Are you what you "like" on Facebook? A new study says your Facebook "likes" might be revealing more than you know about your private life.
You can tell a lot about someone by their Facebook status updates. But what about their "likes"?
"I think likes and hobbies in general can reflect your intelligence, I don't know if I would read a ton into Facebook because I know a lot of the people I know just like what they see other people liking," Rachel Wyatt said.
A new study by the University of Cambridge found your Facebook "likes" might be revealing more than you know about your private life. The study found it's possible to predict potentially private traits just by analyzing Facebook "likes". Those traits include a person's sexual orientation, political leanings, religion, intelligence, emotional stability, and even if they abuse drugs or alcohol. Researchers say your highly intelligent, if you "like" The Daily Show, science, Morgan Freeman's voice, and curly fries.
"Yeah, they're pretty good, they're tasty. I think if people know what they want, then they're intelligent," Kyle Gesell said.
On the other end, lower intelligence was suggested by "likes" for Harley-Davidson and Bret Michaels. The study also says liking Kathy Griffin or the musical Wicked were found to be strong indicators that a man was gay, while liking sports-related topics and "Being Confused After Waking Up From Naps" were more popular with straight men.
"I'm a man of musicals and I'm heterosexual so, I mean I can see there's some correlation but not very strong. I don't know," Gesell said.
"I think studies reflect a little bit of what true things are, but you can't put people in boxes. I know lots of gay men who love sports so, and I like Kathy Griffin so what's that mean? So I don't know that it's really completely indicative, but like with any study, I'm sure they spent a lot of money on this...well spent," Social Media Expert, Saundra Hadley said.
But what about those Facebook users who may just be clicker happy?
"I call them 'serial likers'. They are serial, stealthy people and I have some of them are my friends. It's a constant barrage of this page they like, and I know it's all for contests," Hadley said.
Hadley says the average Facebook user doesn't know their activity is being tracked. She says it's like a spider web that goes on your News Feed and out to your friends.
Researchers looked at the Facebook profiles of more than 58,000 people.
You can tell a lot about someone by their Facebook status updates. But what about their "likes"?
"I think likes and hobbies in general can reflect your intelligence, I don't know if I would read a ton into Facebook because I know a lot of the people I know just like what they see other people liking," Rachel Wyatt said.
A new study by the University of Cambridge found your Facebook "likes" might be revealing more than you know about your private life. The study found it's possible to predict potentially private traits just by analyzing Facebook "likes". Those traits include a person's sexual orientation, political leanings, religion, intelligence, emotional stability, and even if they abuse drugs or alcohol. Researchers say your highly intelligent, if you "like" The Daily Show, science, Morgan Freeman's voice, and curly fries.
"Yeah, they're pretty good, they're tasty. I think if people know what they want, then they're intelligent," Kyle Gesell said.
On the other end, lower intelligence was suggested by "likes" for Harley-Davidson and Bret Michaels. The study also says liking Kathy Griffin or the musical Wicked were found to be strong indicators that a man was gay, while liking sports-related topics and "Being Confused After Waking Up From Naps" were more popular with straight men.
"I'm a man of musicals and I'm heterosexual so, I mean I can see there's some correlation but not very strong. I don't know," Gesell said.
"I think studies reflect a little bit of what true things are, but you can't put people in boxes. I know lots of gay men who love sports so, and I like Kathy Griffin so what's that mean? So I don't know that it's really completely indicative, but like with any study, I'm sure they spent a lot of money on this...well spent," Social Media Expert, Saundra Hadley said.
But what about those Facebook users who may just be clicker happy?
"I call them 'serial likers'. They are serial, stealthy people and I have some of them are my friends. It's a constant barrage of this page they like, and I know it's all for contests," Hadley said.
Hadley says the average Facebook user doesn't know their activity is being tracked. She says it's like a spider web that goes on your News Feed and out to your friends.
Researchers looked at the Facebook profiles of more than 58,000 people.
