Advertisement

Most common days for relationship starts and break ups, according to Facebook

It has been said for everything there is a season. But what about dating? Do humans participate in mating seasons just like every other animal in the kingdom?

New numbers from Facebook suggest we might. Two years ago, it was widely reported that by examining our status updates and friend and messaging patterns, Facebook can determine who we might end up dating — and whether or not our current relationship will last. But now they've taken their probe into our collective love life a step further by gathering stats on the days and months in which we tend to hook up, break up, and which songs we're most likely to listen to when we do all of the above.

Also see: Love activates addiction areas of the brain: study

WorldWideLearn.com has assembled these fascinating Facebook tidbits and packaged them into a tidy, little infographic for our consumption. And guess what? Statistics say significantly more relationship announcements will occur around Valentine's Day, Christmas, and April 1. On the flip side, most breakups are announced on April 2, in July, and two weeks before Christmas.

The pattern makes perfect sense to Toronto-based psychotherapist and relationship expert Kimberly Moffit, who says holidays put a lot of pressure on people to examine their relationship status — a single person might feel more motivated to hit up a dating site around Valentine's Day. And a dating couple might examine where they're at and decide whether to take the next step by announcing their relationship or to part ways.

"There's a lot of pressure … you're meeting the parents, you're meeting the family. The holidays, be it Christmas or Valentine's Day, are a day where it forces us to think — is this a relationship that is worth keeping?" says Moffit.

Also see: Nadine Schweigert marries herself: Is self-marriage becoming an international trend?

Moffit also says summertime is a great time for dating and for meeting people in general — a lot of people are out, doing interesting things. Breaking up in the summer makes sense, she says, if your relationship is going south anyway, and you're hoping to find another new partner right away.

"It's evolutionary," she says. "They're increasing their chances of finding somebody that would be a good partner for them."

As for April 1 being a hot day for relationship announcements and April 2 being a big day for break-ups, Moffit points out that Facebook has hundreds of millions of users worldwide and while April 1 and April 2 don't have special significance for Canadians (other than being April Fool's Day), those days might have cultural significance in other parts of the world.

Other notable news in the Facebook statistics?

• Most breakup announcements happen on a Friday or Saturday

• 53 per cent of women and 47 per cent of men list their relationship status

• The most popular song listened to after starting a relationship is "Don't wanna go home" by Jason Derulo.

• The most popular post-breakup song is "The Cave" by Mumford and Sons

Check out the below video for a few tips on what to avoid when dating.