They say that breaking up is hard to do
Now I know, I know that it’s true

-Neil Sedaka

We recently (last week) surveyed 7000 people who completed the KTS-II to research the relationship between temperament and the usage of social media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc).   There were lots of interesting data, some of which I will follow up on over the next week or so, but one interesting item jumped out in the first cursory analysis.  With respect to Neil Simon, and dozens of cover artists including The Four Seasons, Paul Anka, and The Partridge Family, it would appear that breaking up has become pretty easy, especially for a couple temperament groups.

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We included a question in our survey that asked respondents if they had ever broken up with a partner in a relationship, and if so, how they had done so.  Options included face-to-face, by telephone, snail mail, e-mail, Facebook posting,  Twitter, Instant Message, and Text message.  For the social media options, we looked only at people 25 and under; people beyond this age cut-off did most of their dating / breakups before social media became mainstream.

It turns out, Text Messaging has become a strong second place break up delivery option to face-to-face for people under 25.  31% of this age group had broken up with a partner at least once by Text Message.  Women are more likely than men to use this method, with Artisan females by far the most likely – 41% have done so.  At the opposite end of the scale, Rational females are the least likely to end it by text – only 16% had done so.  For the men, surprisingly, it was the Rationals at the top of the chart at 31%.

Is there a message in this data?  Maybe guys – if you’re dating an Artisan gal and things are shaky – maybe turn the texting function on your phone off temporarily…

There must be fifty ways to leave your lover.

–   Paul Simon

Make that fifty-one, Paul.