Facebook is being cited in almost one in five of online divorce petitions, lawyers have claimed.
The social networking site, which connects old friends and allows users to make new ones online, is being blamed for an increasing number of marital breakdowns.Divorce lawyers claim the explosion in the popularity of websites such as Facebook is tempting to people to cheat on their partners.

Suspicious spouses have also used the websites to find evidence of flirting and even affairs which have led to divorce.One law firm, which specializes in divorce, claimed almost one in five petitions they processed cited Facebook. One of the divorce lawyers said: “I had heard from my staff that there were a lot of people saying they had found out things about their partners on Facebook and I decided to see how prevalent it was. I was really surprised to see 20 per cent of all the petitions containing references to Facebook”.