Many of us probably don't realise how many personal things we share on social networking sites. Particularly Facebook invites you to tell your friends everything from that new job you've got to where you're going out at the weekend - all illustrated with hundreds of pictures of yourself. It's not exactly hard to form a biography based on someone's profile.

Together with all the information provided by your friends, Facebook can paint a good picture of your life, including your relationships. But while most couples don't anticipate trouble ahead, Facebook could be the first step towards predicting problems in your love life.

This interesting conclusion was reached by Jon Kleinberg, a computer scientist, and Lars Backstrom, who works at Facebook, when they conducted a study at the American Cornell University. They looked at relationships in the light of how many mutual friends the couple has on Facebook.

Is too much closeness bad for love?

It would make sense to believe that couples with a lot of mutual friends will have a harmonious relationship thanks to their shared lives. However, the research proved quite the opposite. In fact those who shared a social circle and had few friends of their own had a much higher risk of breaking up.

What does this mean for a couple? Well, if you share too many things in your life with your other half - including friendships and hobbies - you could be at risk of spending too much time together. While it might sound romantic to share your life with someone, it could be the kiss of death for your relationship. If you never have anything new to talk about with your partner, it could mean you lose interest in one another. And should this result in a breakup, the couple will be faced with another dilemma - who should they turn to for comfort?

Stay independent

If this study has got you checking mutual friends and panicking about what it means for you and your other half, take a deep breath. As long as you're not joined at the hip you have nothing to worry about - Facebook isn't everything, after all. Not everybody shares everything online and it's common knowledge that most Facebook friends are more 'friends' than actual pals who you can call at 3am without thinking twice.

The conclusion is what many of us already know: as long as you stay your own person, no matter how in love you are, then you should have a long and happy future ahead. And the great news is that it means some friends and hobbies stay yours and yours alone.