‘Digital souvenirs’ of the world’s failed relationships are being sought for a quirky research project in Dundee.
Digital Separations, a study by Dundee University, aims to understand what people keep after breaking up, and why.
It is being conducted in collaboration with the highly-rated Museum of Broken Relationships in Zabreg, Croatia, a unique public space exhibiting personal objects left over from former lovers.
Each memento is accompanied by a brief story explaining the item’s significance.
The researchers behind the latest study are PhD student Daniel Herron and Professor Wendy Moncur, researchers in the interdisciplinary Living Digital group at the university.
They hope a study on virtual mementos will provide an invaluable insight into how people move on following an emotional collapse, as well as creating greater awareness of the permanence their romantic communications online
Mr Herron said: “So much of our lives, including significant parts of our relationships, are lived online now.
“People meet online, they share information through social media, make and share playlists, keep photos on their smartphones.
“Much of this digital content persists after a break up and needs to be dealt with in some way.
“Material generated as part of a romantic entanglement can linger online long after the actual relationship has ended.
“This material can give us significant insights into how people can treat breakups, remember relationships, and move on positively in a modern, digital world.”
Anyone who has been through a break up and wants to share their experiences by donating a digital souvenir to the study, can visit https://brokenships.com/visit?open=contribute
One of the most bizarre items currently exhibited at the museum in Croatia is an axe used to destroy a former partner’s furniture in Berlin in 1995.
Another item exhibited at the museum is an antiques watch brought back from South Korea in 1987 accompanied by the caption: “She loved antiques — as long as things were old and didn’t work.
“That is precisely the reason we are not together anymore.”
