Mashable recently posted an interesting article about what your Facebook profile says about you. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania reviewed 75,000 Facebook profiles and the language used on these profiles. The group, led by information scientist H. Andrew Schwartz, then predicted the gender of each user. They were able to predict the user's gender with 92 percent accuracy. In addition, they had 50 percent accuracy when they guessed the user's age within three years.
This study used an "open-vocabulary approach," which allows the data to figure out the most important words or phrases. This differs from a closed-vocabulary approach, which uses established lists of related words. This open-vocabulary approach forces researchers to learn new trait markers.
Some of the results from this study were similar to previous findings, while other results were new. For example, the term "party" is more likely to be used among extroverts. Neurotic people are more likely to use the word "depressed." Introverts are more likely to discuss Japanese media, such as "anime" and "manga." People who are more closed would be more likely to use shorthand.
My reaction to the results was mixed. I was surprised at the accuracy rate of guessing a user's gender. I thought it would be between 50 and 60 percent. 92 percent was a shock to me. However, I was not as surprised at the language used by extroverts and introverts. I can check this with my Facebook friends. For example, some of my extroverted friends frequently mention parties. On the other hand, some of my friends who are introverted talk about anime and manga.
Have you ever thought about what people think about you on Facebook?
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