The Feed is Digiday’s Web-culture corner. Check The Feed everyday for Web-culture news roundups, infographics, essays and more. Follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day @digiday.
As these survey results from Lab42 show, social media plays a large role in people’s romantic relationships. Lab 42 surveyed 500 respondents over the age of 18 and asked them questions about their romantic relationships and social media. According to their results, 33 percent of respondents have been broken up with via text, email, or Facebook (ouch), and similarly 40 percent said they would break up with someone via text, email, or Facebook (double ouch). When asked what they do after meeting someone they are interested in, the top response (at 57 percent) was that they would friend the person of interest on Facebook, followed by researching the person on social networks (29 percent). However, there are still people who value good old fashioned, face-to-face human contact (thank god). When respondents who were not in a relationship were asked how they would most likely contact someone to ask them on a first date, the majority (at 42 percent) responded that they would contact their crush in person, followed by 24 percent who said they would ask the person out via Facebook. At least some people still have the nerve to face rejection in person; if anything has come out of these Internet Age courtship practices, it is that those who take the time, effort and courage to reach out in person definitely stand out against those who use the safety blanket of a computer or mobile phone screen to make their romantic advances.
More in Media

How creators are using generative AI in podcasts, videos and newsletters — and what advertisers think about it
May 9, 2025
Here’s a look at how some creators are leveraging generative AI to create video, audio and written content — and whether or not that’s a turn-off for advertisers.

Buzzfeed, News Corp and New York Times push back on tariff fears in earnings calls
May 9, 2025
Publishing execs pushed back on tariff and macroeconomic climate fears in Q1 2025 earnings calls, expressing confidence that their businesses would grow this year.

Digiday+ Research: Publishers’ subscription revenue is up this year, and they’ll focus on growing it even further
May 8, 2025
Subscriptions is one area where publishers are seeing more revenue, and, in turn, ramping up their plans to strengthen that part of their business in the coming months.