Here’s what your Facebook use says about you…

We live in a world where we are giving more information about ourselves, away than ever before. We don’t even know it, but we’re sharing information and insights into our behaviour, thoughts, personality and mood when we don’t even realise it. One of these ways is through Facebook.

A study from Brunel University saw reseaqrchers analyse 555 online surveys completed by Facebook users. The surveys focused on the Big Five personality traits: extroversion, openness, agreeableness, neuroticism and conscientiousness as well as self-esteem and narcissism.

The study found that users post status updates that correlate with their personality traits! So which one are you…?

Narcissism: Narcissists post about their achievements, diet and exercise, often seeking validation and attention from others. They high engagement from other social media users to validate their feelings. Updates about achievements receive the most ‘likes’, encouraging this personality type to write achievement themed posts, said the researchers.

Openness: Post mainly about political beliefs and intellectual topics. They seek less social interaction and more information sharing.

Conscientiousness: Post about their family regularly and are infrequent posters. They are more aware of how others receive their content and when they do post, it’s often more about their family members and not themselves.

Low self esteem: People with low self esteem will often post about their romantic partners. It is suggested their motivations are to demonstrate to others their relationship is strong, often substituting this for their insecurities.

So perhaps today is a time for reflection – what do you post online? Are you a whinger? Are you snapping photos of the grandkids constantly? Are you giving social and political commentary? Which ever it is, make sure you’re happy with it, because ultimately, that’s all that matters!