Social media blamed as a marriage killer

While social media was designed to bring people together, it can sometimes drive them apart. Social media could be a leading cause behind why more Chinese people are switching their status from married to single, according to experts.

A report by the Ministry of Civil Affairs in June found 3.637 million couples divorced in 2014, up by 3.9 percent from the previous year. Statistics from the ministry show the country has been witnessing a continuous rise in divorce since 2002.

Su, a white collar worker from Shanghai, was stunned and furious after discovering her husband's secret romances online.

"I found he had viewed dating websites after looking through the search history on his computer," she said.

Exploring further, she discovered her husband had been in touch with several "girlfriends" on different social networks. Some relationships were more than a decade old, long before they got married.

"Since we have a child, I will not consider divorcing. But our relationship is dead," she said.

One man, who requested anonymity, told Xinhua that he uses social networks to look for dates while on business trips.

"Once I took an intimate picture with my temporary girlfriend and it was discovered by my wife," he said, "she is still angry with me and I don' t know what will happen to our marriage."

Yu Kun, a Beijing-based psychologist, said among all the extramarital affairs of his young clients, about half of them were initiated through the internet

But most experts agree that social media generally only affects relationships that were already strained.

In some cases, social networking apps such as WeChat and Momo, which facilitate socializing with strangers, can be a tool in dismantling an already fragile marriage, Chen Yiyun, an expert from the marriage and family research institute under the All-China Women's Federation, said.

Social media is never the root cause of divorce, Han Junmei, a commentator on www.workercn.com, wrote.

"Incompatibility undermines marriages and social networks just increases the possibility of breaking up," she wrote.

Social media is not the only factor behind the rising divorce rate. The younger generation's attitude toward marriage has also changed.

"In the past, people were more conservative and saw it as a shame to get divorced," marriage consultant Shu Xin said. "Nowadays, people care more about the quality of marriage and are more willing to break the social norms for the sake of happiness."

Social mobility also takes part of the blame.

"The rising divorce rate is closely related to the flow of labor from rural to urban areas," Liu Ning, researcher with Party School of CPC Shanxi Provincial Committee, said.

Many migrant workers who suffer from long-term separation with their partners are susceptible to extramarital affairs, he said.