There was a survey conducted recently by online dating company DatetheUK among 2,000 of its members. When asked whether they had broken up with somebody via text, Twitter, Facebook, or email, more than half of those surveyed responded yes. To be exact, 34% had broken up over email, 13% over Facebook via the status change, 6% over Twitter, and another 2% over text. The rest split up the old-fashioned way, face to face or by phone.

I need to know more details before I say that digital dumping is a horrible thing. The survey didn’t say how long the participants were in relationships before they ended them. If I had only gone on a couple of dates, I felt okay about sending a polite email. But if I’ve been dating someone for months, I can’t really see justifying breaking up over email or announcing it on Facebook or Twitter.

Break-up explanations deserve more than 140 characters, and some privacy. I would not have put the “in a relationship” status on my FB page to begin with if I really liked the guy, but that’s because I’m superstitious. The Frisky makes a good point that many relationships already happen over text, Facebook, and Twitter, so breakups may follow the same pattern. Still, it feels depressing when even dinner conversations get replaced by devices.

The Frisky makes a good point about this trend—most of our relationships take place over text, FB and Twitter, so it’s only appropriate that break-ups follow. This to me is a depressing thought…like when I see a group of friends together at dinner and none of them are talking because they are busy texting or tweeting other friends. The friends who are absent have become the most important. So what’s the point of actually meeting someone in person if that’s the way you prefer to communicate?