Oh Nos! of the Day:

Troubling Statistic: 20% of all divorce cases in the US cite evidence found on Facebook as grounds for the dissolution of marriage. According to a recent survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, four out of five lawyers saw an increase over the past five years in the number of divorce cases which cited evidence found on social networking sites, with Facebook being the primary source by a significantly wide margin over MySpace and Twitter.

From The Guardian:

Those statistics included not just evidence of infidelity but other legal battles, such as child custody cases in which parents deny using illicit drugs but boast of smoking marijuana on their Facebook pages.
Photographs harvested from social networking sites – including those posted by friends or colleagues on their own pages – are a particularly rich source of damning evidence, according to divorce lawyers.

“If you publicly post any contradictions to previously made statements and promises,” says AAML president Marlene Eskind Moses, “an estranged spouse will certainly be one of the first people to notice and make use of that evidence.”

PROTIP: Don’t publicly post contradictions to previously made statements and promises.

[cbc / guardian / image: fbknol.]