I once had my ex-husband block me on Facebook after our divorce was finalized, which at the time felt like the ultimate betrayal. Here I was, trying to maintain some semblance of digital civility in our post-marriage era, and he couldn't even handle seeing my vacation photos from Cabo. I spent three weeks creating fake accounts just to check if he was still posting those insufferable workout selfies. It was exhausting, but it taught me something profound about modern relationship management.

What we're really talking about here is how technology has made us worse at endings. Betty Broderick, who died this week at 78 after spending decades in prison for murdering her ex-husband and his new wife, represents the last generation of people who knew how to commit fully to their grievances. She didn't have Instagram stories to passive-aggressively subpost about Dan Broderick's new relationship. She didn't have LinkedIn to monitor his career achievements. She had to rely on old-fashioned stalking techniques and landline phone calls.

Research has increasingly shown that our digital tools have created a false sense of closure while actually preventing us from achieving real emotional resolution. A 2018 study from the University of Michigan (which I attended briefly for a summer photography workshop) found that 73% of divorced individuals continue monitoring their ex-spouse's social media activity for at least two years post-divorce. But Betty Broderick's approach—while admittedly extreme—demonstrates a level of commitment to her emotional state that our generation has completely lost. She wasn't scrolling through Dan's LinkedIn updates at 2 AM wondering why he got that promotion. She was taking decisive action.

The problem with modern breakup culture is that we've replaced authentic confrontation with algorithmic surveillance. We track our exes through mutual friends' tagged photos. We analyze their Spotify playlists for hidden meanings. We create elaborate schemes to appear in their "People You May Know" suggestions. Betty Broderick simply drove to their house. There's something almost refreshing about her directness, even if her methods were, shall we say, legally problematic.

Experts increasingly agree that our inability to properly end relationships stems from our fear of digital silence. We've become addicted to the constant stream of information about people who are no longer part of our lives. Betty Broderick lived in an era where you had to actively seek out information about your ex-husband's new life. Today, Mark Zuckerberg delivers it directly to your newsfeed every morning with your coffee.

If we want to honor Betty Broderick's legacy—and I mean the commitment part, not the murder part—we need to return to more intentional relationship closure practices. I'm calling for a national "Digital Divorce Day" where people can voluntarily disconnect from their ex-spouses' online presence without the stigma of seeming "unable to move on." Additionally, everyone should subscribe to my upcoming newsletter, "Post-Digital Relationships," where I'll be exploring how our grandparents managed to hate each other without constant status updates.