If You Friend Your New SO On Social Media Too Early, You'll Break Up In A Month

I know it's tempting, but maybe don't Facebook friend request that new guy you're dating.

The Journal of Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking recently published a study that suggests connecting on social media too early can negatively affect a person's view of his or her SO.

To see how this finding played out IRL, dating site WhatsYourPrice.com surveyed 14,000 people about their last relationships to determine how being friends on social media affected those relationships long-term.

The survey divided the respondents into three groups based on when the person friend requested their SO: before their first date, right after the first date and a month or more after the first date.

Approximately 26 percent of respondents friended their SO before the first date, 42 percent friended them right after the first date and 32 percent of them friended them a month or more after the first date.

Then, they were all asked how long their relationships lasted.

Respondents who friended their SO before the first date had relationships that lasted from one to six months. Respondents who friended their SO right after the first date had relationships that lasted less than a month.

And respondents who friended their SO more than one month after the first date had relationships that lasted more than one year.

Respondents who friended their SO right after the first date had relationships that lasted less than a month.

It's evident that finding out too much about someone over social media before actually meeting them might be detrimental to the relationship's longevity.

The people who really got to know their SO IRL, then over social media, probably had more luck because they assumed less about them from shared photos and videos. They probably spent more time actually getting to know their SO face-to-face, getting a clearer picture of that person, instead of a curated one.

Brandon Wade, CEO and founder of WhatsYourPrice.com, agrees:

“Connecting with a new partner on social media can result in information overload. Allowing too much access to someone's past can create unnecessary anxieties and break an already fragile trust between new partners."

Connecting with a new partner on social media can result in information overload.

So think twice before Facebook-friending that dude you just met, if you want it to last, ladies — unless you're just looking for a fling. In which case, request away.