Want to know why Facebook is so popular? It has high emotional yield. It’s an affection bargain. A new report from Pew says that we get more out of the thing in terms of response than we give to it.
In one month, Pew study participants “Liked” other people’s Facebook content an average of 14 times, and had their own Facebook content “Liked” 20 times. They sent nine personal messages, and received 12. Twelve percent of them tagged friends in photos, and 35 percent were themselves tagged in at least one photo. Forty percent made a friend request, and 63 percent received one.
This is because of what’s called the 80:20 rule, where 80 percent of the activity is generated by 20 percent of the users. Those 20 percenters are most active on Facebook, sometimes incredibly active, and because of their, I guess, diligence(?), the rest of us can reap more than we sow. Ergo, Facebook is like being in a really dysfunctional romantic relationship where you treat your partner badly but still receive all the benefits, you jerk. Except here, they never give you the dumping you so richly deserve, because they’re covertly being paid to show you advertisements.
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