There are many studies, research papers and quizzes to find out what type of FB user you are. After reading and skimming lots of the above, it appears that there is a common theme. Types of Users as defined in various surveys, studies and questionnaires are generally broken down into 4 to 5 categories, these categories seem to be based loosely on the behavioural science of the big 5 personality traits, they are:
Openness / Conscientiousness / Extraversion / Agreeableness / Neuroticism
If interested head to Google and type in “Facebook User Profile Quiz” or “Big 5 Personality Quiz”. Whilst there is research and evidence around the Big 5, results need to be reviewed in conjunction with a host of other factors, what you are doing eg at work or home, mood you are in, any positive or negative encounters you have just had. So many things can influence how you complete a quiz and therefor the results. What I am saying is don’t take it to heart.
Some interesting facts not listed in any order of significance:
- Don’t post anything on line that you don’t want others to see
- Don’t mix personal and business pages – they should be separate
- Don’t post photos of others without their permission, your security may not be as high as theirs
- Don’t be offended if someone declines a request, not everyone is the same: some are collectors, some are not
- Don’t over post
- Don’t have posts with: you must read, you must click, you must do…I know we have all been guilty of this however no one likes being told what we must do
- 6 degrees of separation drops to 3 (on average) due to friends who connect with your connections
- Average number of connections 130-230 (dependant on which study you read)
- The more connections you have the less you engage with people
Top 2 reasons why we friend:
- 82% know in real life
- 60% friends’ friends
Top 2 why we unfriend:
- 55% offensive comments
- 41% don’t know well
Top sneaky…I have not tried this so please don’t hold me accountable if it does not work. When you connect you also automatically follow. People often connect as they don’t want to offend. People wanting to limit their flow of information will often unfriend, but not unfollow, you apparently never know until you go to unfriend and voila they got there before you!
Top sensible…if you are a collector have one page for your close friends and one page for everyone else, in that way there is less likelihood of information you only want to share with close friends and family being circulated far and wide. Heads up to parents, your children may already be doing this.
There is however a serious side to social media. I encourage you to be mindful of the people we are connected to. We are all different and for some it is just for fun and numbers, for others it is a way keeping in touch and for others a way of not feeling so isolated. Whilst we don’t always see everyone’s generic posts in our newsfeeds – what we do see is messages posted directly to our page and private PM messages, if we follow good old fashioned courtesy, and acknowledge or respond we should be fine. To not respond is considered a form of online bullying (isolating/ignoring) and can if someone is suffering a mental illness or feels isolated and lonely be detrimental.
Have a great day.
Deb
