Facebook Knows When You'll Get Dumped

Pickens writes "Cnet reports that according to a graphic making the rounds online that uses Facebook status updates to chart what time of year people are splitting up, there are three big spikes on the calendar for breakups — just after Valentine's Day, just before spring break and two weeks before Christmas. British journalist and graphic designer David McCandless, who specializes in showcasing data in visual ways, compiled the chart after scraping 10,000 Facebook status updates for the phrases 'breakup' and 'broken up.' 'Might I suggest that, immediately after Valentine's, some women might be casting men from their sight, appalled that their lovers could think of nothing more romantic than roses from the supermarket and dinner at Outback Steakhouse,' writes Chris Matyszczyk. 'Continuing with this obviously accurate analysis, perhaps it's men who do more of the dumping just before spring break, as for some —however unfairly — their main concern lies in how their girl will look on the beach.'"

Re:Picky, picky, picky

[gstoddart]

DON'T go "if you really knew me, you'd know what I want". ASK FOR WHAT YOU WANT.

Someone sounds bitter. ;-)

Quote Sources!

[Anonymous Coward]

Come on, Slashdot. This information (and the graph to go with it) is originally by David McCandless and Lee Bryon in this book [amazon.com] back in 2008 and was copied by someone. See Peak Break-Up Times On Facebook [informatio...utiful.net].

Re:Could that possibly be any more misleading?

[gstoddart]

That's a stunningly deep analysis of information sharing/leakage between two parties as inferred by an outside observer in response to a joke about my perception of Facebook being more or less the functional equivalent of the high-school rumor game.

Bravo, sir. :-P

Re:Context

[canajin56]

Really? More, meaning you think that at least 50% of people, when saying something about "breaking up" with their girlfriend just mean they're going to their home towns for Christmas, not that they have stopped dating? That's absurd. To say that even 5% of people use the term "breakup" to mean something other than a relationship ending is probably far too high. I have never heard anybody talking about a holiday as a "breakup" with their school year. Nobody talks like that. A human should know that sort of thing...Oh snaps, If you really are a human, that is! [slashdot.org]

Re:So do I...

[BenEnglishAtHome]

And sometimes people get blindsided.

I had a good friend who explained why he divorced his first wife thusly:

When we were dating, she'd do any thing, any time. BJs while driving, stand-ups in her parents back yard, you name it. Constantly. All the time, any time I wanted it, and more. We got married. Lovely ceremony. Driving away in the limo, I leaned over to give her a kiss and grab a little something. After all, we'd never sat in the back seat of any vehicle when she wasn't instantly wriggling out of her clothes or diving for my crotch. So I reached over and leaned over and you know what she did? She pushed me back and, in a tone of complete disgust, said "You'll mess up my hair." I didn't get a single bj after that. She barely gave me an opportunity to get her pregnant. I went elsewhere for what I needed and the marriage went straight to hell.

I'll never forget that story. There are some good lessons in there.

Re:Picky, picky, picky

[Anonymous Coward]

How about "because I am polite"? I open doors for everyone.

Half-a-whoosh. The OP was trying the point across, but you're OK in your confusion because he didn't get the quote right.

The original (and canonical) version is "I didn't hold the door open for you because I thought you were a lady. I held it open because I'm a gentleman." (Using the right words here, and putting the emphasis on the right words, is important.)

Gentlemen hold the door open for whomever's behind them because it's a dick move to slam the door in anyone's face. And (and this particularly galling to a woman looking for a reason to take offence at any man who tries to treat her well) gentlemen don't think of women as "ladies".

She can either feel bad that an old fuddy-duddy (who didn't know any better, but who meant well) regards her as unworthy of the (obsolete, but generally positive) title of "lady", or that some chauvinist pig didn't think she was as hot as she thought she was, because he held the door open for her just as he would have for any dude.

Either way, the gentleman wins the rhetorical battle. (And seeing as how we're all nerds here, isn't that the best kind of winning? :)