of every moment she wasn't doing something she'd be on Facebook,” he said. “Unfortunately a lot of it was with him.”
After counseling failed, Randy went straight to court.
Boise attorney Charles Bauer says with the popularity of websites such as Facebook, business is good.
So, how many of his cases is social networking playing a factor?
“Probably every case,” Bauer said.
And building a case against a spouse has become a lot easier.
"Social media now is the primary place that we look,” Bauer said. “Often people don't want to put on display evidence of bad character."
But as it turns out, many people are careless about what they’re putting online or in text message. Attorneys now turn to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter.
And don't think those fancy privacy settings will save you. There’s always a way for the pros to get through.
Eagle marriage counselor Jay Robertson has treated several couples battling Facebook woes. When it comes to adding an old flame, Robertson says to just not do it.
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So, how do you know if you’re love life’s on the line?
Keep an eye out for the warning signs. Randy’s wife got more secretive about her computer time. She also changed her passwords more often and increased the alone time she had with a laptop.
“It seemed innocent enough at first but as it carries on it takes on a life of its own,” Randy said.
There are things you can do to help protect your relationship from an online intrusion. First off? Come up with some boundaries and keep your status set to married. It’s also recommended to update each other on your friends request and share your password with each other.
