IT'S TRUE THAT FCBK CAN.........

Facebook-stalking your ex stops your broken heart from mending (and a third of us do it)

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Facebook stalking: Keeping an eye on the ex can stop you healing, a new study suggests

Before the internet made everyone just a click of the mouse away, the end of a relationship would often lead to a cutting of ties as both partners moved on with their lives.

But Facebook has disrupted the process, a new study claims, with newly-singles who stay friends with their exes on the social networking site struggling to recover emotionally when a relationship ends.

Researcher Tara Marshall, from Brunel University in London, suggests there is a lot of additional heartbreak in store for the third of us who keep an eye on the ex - or 'Facebook-stalking', as some may call it.

With 900 million Facebook users in the world, it suggests a lot of broken hearts will take a time to mend.

Marshall asked 464 participants to evaluate their Facebook usage, and estimated up to a third use Facebook to check on the activities of former romantic partners.

The study collected asked about each user's emotional recovery and personal adjustment following the breakup of a romantic relationship.

It evaluated parameters such as negative feelings, sexual desire and emotional longing for the ex-partner, and feelings of reduced personal growth as measures of distress and the ability to move forward with their lives.

The study, entitled 'Facebook Surveillance of Former Romantic Partners: Associations with PostBreakup Recovery and Personal Growth', assessed the effects of continued Facebook contact with an ex-partner and of Facebook surveillance, in which there is no actual online contact, but one individual monitors the Facebook page and postings of another.

Brenda Wiederhold, editor-in-chief of Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking at the Interactive Media Institute in San Diego, said: 'This study sees again virtual life mirroring real life. Just as real life contact with ex-partners may inhibit growth, healing, and well-being, so may virtual contact.'

While Marshall's study suggests a third of people 'stalk' their exes, a study earlier this year by Veronika Lukacs at the University of Western Ontorio suggested up to 90 per cent of new singles would follow their ex on Facebook.

HOW FACEBOOK PROFILE PICTURES CAN REPRESENT OUR LIVES

Comments left under your profile picture on Facebook are one of the biggest indicators of your social status, according to a new study.

Researchers at the University of Missouri say that the image we choose for our public persona, and what other people have to say about it underneath, strongly affects the level of the profile owner's perceived attractiveness - physically, socially, and professionally.

Doctoral student Seoyeon Hong said that browsers, such as potential partners or employers, hold more weight by the comments left on your profile picture than any other part of your page - so your reputation is in the hands of those who leave a message.

For anyone unfamiliar with the social network, Facebook profile photos are the first photos visible on a user's profile.

Other Facebook users are able to post comments about each profile photo, which are visible to anyone who views the photo.