Posted by danzarrella
This post was originally in YOUmoz, and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author’s views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of SEOmoz, Inc.
So the title is a bit of hyperbole, but for most techy, social media savvy folks, the mainstream Facebook audience can sometimes seem a bit foreign, so I find it can help to think of them as a bit closer to the cast of Jersey Shore.
Below you will find 5 pieces of scientifically proven, data-backed evidence that the “average” Facebook users is a little Jersey Shore. Although, aren’t we all? Maybe GTL should be changed to GTLF?
Exhibit 1: Facebookers Aren’t High Level Readers
Readability is a measure of how much education is required by a reader to understand a given piece of text. As the complexity of an article increases, the number of times it’s shared on Facebook decreases.
Exhibit 2: Facebookers Love Sex
When I studied the linguistic content present in over twelve thousand stories, I found that those stories with sexual content were shared far more than the average story was.
Exhibit 3: Facebookers Are Anti-Geeks
Some of the least-shareable words I found in my study are traditionally techy favorite topics. iPhone, Google and Twitter may be loved on Twitter, but not so much on Facebook.
Exhibit 4: Facebookers Need Simple Language
When I analyzed the parts-of-speech in stories shared on Facebook, I found that those articles with flowery language, laden with adjectives and adverbs aren’t shared as often as simple, noun-and-verb posts.
Exhibit 5: Facebookers Love the Weekend
In most forms of publishing, posting a new story on a weekend is a big no-no. With Facebook however, the opposite is true. Articles published on the weekend tended to be shared more than articles published during the week.
So remember, when you’re on Facebook, you’re not on Twitter. You’re not talking to social media dorks. (I use the term social media dork lovingly, as I myself am one, and I’m married to one) You’re talking to an extremely mainstream audience. So you need to start thinking like a "normal" person, starting thinking like the Jersey Shore.
More from the author: To learn more about how to use Facebook for marketing, check out The Facebook Marketing Book, written by Alison and Dan Zarrella.
