What does your Facebook status really say about you?

When Facebook was launched back in 2004 it was supposed to be a quick and easy way to keep in touch with friends without ever having to pick up the phone, tap out a text or , God, forbid put pen to paper.

A decade later it’s lived up to its aim, but it has also become much more besides. Thanks to those status updates, it’s become an online portal for people to boast about their children’s every cough and sniffle and make grand claims about just how well their career and love life is going.

Worst of all perhaps, it has also become a magnet for those who demand attention through deliberately cryptic status updates. We’ve all got Facebook friends who regularly post comments like ‘Day from hell...’ or ‘Hoping karma does exist...’ which are begging for someone, anyone to respond and ask what’s wrong.

For most, those status updates are seen as a mild irritant, but for a group of researchers they also hold up a mirror to the soul.

Using a sample of 555 Facebook users in the US, a team from Brunel University London set out to measure what psychologists call the ‘Big Five’ personality traits - openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness and neuroticism - throwing in levels self-esteem and narcissistic tendencies for good measure. Once assessed, each respondent was asked to report how often they wrote about any number of topics in their status update and the end result was a detailed psychological profile that inevitably made uncomfortable reading for some.

A number of the results were unsurprising. It probably didn’t need a team of university academics to tell us that extroverts tend to update their statuses more often, while people who scored highly on openness (what psychologists describe as being curious and open to new ideas and experiences) were more likely to use the platform to share intellectual content like news articles or their political views.

However, where it got interesting was when the researchers analysed the results for other the measures.

“People with neurotic tendencies may use Facebook to seek the attention and social support that may be missing from the rest of their lives,” says psychology lecturer Dr Tara Marshall, who led the team. “They vent about personal dramas, but they are also willing to disclose personal details about close relationships.

“The same is true for those lacking self-esteem. They post more often about the state of romantic relationships. However, here it’s not about getting attention, but as a way of laying claim to their other half and as a way of refuting others who think they are in a bad or poor relationship.”

It also turned out that those who ‘liked’ or commented on Facebook updates may be feeding an already out of control ego, but spare a thought for those friends whose postings never receive any reaction at all, as they could be the ones who are really in need of sympathy.

“It might come as little surprise that Facebook status reflects people’s personality traits,” added Dr Marshall. “However, it is important to understand why people write about certain topics because their updates may be differentially rewarded with likes and comments. People who receive more likes and comments tend to experience the benefits of social inclusion, whereas those who receive none feel ostracised.

“Although our results suggest that a narcissist’s bragging pays off because they receive more likes and comments, it could be that their Facebook friends politely offer support while secretly disliking such egotistical displays. Greater awareness of how one’s status might be perceived by friends could help people avoid topics that annoy rather than entertain.”

We live in hope.