When me and my ex-boyfriend broke up about a year ago, I found myself checking his Facebook page about every ten seconds. Part of me wanted to look because I didn’t want to accept what was real, and part of me wanted to stop out of fear that I might have found something there that would have made me feel worse (like a new girlfriend, or the fact that he was actually happier without me in his life). I decided not to defriend him and just went cold turkey (which worked for a while), but I ultimately gave in and started checking his profile again (this time, I even added a general Google search into the mix just for good measure). I wasn’t able to truly cut ties with my ex until HE defriended me, which was hurtful, but probably a mixed blessing all things considered.

Good Break-Up Tools to Get
Thankfully, technology has been invented for those of us with cyber-stalking tendencies. If you're looking to block your ex from your social networking experience all in one shot, then Block Your Ex is for you. This site allows you to plug in links to his or her pages and then it will magically make them disappear from your online experience. No more tweets, no more status updates, and no more blog posts about how wonderful everything at work/home/school is going for them. Oh and by the way, your ex will never know you blocked them using the site, AND you can also add more than one ex to your list (bonus!).  

Once Facebook and Twitter is taken care of, deleting your ex’s number from your phone is probably one of the hardest parts of breaking up. But fear not, there's even an app for that! The Erase Your X app will delete your Ex’s number for you, but not without sending them a little “farewell” e-mail beforehand. 

Technology to Avoid
The Blackberry and iPhone applications for Foursquare can easily make any breakup much messier than it has to be. These apps allow you and your friends to “check into” locations with your cell phone (think a tweet or a Facebook status update that gives your exact location and a link to directions). Now imagine that you've deleted your ex from your phone (so you can’t call) and your Facebook (so you can’t stalk or message him). What's the only option left? To show up wherever he last checked into, of course! Now imagine he's at the gym (seemingly harmless), but when you show up there he's with hisnew girlfriend (oh, and he's also wondering what you're doing at his gym when you're not even a member). Bottomline: It makes you look like a stalker, so it's probably best if delete this app for the timebeing until you're totally over him or her.

With all the technology that's available to us today, it can be extremely difficult to totally cut all ties with someone we once shared a life with. However, as any woman who has been through a breakup will say, cutting off contact (even if you think you may still be able to be friends…eventually) is a surefire way to get over it and move on with your new, fabulous life. So ladies, take my advice and stop obsessing.  Trust me,  you’ll thank me later when you don’t randomly pop up in a supermarket four hours away from your dorm because your ex is buying Frosted Flakes there (as per his Facebook status, of course!).
 

— By Stephanie Vacchio, Union College