24% of people check their ex-partner’s social media channels weekly, while 13% admit to doing it daily. That’s according to the Digital PR Agency Reboot Online.
To help singles have a fresh start this Valentine’s Day, Reboot Online also offers an innovative solution: the Ex-IT service, erasing all digital traces of your ex from browsers, social media, and even camera rolls.
The Ex-IT Service
Naomi Aharony, managing director at Reboot commented on the new service:
“Breaking up is tough, but letting go of digital ties should be straightforward. Reboot’s Ex-IT service isn’t just SEO expertise; it’s data-driven liberation.
“We’re erasing the traces of past relationships from your digital footprint, giving you a clean slate online. No more unintentional encounters or awkward reminders – just a precise, data-focused breakup.”
How often people ‘check in’ on their ex’s social media profiles
| Time frame of checking an ex digitally | Female (%) | Male (%) | Overall Response (%) |
| Everyday | 12% | 12% | 12% |
| Weekly | 23% | 26% | 24% |
| Once a month | 16% | 15% | 15% |
| Every few months | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| Only when they pop up on my feed | 13% | 11% | 12% |
For the entire dataset, view here.
On average, people are most likely to stalk their ex weekly as 24% of participants surveyed revealed this is their most common ‘checking in’ habit to take a peek at their ex-partner’s new life.
Surprisingly, men are the most regular visitors, with 26% admitting to doing it every week, compared to 23% of women.
Main reasons for keeping memorabilia of your past relationship on social media
| Female (%) | Male (%) | Overall Response (%) | |
| You still have feelings for them | 25% | 27% | 26% |
| It’s a memory | 25% | 24% | 25% |
| We remain friends | 23% | 23% | 23% |
| You hope to get back together one day | 20% | 20% | 20% |
| I forget about them on there | 6% | 7% | 7% |
For the entire dataset, view here.
When asked about the main reasons for keeping memorabilia of past relationships on social media, 26% of respondents confessed that it’s due to still having feelings for their ex-lover, 27% of them being men and 25% women.
However, women tend to want to remember the past more than men and have keepsakes of events, which may explain why 25% of females admitted to keeping memorabilia on social media as they see it as a memory.
Callisto Adams, Certified Dating & Relationships Expert commented on the importance of removing all ties with an ex partner:
“When you keep your ex on your social media, you’re only hurting yourself—you’re making forgetting them harder, if not, impossible because you’ve created an illusion that needs breaking. You’re stuck reliving the same memories over and over again while your ex is out there living their best life…
“To grow, we need to create the optimal environment. When we continuously seek comfort in places that no longer exist we get lost, or worse, we get used to the pain because it once made us happy, and social media is huge in helping to worsen this pain.
“Things won’t change even if you continue to follow your ex on social media. People spend years cultivating a loving relationship, and you’re absolutely allowed to grieve its loss. But surrounding yourself with things that remind you of your ex-partner is only hurting you and constantly causing you to take a step back.”
Methodology:
- Digital PR Agency Reboot Online wanted to find out how singles can remove any digital trace of their ex and begin a fresh start through an Ex-IT service.
- To do so, a survey was conducted of 2000 participants to discover how often people utilise social media to have access to their ex and other past relationships.
- Reboot Online utilised reliable data source Ustats to ask three general questions to the respondents: ‘How soon after your relationship breakup would you be likely to delete images of them or you both together, including any traces of them through your social media channels?’, ‘ How often are you tempted to or do find yourself ‘checking in’ on your ex’s social media profiles?’ and ‘If you choose not to delete online memorabilia of your ex or the two of you together, what are the primary reasons for this decision?’
- A poll via Linkedin revealed that 17% of professionals admitted to stalking their ex online. We then gathered the number of UK employees (30.2million) and divided this by 17% to reveal how many professionals in the UK are suspected to be monitoring their ex partners social media accounts.
- Furthermore, a relationship expert also provided comments on the importance of removing all ties with an ex partner.
- All data is accurate as of January 2024.
To find out more about Reboot’s ‘Ex-IT’ offering please visit: https://www.rebootonline.com/digital-pr/#ex-it-service