By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
This therapist suggests unfriending your spouse on Facebook, and here's why
ed827e588155710e25b5eec4e56f7dd9c6565790b11c394f9762ff3f1f88f998
Based on personal experiences, a New York therapist now suggests people unfriend their spouses on Facebook, and he says it can salvage relationships. - photo by Payton Davis
For New York therapist Ian Kerner, learning all small details of his wife's life on social media took away from the "unknowingness" that can keep relationships interesting, according to Today.

So, the licensed psychotherapist cut ties with her on Facebook.

"I realized for a little while with my own wife that I didn't really want her to be my friend on Facebook," Kerner said, according to Today. "I didn't want all of that extra information. If anything I wanted less information I wanted more mystery and more unpredictability."

A Daily Mail report indicated that Kerner's "digital detox" helped his marriage and that he believes others could benefit from the same strategy, even for a small time.

Think that might be a bit brutal in the screen-driven age? Statistics show social media and technology use in general drives a wedge between partners, according to Public Radio International.

PRI's article read that "25 percent of cellphone owners in a marriage or partnership have felt their partner was distracted by their cellphone when they were together," and 8 percent of people argued with their spouses in regards to amount of time spent online.

Today's piece stated those percentages surge to 42 percent and 18 percent, respectively, among people ages 18 to 29.

According to the Daily Mail, without digital distractions, partners will have to communicate face-to-face more frequently.

If splitting with your loved one in regards to social media still sounds difficult, author Duana Welch told the Daily Mail it's a strong statement considering sites like Facebook dominate so much free time.

"You can say: 'I value our love so much more than I care about social media. Our relationship deserves protecting; you and I aren't seeing eye to eye on some things, and I'd rather we communicate totally in person. Can Facebook be something we keep separate, using it for people we don't see as much?'" Welch said.

However, NDTV reported on a study where researchers found the opposite that couples who use Facebook to brag about their feelings actually last longer. University of Wisconsin-Madison assistant professor Cataline Toma conducted the research, using the "See Friendship" option to "document the Facebook activity of heterosexual college-aged dating couples," according to NDTV.

Toma found couples listing themselves as "in a relationship," posting pictures together and posting on each other's wall were positively linked to couples that last.

"The claims people make about themselves in public are likely to be very influential in how they think about themselves," Toma told NDTV. "Now we're finding that these public self-presentations performed on Facebook also affect how people feel about a relationship partner."

For Kerner, lovers might feel close by doing these things, but mystery proves important, according to The Independent.

"Theres something about being in a relationship where you want some unknowningness and some unpredictability," he said.

Latest family stories:

How hand sanitizer can put your child's life at risk

'Super Mario' just turned 30. Here's why you and your child should play the game together

Dad re-creates portraits he took with his late wife with his daughter
Sign up for our E-Newsletters