There are four types of Facebook users. Which one are you?

Over one billion people check in daily on Facebook, and on average they spend over a half an hour on the social media platform. Scientists asked users how they used and how they felt about Facebook in order to find out if they can be spared in certain category types. 

Scientists from Brigham Young University looked at the behaviour of Facebook users and asked them to complete questionnaires in an effort to find out if they can be categorised in certain groups.

They were wondering what the participants really liked about Facebook and researchers were surprised by some of their findings. There were certain categories of users that they did not expect to find and which get little attention as opposed to those that use the social media platform as a way of self-promotion.

The results of the study were published in the Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking. 

According to the research results, there are four types of users. The scientists grouped the participants into relationship builders, town criers, selfies and window shoppers.

Now you can find out for yourself what kind of user you are and maybe, be more aware of your online behaviour and what it says about your personality.

The relationship builder

The relationship builder uses the social media platform to fortify relationships that they have already built in real life.

“They use it as an extension of their real life, with their family and real-life friends,” author of the study Tim Robinson said.”

People in this group identified strongly with such statements as “Facebook helps me to express love to my family and lets my family express love to me.”

The town crier

For town criers, Facebook is more about sharing information than building relationships. They are the ones who might neglect their personal profile page all the while reposting the most recent stories or news online.

Town criers are the ones that keep you up to date with the most recent events, but they prefer to keep in touch with friends and families through other means of communication.

The selfie

Everybody knows the selfies. They are the ones using social media as a means of self-promotion. Like relationship builders, they post pictures, videos and text updates but with one notable difference, they do it in order to get attention in the form of likes, comments and shares. Selfies feel validated by the number of likes they get online and according to co-author Kris Boyle, they use the platform “to present an image of themselves, whether it’s accurate or not.”

The window shopper

The window shopper, just like the town crier, feels an obligation towards being present on Facebook. But unlike the criers, they are more interested in what other people are doing than sharing information. Actually, they collect information about other people by looking at their recent activities and interests. “It’s the social-media equivalent of people watching,” said co-author Clark Callahan.

The scientists conducting the study say that one users could identify himself or herself with more than one type, for example, everyone participating in the study was found to have some attributes of the “selfies”.

“Social media is so ingrained in everything we do right now,” Boyle said. “And most people don’t think about why they do it, but if people can recognise their habits, that at least creates awareness.”