Article Lead Image

There’s a song for that Facebook breakup

When you really want to show how you're feeling about a new relationship—or, alas—a breakup, you of course need to choose the right song.

 

Austin Powell

Streaming

Posted on Feb 10, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 9:33 pm CDT

Posting emotional lyrics to Facebook is so 2011.

These days, status updates move to the music shared on services like Earbids, Rdio, and Mog, creating a soundtrack to the Facebook Timeline of our online lives. Even President Obama posted his 2012 election playlist on Spotify Thursday.

Facebook reported in November that listening activity has been shared on the social network more 1.5 billion times.

Now in the spirit of Valentine’s Day, the Facebook team has analyzed its latest data to see which songs corresponded with changes in relationship status. The results were prefaced with this note:

“Every day, people are breaking up and entering into relationships on Facebook.  When they do, they play songs that personify their mood. … [W]e looked at the songs most played by people in the U.S. on Spotify as they make their relationships and breakups ‘Facebook-official.’”

The data doesn’t stray far from the expected Top 40 fare: Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Drake, and David Guetta, etc. But the Daily Dot was surprised to see Florida R&B vocalist Jason Derulo land the number one song for new relationships with “Don’t Wanna Go Home.”

The full results are below.

Songs people listen to when entering into a relationship:

  • 1. Jason Derulo “Don’t Wanna Go Home”
  • 2. Beyoncé  “Love On Top”
  • 3. Lil Wayne “How to Love”
  • 4. Bruno Mars “Just The Way You Are”
  • 5. Flo Rida “Good Feeling”
  • 6. Jason Derulo “It Girl”
  • 7. Gym Class Heroes featuring Adam Levine “Stereo Hearts”
  • 8. Britney Spears “Criminal”
  • 9. Wiz Khalifa “No Sleep”
  • 10. John Mayer “Free Fallin’

Songs listened by people after ending a relationship:

  • 1. Mumford and Sons “The Cave”
  • 2. Drake “Crew Love”
  • 3. Kanye West “All of the Lights”
  • 4. Adele “Rolling in the Deep”
  • 5. Drake “Take Care”
  • 6. Bruno Mars “It Will Rain”
  • 7. Rihanna & Calvin Harris “We Found Love”
  • 8. Foster the People “Call It What You Want”
  • 9. Selena Gomez & the Scene “Love You Like a Love Song”
  • 10.   David Guetta featuring Usher “Without You”

All of which begs the question, what’s your go-to jam for starting or ending a relationship? Sound off in the comments.

Photo by She Likes Cherries

Share this article
*First Published: Feb 10, 2012, 7:31 pm CST