JAMIE BUTOW: Facebook could be key ingredient in divorce
By Jamie Butow
Last week's column on taking a Facebook vacation sparked a significant discussion in the online comments on how Facebook contributes to divorce rates. Online readers gwillikers and Americain debated how much the social media site contributes to the collapse of marriages.
Considering divorce documentation varies state to state, it's hard to officially track. But last year a British survey company noted that Facebook was implicated in one-third of all divorces.
In 2009 here in the U.S., Facebook is cited in 1 of 9 divorce cases. All you have to do is search online for "Facebook divorce" to see how lawyers are using what's found on Facebook in court.
How and why is this happening? Likely because social media is a major form of communication in 2013. Twenty years ago, extra-marital affairs happened by meeting in person or talking on the phone. Now there's email, texting and social media to make those encounters that much easier.
"Honey, who's your new friend on Facebook?"
"Oh, that's someone I met at a meeting last month."
Maybe ... maybe not.
The moral of the story: If your relationship is entering rough waters, it's probably a good idea to embark on that Facebook vacation.
Social media demographics
More data has been released from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, this time looking at the demographics of users of various social media platforms.
According to the Pew Research Center, Facebook is most appealing to women and adults aged 18-29; Twitter to adults aged 18-29, African-Americans and urban residents; Pinterest to women, adults older than 50, caucasians and those with some college education; Instagram appeals to adults aged 18-29, African-Americans, Latinos, women and urban residents; while Tumblr appeals to adults aged 18-29.
This is the first time Pew has made racial distinctions such as this.
Oscars
Sunday night's Academy Awards telecast was considered a hit on social media, but still doesn't rise to the ranks of the Super Bowl or the Grammys.
According to the New York Times, there were 8.9 million tweets about the 85th annual awards show; 2.1 million during the red carpet, and 6.8 million during the telecast, according to a Twitter spokesperson.
The Super Bowl was the subject of 24 million messages and the Grammys 14 million.
On our own Facebook page (Facebook.com/BakersfieldCalifornian), there were a quick 63 comments when we asked you what you thought of the show and Seth MacFarlane as host. Most of you weren't impressed.
Social TV
The Oscars telecast Sunday night was No. 1 in Social TV statistics for last week.
According to Bluefin Labs, 9.5 million public comments were made on Twitter and Facebook. The Daytona 500 was a distant second with just fewer than 558,000 public comments.
You can see the complete week's statistics on my Facebook page at Facebook.com/JamieButow2.
New venture
For those who missed the big news last week, we are embarking on a new venture with the folks at KERN Radio 1180 AM.
Beginning in March, our daily Californian Radio show will be replaced by First Look with Scott Cox. Scott will be broadcasting live 7-10 a.m. from our new studio here in The Californian newsroom.
First Look will be a traditional news-driven, call-in radio show.
Personally, I'm very excited about it. I've spent several years in radio throughout my career and am looking forward to being a part of the daily show.
Oh yeah -- and the twist? The studio isn't just for radio, but for television, too. The show will broadcast live on the Web at BakersfieldCalifornian.com.
You can read more about it in Californian President and CEO Richard Beene's column from Saturday at BakersfieldCalifornian.com/columnists.
Jamie Butow is the community engagement coordinator for The Bakersfield.com Network. Email her at JButow@bakers field.com. Follow her at Facebook.com/JamieButow2 and on Twitter@JamieButow.
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