Breakups on Social Media: Social Behaviors and Dilemmas

In this paper, we explore "apart" behaviors, which are conducted to disconnect with ex-partners using various technological affordances on social media, to extend CSCW/HCI knowledge of how social media supports disconnections in post-breakups. 174 posts and comments from Reddit, Quora, and Facebook, along with sixteen online articles, were qualitatively analyzed. Our findings show how users conduct apart behaviors using technological affordances and their expectations of features to facilitate apart behaviors. We also present two social dilemmas in experiencing apart behaviors on social media.