When it comes to breaking up, people take the easy way out. Many end their romantic relationships using Facebook or e-mail because it is harder to do it face to face.

When two people are dating and communicate through technology, particularly Facebook, the messages they are attempting to share with their significant other are less meaningful than when conveyed in person, particularly when breaking up, said a psychologist at Johns Hopkins University.

Patricia Wallace, also author of The Psychology of the Internet, said, “Typing still leaves something to be desired as a communication tool; it lacks the nuances that can be expressed by body language and voice inflection.”

Even though Facebook provides an emotionally ‘safe’ way to break up with your ex, because you only change your status from ‘in a relationship’ to ‘single’, that does not make it ethically correct for a couple to part on digital terms, she said.

Ilana Gershon, a professor of communication and culture at Indiana University and author of the book The Breakup2.0: Disconnecting over New Media, said people are ending relationships this way because they don’t know what is digitally correct.

Gershon said, “New Media is ‘new,’ and the accepted rules of what medium to use and when are still being figured out. Until someone takes charge and becomes the ‘Emily Post of new media,’ these situations are going to become increasingly complicated as more networks, platforms and technologies emerge,” she said.

In order to not succumb to the unethical way of breaking up, Sophomore D.J. Simone said it is necessary to do it in person.

“Obviously, you do it in person first, and then you make it Facebook official. The worst thing a person can do is break up via text or phone call. You tell them in person so you can tell them why you’re doing it and what’s going on,” he said.

Sophomore Savannah Glasgow said when a relationship is not ended face-to-face, the message is perceived as aloof.

“If someone is your significant other and you spend so much time with that person, and you break up with them via text message, a phone call or especially Facebook, [the message] is very impersonal because then you don’t know if they are making the right decision,” she said.

Sophomore Kirsten Samuels agreed.

“It is bad to break up with someone via technology and better to do it to their face because it is rude to not do it that way. It is kind of saying, ‘I don’t have the time to look at you in the eye and tell you why I am breaking up with you.’ Obviously, then the relationship did not mean much,” she said.