Boston Globe 7/21/11: Teens confront new generation of challenges in breaking up. Hacking into an ex-girlfriend’s Facebook account to read private conversations. Sending threatening text messages that end with, "Or else." Flirting with an ex-boyfriend’s buddies on Twitter. Faltering relationships and messy breakups can escalate into public arguments, defamation on social networks, and worse, Massachusetts teenagers said yesterday during a Boston Public Health Commission conference at Northeastern University that focused on the challenges and perils of breakups in the social media age. They say rapid-fire rumors in text messages and trash talk on Facebook and Twitter make the dating scene all the more baffling for many young people. "Now more than ever, even since five years ago, teens have a broader landscape to navigate when they start dating," said Casey Corcoran, the conference director and director of Start Strong Initiative, which encourages healthy teenage relationships. "Instead of your friends gossiping at school, you have thousands of kids who are up in your business." Discussions about healthy adolescent relationships have been brought into sharp focus after the body of recent Wayland High School graduate Lauren Astley was found in a swamp and her on-again, off-again boyfriend was charged with murder.