My favorite Facebook feature is the status updates section. (In fact, I’m so old I remember when you could opt to view ONLY status updates, and ignore everyone’s Farmville activity!) It used to be that the most economical way to keep in touch was to write letters – all of 13 years ago – so I get a kick out of knowing what my extended family and friends are up to on a daily basis.
I usually post a new status update once a day, and have found the number of comments I receive on a status can vary wildly. Mathematically, I find this interesting. I suspect positive status updates get more comments than negative ones, but I hesitate to accuse my dear (Facebook) friends of being fair-weathered. Still, people didn’t have much to say when I had a nightmare, but couldn’t wait to encourage me when I was painting my living room.
To examine this hypothesis, I calculate the average number of comments I get on a status update: eight comments. (3+7+19+11+3+3+3+8+10+1+2+3+16+6+13+11+7+14+7+7+2+9+13+6+15)/25 = 7.96 and round to the nearest whole number).
Then I look at the outliers in each range. Which status updates were the real heavy hitters? These had an above-average number of comments:
I’m going to Home Depot at 6 a.m. tomorrow to buy paint.
How many bananas a day is too many bananas a day?
Seeing the band Rush tonight!
Oh Dad, I miss you and have so many questions for you. Most pressing on my mind: did the cat drink out of the toilet when you had him?
One thing I notice looking at this list is these status updates aren’t necessarily “positive”, showing my original hypothesis is incorrect. What they do have in common is that I’m either writing about something unusual (I don’t get to see Rush, or buy paint at 6 a.m., everyday) or I’m asking a question.
These status updates generated very few comments (cue sound of crickets chirping):
I just took a two-hour nap and it was glorious.
Just got back from the gym.
Again, my hypothesis is incorrect – the above updates aren’t negative, they’re boring. A weekend nap by definition is not very exciting, and going to the gym? Why don’t I just post about my flossing regime while I’m at it?
So I can rest assured my close-knit group of friends simply has more to say if I either ask them a question, or do something that breaks from the everyday routine of our work-a-day world. Which reminds me of older forms of communication. Back when I had to pay ten cents a minute to call someone out of state, I certainly didn’t call to tell them I went to the gym or took a nap.
I called to ask them a question or to tell them about something unusual.
Very interesting post! Funny how sometimes I predict a certain status will get a lot of comments, but it ends up hardly getting any, or vice versa. Did you count how many “likes” you get on each status? I’ll bet that the more ‘boring’ status updates (like taking a nap) get more people to click the “like” button rather than write something, while the questions or unusual status updates get more people to comment than to just click “like” — what do you think?