What does being ‘in a relationship’ do to your Facebook?

The course of true love never did run smooth – something which Facebook has found to be true after examining the activity on users' accounts both before and after they entered 'into a relationship'.

According to a study aptly titled The Formation of Love, Facebook has discovered that in the run-up to becoming officially shacked up on the social networking site, the amount that people post on their potential suitor's timeline steadily goes up.

However, once they have tied the virtual knot, this posting behaviour decreases, perhaps as people turn their attention to real-life canoodling and cuddling, rather than virtual connecting and clicking.

The data revealed a peak of 1.67 posts per day 12 days before the relationship is officially confirmed and a low point of just 1.53 daily posts, once the couple have been together for 85 days. 

With Valentine's Day having just passed, the social networking site has been releasing a series of blog posts on the topic of love, revealing people's behaviour on the site around the time of a break-up. By looking at the interaction around the time an individual switches their status from being hitched to 'single', the site appeared to be a great source of support for many when heartache came aknockin'.