Is the internet about to blow up your marriage?

Whether it’s one half of a high profile couple rumoured to be ‘cheating’ or just an acquaintance you know up to no good, suddenly social media sleuthing is all the rage. But, asks Rachel Richardson, is ‘exposing’ affairs on the internet fair game or are innocent people being simply tarnished by wild accusations?

Social sleuthers: relationship justice warriors, or busy bodies with nothing better to do? (iStock/Getty)

Social media sleuths who wildly speculate on the state of high profile marriages have been hard to avoid in recent weeks. Many of them have gone viral, racking up millions of views on TikTok and Twitter/X, after cooking up all kinds of stories about infidelity and relationships on the rocks, often offering outlandish so-called “evidence” to back up their ridiculour claims. 

The armchair detectives base their theories on a small detail in a photograph, an outfit choice or by cobbling together a timeline. The more unhinged the theory the more their videos seem to attract an audience. But it’s not just those in the public eye who are subject to their conspiratorial eagle-eyes. The internet’s army of investigators has a new target… regular people. 

This month alone, two alleged “cheats” have gone viral on TikTok after sleuths exposed their names and, in one case, published covertly shot photographs of them.