Study: There Are Just Four Types Of Facebook Users

According to new data from researchers at Brigham Young University, every single one of Facebook’s 2 billion users falls in to one of four categories. Depending on what you use Facebook for, the study says, you’re either a town crier, a relationship builder, a window shopper, or a “selfie.”

Using a nearly 50 statement questionnaire where users were asked to rate how much they agreed with each statement. And people’s answers quickly fell in to one of these four categories:

Town criers: These are users that are simply out to share information, or to be the first to inform. Be it a local story or breaking national news, they’re not out to share information about themselves so much, but want to “inform everybody about what’s going on.”

Relationship builders: These users make a point to respond to others’ posts and use as many Facebook features as they can to connect with people. Relationship builders are out to take real world relationships and make them stronger. For users like this, Facebook is essentially an extension of their life, and lets them “express love to family” and family express love back.

Selfies: As the name implies, these are the site’s self-promoters, always posting pictures, videos, and status updates that aren’t about sharing real information or building relationships, but simply about attention. The more likes received, the more successful they are. Of course, many of the images a “selfie” user present to the world aren’t indicative of real life.

Window shoppers: These users are on Facebook to see what they can find out about others – just digital people watching. Whether it’s snooping through the profile of a potential love interest to feel like there’s a connection or browsing pictures to see who a friend has been hanging out with, window shoppers are just there for the crowd.