chriselliman — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 19:38:50 +0000

Facebook users Like positive content way more than negative content, showing the world’s largest social network is not a space where the unhappy help each other slump further into depression.

This should come as no surprise, as many of our Facebook interactions mimic our real world social lives. More popular Facebook users (with higher friend counts) write longer status updates, use the second person “you,” talk about sex and use religious words. Less popular users are more negative and emotional, use the first person “I” and talk about family.

This Help for Depression infographic illustrates how we use Facebook to share our feelings. Its data is based on a study of 83 13-year-old girls’ communications habits, including Facebook, among other things.

Facebook users’ status updates are most positive between 6 to 7 a.m. and become progressively more negative as the day goes on. While positive updates receive more likes, negative updates receive more comments.

What type of content do you typically Like on Facebook? What do you comment on?

Chris Elliman's Artwork