Spring Break-ups: Graphic of Facebook updates show when people are most likely to end a relationship

By NIALL FIRTH
Last updated at 4:36 PM on 2nd November 2010

A designer who uses hard data to come up with interesting graphics and images has found which points in the year are the most popular for splitting up with partners.

David McCandless pulled information from 10,000 Facebook status updates which used the phrases ‘break up’ or ‘broken up’ and plotted them on a graph.

The Facebook graphic shows most people break up at Spring Break or Christmas

He discovered that there were definite peaks and troughs with a huge number of relationship ending in the two weeks of the aptly-titled Spring Break, a major holiday in the U.S. college calendar which falls in early March.

Other popular times of the year to break the news are over the summer and the two weeks leadingup to Christmas itself.

Romantics will perhaps be heartened to note that Christmas Day itself is the day when the fewest relationships end.

Monday is the most popular day for updating your Facebook status with news of a failed relationship, perhaps after a particularly bad weekend. 

Valentines Day also sees a spike in the number of love affairs that come to a sudden end.

Mr McCandless first unveiled his Facebook graph at a TED talk in August. He has also create graphics which show how much money is spent on foreign aid, or what each country in the world is the number one at – Britain is number one for CCTV.

For those whose relationship has recently ended there is good news from Facebook, which has finally bowed to pressure from users and stopped showing photos of former lovers on people’s pages.

Launched as a piece of harmless nostalgia, the Photo Memories faced a fierce backlash from users who often found themselves confronted with pictures of ex-girlfriends and former lovers who they would rather not be reminded of.

Sam Odio, Facebook's project manager said: 'While users may still see Photo Memories of their former romantic partners if they didn't declare the relationship on Facebook – as well of their current partner with that person's former partners – the change should help heal the heartache for many users.'

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First international LGBT music video TV station debuts to critical success, showcases global talent

Marlee Walchuk and Nathalie Callender of SugarBeach and RightOutTV.

Photo: Reinier deSmit

More than Halloween happened last sunday.

A new LGBTQ Music Video TV Channel calledRightOutTV, which features 24/7 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender music video streaming, made its successful debut, making RighOutTV the first and only place online where the global LGBTQ community can view a constant stream of music videos from 'out' artists telling their stories.

Created, produced and hosted by lesbian dance/pop duo Marlee Walchuk and Tully Callender ofSugarbeach, RightOutTV was their dream finally brought to reality.  RightOutTV has an impressive list of features including:

· All Genres of music for all ages

· Big budget-produced videos and organic live performance videos

· Video-on-demand feature

· Interviews with featured artists

· PG rating for youth viewing

· “It Gets Better” campaign PSA’s

As SugarBeach were creating their own music videos, they were not able to find a globally accessible TV station where openly queer artists could easily share their videos in a constant stream of LGBT splendor. So was born RightOut TV.

Hosted by Marlee & Tully with their newly-wed chemistry, RightOut TV can be viewed from the U.S. to Iran through Africa. Audiences can experience some of the world’s top “out” artists gathered together in one place.

"Now more than ever, queer youth need mentors and role models from the LGBTQ community. It is here our youth will see pioneers like Tret Fure (U.S.A.) to newcomers like Jungal (Australia) and be exposed to artists they may not have otherwise come across."

Current Artists featured include:  Anna Gutmanis, Ariel Aparicio, Armstrong Jr, Athena Reich, Avi Wisnia, Dan Manjovi, Deborah Stewart It Gets Better PSA, Eric Himan, Grrlz will be Boiz, Jason Walker, Jeffery Straker, Jen Foster, Jeremy Gloff, Josh Duffy,Josh Zuckerman, Julie Schurr, Jungal, Kate Reid, Kelly and the Kelly Girls, Lovari,Mathew Presidente, Matt Zarley, Melange Lavonne, Mike Rickard, Nancy Laberge,Nhojj, Norine Braun, Rachael Sage, Robert German, Robert Urban, Rosie Burgess Trio, SONIA & disappear fear, Sugarbeach, Summer Osborne, Terry Christopher, Toni Vere & Hashmagandy, Tret Fure, and Troy Jackson.

For more information, including high res photos or interviews, please contact Marlee Walchuk at rightouttv@shaw.ca.

Megachurch pastor denies luring four teenage boys into sexual relationships but admits: 'I told them to call me Daddy'

The megachurch pastor from Georgia accused of luring four young men into sexual relationships categorically denied the allegations for the first time in a court filing Monday. 

Bishop Eddie Long, who is a vocal opponent of gay marriage, has admitted he encouraged them to call him 'daddy' but said he was only a mentor to the men who filed civil lawsuits against him.

Bishop Long, of the New Birth Missionary Church in Lithonia, Georgia, has vowed to fight the lawsuits and promised in church sermons he would not let the legal troubles prevent him from doing his pastoral work. 

Enlarge 

Long's New Birth Missionary Baptist Church welcomed President Bush during the Coretta Scott King funeral in 2006

While his lawyer has denied the allegations on his behalf, Long had not refuted them publicly until he filed his legal response.

The men, who were 17 and 18 at the time, have claimed that Long abused his spiritual authority to lure them into trysts with cars, jewellery and cash.

Their lawyer, B.J. Bernstein, said she doesn't have much physical evidence backing up the complaints, but that she plans to subpoena records from Long that will show he travelled with the young men to New Zealand and elsewhere.

Bernstein declined to comment because she had not yet received the response.

Long, though, said in the four separate documents that he often encouraged his New Birth Missionary Church members to call him 'daddy' and that some even called him 'grandaddy,' but that the term was a sign of respect.

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Long's lawyer has previously spoken out to defend photos the preacher took with his cellphone and sent some of the young men who are now suing him

The bishop also said in the documents that he has long shared rooms with some of his church members, and that his parishioners often hug him. 

And while he admitted to giving the plaintiffs gifts, he said he often provided many members of his church with financial assistance.

Long became one of the nation's most powerful church leaders over the past two decades, transforming a suburban Atlanta congregation of 150 into a powerhouse of 25,000 members that includes high-profile athletes, entertainers and politicians.

The bishop is a father of four who has counselled gay members of his church to become straight. 

But the TV preacher's empire was threatened in September when the four men filed the lawsuits.

Two of the young men say he targeted them after they enrolled in the church's LongFellows Youth Academy, a programme that taught teens about sexual, physical and financial discipline. 

The other two - one of whom attended a satellite church in Charlotte, North Carolina - have made similar claims.

In September lawyer Craig Gillen defended photos Long sent some of the men from his cellphone, showing the pastor in fitted workout clothing, calling him 'a health advocate, he’s a weight lifter'. 

He added: 'He’s a fella, who’s gonna go to work and he’s gonna have on a muscle shirt.'

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