Facebook Break-Ups Gone Bad

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By Kia O. Moore

Sarah Richardson just went from being “alive,” to being “deceased.”

Edward Richardson was jailed on Jan. 22 and will server 18 years for the murder of his wife, Sarah.

In May 2008 Richardson stabbed Sarah to death at her parents’ Biddulph, central England home. His murderous rage was triggered by Sarah’s Facebook relationship status. The two had been separated since April 2008. He snapped after seeing her status was listed as “single.”

This is not the first murder triggered by a Facebook relationship status. Coincidentally, the October 2008 Facebook related murder happened in Britain. Wayne Forrester murder his wife Emma because of her “single” status. According to a BBC report, Forrester told police:

“Emma and I had just split up. She forced me out. She then posted messages on an internet website telling everyone she had left me and was looking to meet other men. I loved Emma and felt totally devastated and humiliated about what she had done to me.”

I would suggest that Facebook user not post their relationship status at all. During the infatuation phase of the love cycle, everyone wants to express their love publicly. I am all for PDA, but Facebook is not the place to partake in it. Everything is fine while the relationship is going well. As soon as “Hurricane Trouble” hits the lovers’ paradise, things get messy.

When the relationship ends, the Facebook news feed will read, “Jane Doe just went from being ‘in a relationship’ with John Q. Public to being ’single.’” Just saying that a relationship has ended is hard enough, but seeing it in black and white is devastating. The worst part is that all of your Facebook friends and your ex-partners friends will see it too. The little, sky blue comment boxes then begin to cascade down the computer screen. Friends will ask over and over, “What happened?” Some comments may even be cheap shots like, “I am glad you two broke up. LMAO :0))”

But unfortunately, that is only the beginning. Things start to get ugly very quickly. Facebook update statuses become venting sessions. Nasty messages are posted back and forth on profile walls. Groups like “I hate John Q. Public” or “Jane Doe was the WORST Girlfriend Ever” are created. Then humiliating photos are posted. With every profile modification, the Facebook news feed will post the latest updates. A nasty break-up has the potential to turn into a Facebook soap opera, and your friends can tune in every time they logged in.

I know some may say that they would never do anything like that. Well…maybe they have never truly fallen in love. Love is just a socially accepted state of insanity. When a person is in love, rational thinking goes out the window. When a heart is broken, there is no telling what lengths a person may go to,  just to get revenge. Facebook is just an easy and effective tool that can be used to seek out revenge.

Jazmine Sullivan chooses to bust windows out of cars. Other choose to use Facebook to put their ex’s personal information on the internet for all to see. So save yourself the trouble and leave the Facebook relationship status empty.