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Wednesday 21 December 2011

Facebook don'ts: Moody moments will cost you 'friends', study finds


Your Facebook 'friends' don't have time for moody or offensive comments, says a new study that cites those kinds of remarks as one of the main reasons people unfriend each other.
 Your Facebook 'friends' don't have time for moody or offensive comments, says a new study that cites those kinds of remarks as one of the main reasons people unfriend each other.
Depression trumps divorce on the list of things likely to cost you Facebook friends, with a surprising new survey showing downer posts are among the top reasons people are "unfriended" on the social website — ranking even higher than marital or relationship breakups.
In other words, you're more likely to stay online friends with an ex than with someone who makes weepy posts about their ex.
Offensive comments were the most-cited reason for unfriending, at 55 per cent. Not knowing someone well enough ranked second, at 41 per cent, followed by "trying to sell me something," at 39 per cent. Depressing comments were the coup de grace for 23 per cent of site users
"It's a new age of friendship, where the rules are changing very quickly around what we'll tolerate," says Sidneyeve Matrix, an assistant professor specializing in social media at Queen's University in Ontario. "You can divorce me and I won't delete you. But give me direct marketing and that's it."

A Canadian researcher who has studied Facebook interactions says the survey findings are consistent with her own work, in which more than 80 per cent of sampled site-users had an ex on their Friends list.
"People are curious, and they don't want to let go of that final tie," explains Amy Muise, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Toronto.
An analyst with NM Incite, which conducted the 1,865-adult survey, said the goal of the research was to uncover the story behind Friend stats.
"There's so much chatter about the numbers but not enough understanding in the marketplace of the 'why's' in social behaviour," says Radha Subramanyam. "Is social (media) the same as real life, just online, or is it a completely different experience?"
The firm's conclusion was ultimately that Facebook's social structure has a "baseline" of real life, but that it extends far beyond that.
Other commonly named reasons for unfriending someone included lack of interaction (20 per cent), political comments (14 per cent), and breakup or divorce (11 per cent). Lesser-cited motivations were not liking the person's friends, too-frequent profile updates, friend-collecting behaviour, and not updating enough.
The survey also explored why people are added as Facebook friends in the first place.
A real-life relationship is the top driver, at 82 per cent, followed by mutual friends, at 60 per cent, and business networking at 11 per cent. Other reasons included physical attractiveness, padding friend-counts, and a policy of "friending" everyone.
Social media expert Matrix says it's noteworthy how articulate people have become about the ways in which they manage their virtual networks.
"It's not like we randomly add or delete," says Matrix. "We all have a personal social friending strategy."
Source:http://www.ottawacitizen.com/life/Facebook+Moody+moments+will+cost+friends+study+finds/5893357/story.html

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