"Divorce-Online has noticed that the social notworking site is being named a source for evidence in more divorce cases. There is a 50 per cent jump in the number of ‘behaviour-based’ divorce petitions including the term Facebook being filed in the last two years. The firm also said that at least a third of the 5,000 petitions filed in 2011 mentioned Facebook.

In a statement Mark Keenan, managing director of Divorce-Online said that while 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," he said."