The Current

'Texts from your Ex' is the new normal, 87 per cent of young people contact or track their ex-partner

In the good old days, returning a box of your ex-lover's stuff was the hardest bit of housekeeping that needed doing during a break-up. Not anymore. Splitting up today might mean unfriending, unfollowing, and deleting your ex from your social networks, apps, and smartphone. Today we're looking at why breaking up can be harder to do in the internet age....
In the good old days, returning a box of your ex-lover's stuff was the hardest bit of housekeeping that needed doing during a break-up. Not anymore. Splitting up today might mean unfriending, unfollowing, and deleting your ex from your social networks, apps, and smartphone. Today we're looking at why breaking up can be harder to do in the internet age.

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Brenda Lee, author of the Ex Factor study says young people today need more post-break-up support, living in the internet age makes it too easy to reach out to an ex or track them.  skedonk


Break-ups have never been easy. But today getting away from an ex is harder than ever... thanks to a culture where splitting up means having to un-friend, unfollow, and block a former flame to escape the constant posts, tweets and updates.

But many of us aren't equipped to cut an ex so completely from our lives. According to a study from the University of New Brunswick, 87 per cent of young people have tried to contact or track the whereabouts of an ex... both on and offline.

Brenda Lee is a PhD candidate in the University of New Brunswick's Department of Psychology. Her study, The Ex-Factor was published in the Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality.


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From the popular 'Texts From Your Ex' Instagram account


We convened a panel to discuss breaking up in the digital age and what you can do to truly disconnect from an ex.

  • Kate Carraway writes an weekly advice column, Love Kate, at Flare.com, and compiles the Dating Diaries for the Toronto Star.

  • Shannon Boodram is a clinical sexologist and editor of LAID: Young People's Experiences with Sex in an Easy-Access Culture.

  • David Eddie is an advice columnist with the Globe and Mail and author of Damage Control.


Do you think breaking up is harder to do now? Have you every tracked an ex? Or has an old flame ever tried to reconnect with you? Let us know.

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This segment was produced by The Current's Shannon Higgins.