Wahala dey oo.. New Study Shows People Who Use Twitter A Lot Are Prone To Cheating

Does your boyfriend/girlfriend spend a lot of time on Twitter? A new study says you should be worried!

The study claims that frequent Twitter users are more prone to infidelity, breakups and divorces.


The project, conducted by University of Missouri School of Journalism doctorate student Russell Clayton, surveyed 581 Twitter users who ranged in age from 18 to 67. Clayton asked participants specific questions about how often they log in, tweet, scroll through their feed, send direct messages, and reply to followers. 

He also asked questions about how much, if any, conflict occurred between the tweeter and his or her partner because of use of the social network.

Ultimately, Clayton found that active Twitter users are far more likely to experience Twitter-related conflict with their romantic partners. His findings mirror a study he co-wrote last year, which found that frequent Facebookers experienced the same problem. 

He says that, although relationships have always suffered from one partner’s distractions or obsessions, social media plays a special role in these situations.

“I think this is unique,” Clayton told Yahoo Tech. “Because the questions I asked about Facebook- or Twitter-related conflict were specifically: Are you reconnecting with former partners on Facebook or Twitter? 

Has Facebook or Twitter use led to a verbal dispute or argument between you and your current or former partner?”

Clayton was first inspired to research the effects of social media on relationships while he was sitting in on counseling sessions for his master’s in health psychology.

“I experienced a couple arguing about Facebook use and that being problematic in their relationship,” he said. “So I decided to test that and see if that was happening among the general population. And it was, and so is Twitter.”

Comparing his two studies, Clayton was surprised to find that the length of time a couple had been together did not affect whether they would be negatively affected by one partner’s Twitter activity.

“Facebook may not pose any kind of threat for someone celebrating their 50th anniversary,” he told Yahoo Tech. 

“But for Twitter, it didn’t matter if you had just gotten in a relationship or if you’d been married for several years — people were still experiencing conflict with their partner and that was leading to these unfortunate negative outcomes.”