Popular social networking site - Facebook - is becoming a major factor in marriage breakdowns and is increasingly being used as a source of evidence in divorce cases.

Facebook was cited as a reason for a third of divorces last year in which unreasonable behaviour was a factor, according to law firm Divorce-Online.

The firm said it had seen a 50 per cent jump in the number of behaviour-based divorce petitions that contained the word ’Facebook’ in the past two years, The Daily Mail reported today.

Mark Keenan, managing director of Divorce-Online, said: “Facebook has become the primary method for communicating with friends for many people.

“People contact ex-partners and the messages start as innocent, but lead to trouble. If someone wants to have an affair or flirt with the opposite sex then it’s the easiest place to do it“.

Thirty-three per cent of the 5,000 behaviour petitions filed with the firm in the past year mentioned the site.

The most common reasons for Facebook causing problems in relationships were a spouse finding flirty messages, photos of their partner at a party they did not know about or with someone they should not have been with, the report said.

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