Facebook the new love boat

Facebook (FB) is a data machine. They know nearly everything about you and your connections. Since Valentines Day has come and gone FB has decided to analyse their database of relationship status updates from 'single' to 'its complicated' to help you in yours. The worlds largest social network is also the worlds biggest relationship database.

Men tend to be older than women in a relationship
Yep in 67% of relationships the male is older, in 20% the female is older and 13% of couples are the same age. On average the male is 2.4 years older. Australia has the closest age parity with an average gap of only 1.8 years.

What's important?
Religion does play a part. It seems that people are willing to date people with a different religion but are less likely to marry them. In Australia around 77% of relationships are with people of the same religion.

Will we still be together?
The most important aspect is time. The longer you have stayed together the less likely to split up. Most relationships end in only a few months. As the chart below shows if you can make it past 6 months your % chance of staying together dramatically increases.

https://www.facebook.com/data/posts/10152217010993415

How couples interact on FB
Before a relationship starts there is a slow and steady increase in messaging. However as the relationship begins there is less messaging as couples spend more time together in the real world. Less FB can sometimes be a good thing! While users post less in a relationship FB found that they express more positive messages to each other.

Where to look?
No information for Australia but the best places to look if you're an Australian in the US is by going to the towns with the highest % of most single people

1. Detroit, MI

2. Los Angeles, CA

3. New York, NY

4. Miami, FL

5. Memphis, TN

But don't people go to these places to be single? FB suggests that cities where everyone is paired up is actually a better place to find a relationship as the incentive or pressure to pair up is even stronger. Apparently Colorado Springs tops the list due to its strong links to the military and religious communities that promote and encourage traditional values in relationships.

You can always count on your friends
Things do not always work out as planned and if your relationship does go south you can count on your friends. Your support network on FB does seem to work with the amount of interactions increasing when a relationship status is updated on FB. As can be seen below messages increase by 225% on the day of the update versus the average volume of interactions the prior weeks.

                                https://www.facebook.com/data/posts/10152217010993415

Jason

http://www.decisiveassetmanagement.com/

Disclosure: Decisive has a long position in Facebook (FB) stock 

The material in this article is for informational purposes only and in no way constitutes a solicitation of business or investment advice. The material has been prepared without regard to any client's or other person's investment objectives. Before making an investment decision you should consider the assistance of a financial adviser and whether any investment or service is appropriate in light of your particular investment needs.