The New Breakup

by Tobi Elkin

Last year in the uber-cool blogging world, a relationship between bloggers Moe Tkacik and Richard Blakeley, both of Gawker Media, exploded into the public domain and turned ugly post-breakup. Tkacik had written an unflattering account of the couple’s liaison on her personal blog. Blakeley retaliated by posting a video of himself simulating sex with a dead fish.

“The stakes are really high. Technology is used so regularly now not only to uncover what’s going on with relationships, but you can go online and send a text message from a number that’s not your number,” says Danine Manette, author of Ultimate Betrayal: Recognizing, Uncovering and Dealing With Infidelity.

“I think with the advances in technology and the ability to know in real time the whereabouts of the person you’re looking for, we’re going to see more and more vengeful assaults. It’s going to get ugly,” says Manette, who’s also a criminal investigator with a law degree.

Indeed, technology changes everything, but old-fashioned gumshoe tactics remain effective to catch cheating spouses or partners. Jerry Palace—a former New York City police detective—runs Check a Mate, which specializes in matrimonial investigations. He conducts GPS tracking, background investigations, uses hidden cameras and other methods to confirm cheating.

“The big thing today is following them. Years ago, we sent decoys, you sent a girl to somebody’s boyfriend or husband,” Palace notes. He says legally, there are now more restrictions on what he can do with phone and financial records and bills so “we’ve gone back to the basics… it’s surveillance.”