Breaking Up Is Hard to Do...and evidently it is seasonal too!

There are lots of great visualization tools available now to look at lots of data points in a synthesized, simplified graphic.  Infographics are fun to look at but so are trend graphs.

In a blog post by Mathias Mikkelsen, he mentions listening to a talk by David McCandless.  David is an author, writer & designer in London.  He has written some great articles for Wired and The Guardian.

One of the trendlines that he covered during a recent talk was Facebook and how it can trendline breakups.  David's team looked at more than 10,000 "status updates" using search terms "breakup" and "broken up" on Facebook profiles and then matched those to a dateline.

Evidently, breakups trend Up around 4 data points:
before spring break
right after Valentine's day
on Mondays
before summer gears up
right before Christmas

So, if you change your status when you enter or leave a relationship, just remember that maybe more than your friends are watching and taking count!

Source(s):

"British journalist David McCandless makes Facebook breakup chart by analyzing 10K status updates", Alexandra Hazlett, NYDailyNews.com, November 4, 2010.
 
"Amazing Facts About Facebook and Breakups", Mathias Mikkelsen, October 25, 2010.