Continuing my series of Facebook data, here’s the flip side to last week’s post on the most shareable words on Facebook.
What I found was that techie and social-media dork favorite topics like Twitter, Google, and the iPhone aren’t very popular with the mainstream Facebook audience. These topics might be hot with the bleeding-edge Twitter crowd, but when you’re targeting the much larger Facebook audience, lay off the trendy web geek stuff.
If you want to know more about my dataset and methods, read this.
If you liked this post, don't forget to subscribe to my RSS feed or my email newsletter so you never miss the science.
May 12th, 2010 at 6:47 am
Very useful insight into Facebook, I have just started a blog and am using Twitter and a Facebook page as well to attract users etc. Completely agree Twitter and Facebook are two different animals when it comes to end users.
Bookmarked this and signup for a newsletter, oh and retweeted!
May 12th, 2010 at 10:28 am
[...] From Dan Zarrella [...]
May 12th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Interesting. Where are “kittens” and “boobs”?
May 12th, 2010 at 3:15 pm
Dan, Just curious…why do you suppose USAToday is one of the least shared words? Is it that people truly don't like that publication or does this evidence indicate a wider trend involving all news-related link sharing?
May 12th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
So if I’m using Google to poll how many USAToday readers in New York use apps on iPhone to be social vs. how many spend time to watch live TV, I shouldn’t put that on Facebook, but you are down with it if I put it on Twitter? Do you want to review that statement or is this just a game?
May 12th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
Instead, use George Carlin's 7 words on FaceBook. Guaranteed Results!
May 12th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Don't use the word “time,” got it. Seems pretty straightforward. On a much less sarcastic note, doesn't everyone feel that it is our duty to enlighten people on these terms? If they can understand them, they might be more likely to purchase. I could be way off though.
May 13th, 2010 at 1:05 am
Hey thanks for this! This makes me feel much better about myself. I always post things like “Hey who's on Twitter?” or “Omg how funny is the google logo today” and get zero response.
Makes sense though! Thanks for sharing
May 13th, 2010 at 2:07 am
I don't understand “targeting the much larger Facebook audience”. I'm not “targeting” and “audience”. I'm posting things that interest me. Besides, isn't Facebook supposedly “just for your friends”?
May 13th, 2010 at 4:47 am
I think the issue isn't the “much larger Facebook audience” but rather the likes, dislikes and inclinations of the audience you are actually talking to. Even if you aren't “targeting” an audience, you are sending a message to an audience – be it your family and real-life friends, the typically broader circle of Facebook friends, or (if you're a business) the members of a target market.
Using these statistics, you're advising people that “techie” words may not go down well with a general audience – but that does not usually characterize any particular individual's audience. For this reason I don't find it very interesting or actionable.
What I think it does highlight, though, is that Facebook indeed serves an extremely broad active audience with different likes and tastes. If you run the same kind of test with Twitter I'm inclined to think that the active user profile is more biased towards certain professions, interests and age groups. Hence the “techie” words (and specialized language in marketing and other areas) will be more popular.
May 13th, 2010 at 8:21 am
mammary glands
May 13th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Its a very diversified crowd on FaceBook and so it depends as you say on what your fans or target audience is into. Techie terms are everywhere on the web and if your new to the internet then it can be bewildering.
May 13th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
This article is about brands who use Facebook to communicate to and through their clients, customers, and evangelists.
May 15th, 2010 at 9:50 am
[...] Dan Zarrella are continuing series of Facebook data, here’s the flip side to last week’s post on the most shareable words on Facebook. [...]
May 17th, 2010 at 10:18 am
[...] Dan Zarella und die Wissenschaft, welche Worte bei Facebook nicht geshared werden Leider auf Englisch, nichts desto trotz immer wieder interessant, welche Begriffe, Phrasen, oder Worte wie bei Facebook ankommen und weiter getragen werden – oder eben auch nicht. [...]
May 18th, 2010 at 6:28 am
[...] Full story on Dan Zarella. [...]
May 28th, 2010 at 11:15 pm
[...] The Least Shareable Words on Facebook | Dan Zarrella (tags: data facebook metrics research socialmedia socialnetworking statistics networking) [...]
June 1st, 2010 at 10:52 am
[...] of audience, I found this data particularly interesting, although not surprising. It basically proves that not all social media [...]
June 11th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
[...] Share this on Facebook [...]
June 20th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
FB user base have separate habits, sometimes i have seen people will keep surfing FB all day without single indication of any actions
June 27th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
[...] Twitter, Google, and the iPhone aren’t very popular with the mainstream Facebook audience, he concludes. "These topics might be hot with the bleeding-edge Twitter crowd, but when you’re [...]
July 7th, 2010 at 8:13 pm
[...] Twitter, Google, and the iPhone aren’t very popular with the mainstream Facebook audience, he concludes. "These topics might be hot with the bleeding-edge Twitter crowd, but when you’re [...]