Facebook can do a lot, including keeping people connected through its messaging service, helping with social search, and acting as a positive resource for kids. Now, according to a TED talk in July given by David McCandless, Facebook also knows when you’re most likely to dump – or get dumped.

McCandless, a journalist and designer, presented this data in his talk “The beauty of data visualization.” After finding the phrases “break up” or “broken up” in 10,000 Facebook status updates, McCandless determined the following:

• The most common time of year that people break up is around March, right after Valentine’s Day and before spring break (it’s not fun to be tied down in Cabo).
• Break-ups are also common right before Christmas (people might rethink their priorities when they start Christmas shopping); however, very few breakups occur on Christmas day.
• Summer is also a big season for singles, as many break-ups occur around June and July.
• Mondays are the most common day of the week for break-ups.

The craziest thing about this data is that people are so quick to share such personal information on social networking sites – even if they are the dumpees! While this is the easiest way to keep friends and families updated on our lives, kids need to be especially careful of what they’re posting. In order for parents to protect their kids’ online reputations, they need to monitor what’s posted on Facebook and trust, but also verify, that their kids keep their information appropriate and private. Be careful of oversharing yourself and make sure your kids understand that Facebook isn’t the most private way to share information, whether it’s good news or bad news.

What other personal information gets shared on Facebook?