Facebook new marriage minefield: Study

One in seven Britons have contemplated divorce because their partners spend too much time on various social media platforms, a top British legal firm has revealed.

The study by Slater and Gordon Lawyers found that social networking site Facebook was considered the "most dangerous" place for ruining relationships.

"Five years ago, Facebook was rarely mentioned in the context of a marriage ending but now it has become commonplace for clients to cite social media use or something they discovered on social media, as a reason for divorce," Andrew Newbury, head of family law at Slater and Gordon, said in an online statement.

"We are finding that social media is the new marriage minefield," he added.

According to the findings, while almost half of people secretly check their partner's Facebook account, one in five also indulge in brawls related to Facebook with their partner.

Nearly 25 percent of married couples said they "had at least one argument a week" because of social media use. Nearly 17 percent said they fight daily over something they find online about their partner, GeekWire.com reported.

Over 58 percent of the people know their partner's log-in details. The most common reasons for checking their partner's social media accounts was to find out who their partner was talking to and find out if they were telling the truth about their social life.

According to Newbury, pictures and posts on Facebook are now being routinely raised in the course of divorce proceedings.