Is Tweeting Ruining Your Relationship?

Avid tweeters could find themselves in hot water with their partner, according to a scientific study.

In the journal “Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking,” doctoral student Russel Clayton found a correlation between the high rate of Twitter use and emotional cheating in his test subjects.

While there is no hard rule on how much you tweet relating to how much you cheat, Clayton posits that excessive tweeting could “lead to unfavorable relationship outcomes such as cheating, breakup, or divorce.”

Though it may come as a surprise that extensive Twitter use could threaten a relationship, older studies have shown that social networking sites like Facebook are linked to a whole host of emotional and psychological issues like loneliness and depression.

In a study in Plos One, higher amounts of Facebook use were correlated with increased loneliness and a general increase in dissatisfaction in their life. In the Pacific Standard, two researchers performed a study to figure out why people used Facebook if it had such emotional draining effects.

The result was while people said they used

the social networking site to feel better, it had, in fact, made them feel worse. “Although Facebook is an excellent tool for … staying in touch with acquaintances,” the researchers said, “there are serious disadvantages of using it, such as envy, lowered life satisfaction of basic psychological needs, and dampened mood.”

It’s not just social networking that takes a toll on emotional well-being. Just using the web can have you down in the dumps. Carnegie Mellon University researcher Robert Kraut discovered that people felt more unhappy and lonely after using the Internet. And that was in 1998.

So what are your options if you want to stave off the coming social depression? Just go offline.