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The 8 Things Your Social Media Habits Say About You

We're all guilty of the over-share...

You Instagram your breakfast, tweet about your break-up and when you’re feeling down, it’s not your best friend that comforts you, but Amy Ellis from school, via a "What’s up hun?" comment on your Facebook status and a couple of lines of sad faces.

[Facebook]
[Facebook]


But, as our social media use increases, the habits we have online reveal a LOT more about us than just "she’s rather partial to the wine glass emoji."

We spoke to the experts to find out just what our online behaviour says about our character.

Here’s our guide...

1. Facebook Users - Little Miss Perfect?

In the case of any social network, we use our online activity to project the image of ourselves that we want others to see.

If IRL (internet speak translation: In Real Life) we think we’re funny, then we’ll spend the duration of Made In Chelsea making posh-people based gags in 140 characters or less.

Or, if we always have a table at the latest pop-up, and we want people to know we're well connected, with a buzzing social life, we’ll hang out on Instagram, as it’s the best place to "share experiences."

And there is no bigger culprit, in terms of shaping an identity, than the avid Facebook user.

I'm sexy and I know it
I'm sexy and I know it

It is on Facebook - with its picture galleries, link-sharing, status updates and even video - that we can most comprehensively design our online person, to be the best possible version of who we really are.

This is called "self-monitoring theory."

“One of the things our subconscious brain is constantly doing is checking our self-identity,” says Internet Psychologist Graham Jones. “For us to operate effectively in the world we need to know who we are.”


2.The Twitter-Crastinator

Arguably, all social media is a procrastinator’s heaven.

"Excuse me, I'm just having my 17th browse on Pinterest today for vintage wedding dresses, despite having a three page to-do list."

But, according to a 2012 study, Twitter users are the worst culprits, being the least conscientious.

[Taylor Swift / Twitter]
[Taylor Swift / Twitter]

There is an exception though: those who use Twitter to share and seek out information. Does finding out where Millie Mackintosh got her trainers count? Just, you know, hypothetically.



3. Ello, Ello, Ello - You're So Cool

Just as you don't like a music track once it becomes popular and enters the charts, so you switch to a new social tool as soon as an interesting one hits the scene.

And then you tell everyone, of course, because what is the point of being "cool" if nobody knows about it?

"Facebook? Who is even on Facebook anymore! It's ALL about new invite-only network ELLO."

[ELLO]
[ELLO]

“Change is the only constant online,” says Elias Aboujaoude, Stanford University psychiatrist and author of Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the e-Personality.

“Just like the internet and related technologies diminish our attention spans, they also diminish the patience and loyalty we have toward any particular online platform. In most cases, the decision to switch is not driven by a logical, well thought out reason. Rather, it is a desire to be "of the moment" and constantly at the forefront of a rapidly moving revolution. The worst that can happen online is to look old fashioned or look your age.”

[Giphy]
[Giphy]

Us? No no, we’re only 19. *coughs*

4. Social Media Floozy Vs Tumblr Snobs

We've all got one - a friend who is ALL over Instagram, pops up on Google Plus, floods your Facebook with likes and is constantly Tweeting through X Factor?

According to a University of Derby study, you’ve got a "sociotrope" - i.e. someone who needs to be part of a group - on your hands.

In other words, actively engaging on lots of social media accounts helps these people to feel involved in lots of conversations with lots of people.

Completely the opposite of this are the Tumblr lovers. The Tumblr gang is so "alt" (translation: alternative) it hurts - once you fall into its black hole of memes and gifs, you can NEVER LEAVE.

[Giphy]
[Giphy]

Don't even think of cheating on Tumblr with Twitter. Just don't.

5. 4am In The Big Brother House - Feeling Lonely


Ever wondered why new mums love a 4am Facebook post about their baby’s feeding habits? Probably because 4am is an isolated place to be.


In a recent study, “Facebook users not only scored higher [than Twitter users] for sociability, but also for neuroticism,” says Web Psychologist Nathalie Nahai.

“They used the site predominantly to connect with others in order to reduce feelings of loneliness.

6. "My Boyfriend is THE ABSOLUTE BEST."

Uh-oh.

Lots of cuddles, sharing chores and date nights are the key for a happy relationship. [Rex]
Lots of cuddles, sharing chores and date nights are the key for a happy relationship. [Rex]


What you see as smugness in the 17th picture of your friend snogging her boyfriend this week, might actually be RAGING insecurity.

A recent study by Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin showed that when people were feeling less sure of their partners’ feelings towards them, they posted more about their relationships. Now it’s your turn to feel smug.



7. Candy Crushed Kid


IRL you wouldn’t show pictures of your burger to everyone in your circle, spend hours playing board games about sweets, or write your friends letters consisting predominantly of animated faces. But social media brings out instinctive childlike traits.


“In a cyberspace, we take on an 'e-personality' that can be quite different from our offline personality,” says Elias Aboujaoude.

Candy Crush Saga...
Candy Crush Saga...


“It is comprised of traits that usually can't come out in 'real life' without negative consequence. Yet, on social media, we feel like we can get away with them, which is part of the lure of these platforms."

"For instance, we are more narcissistic online (hence the showing off); more grandiose (hence the pretense of the perfect life); more disinhibited (hence the excessive sharing of personal information) and more regressed or childlike (hence the way we write and play video games).”


Want to know who someone is beneath the sensible persona they put on at their desk?


Check out their social media habits and you’re halfway there.

8. Type A, In Your FACE


In real life, it’s easy to spot an extrovert (she’ll be the one yanking the mic out of our hand to do Dolly Parton again on the work karaoke night). But there are ways to tell on social media too.


We'd have forgiven you for thinking that spending a lot of time online is the reserve of introverted people - the shy kind who use the internet to have a voice where otherwise they might have stayed silent.

Nope.

A 2011 study found that extroverts use Facebook far more than introverts, and Graham Jones says this is due to our Reticular Activation System (RAS): a “mission control switchboard” that keeps your brain fired up.

[Giphy]
[Giphy]


“Introverts have an RAS which is firing on all cylinders and doesn't need stimulation, so they don't go out of their way to get it,” says Jones. “Extroverts, on the other hand, have one that needs a lot of stimulation to keep it going.”


Social networks do a good job of providing that stimulation, especially as they are constantly evolving: there is always something new going on.

So that loud mouth friend who always has an opinion, regardless of what's up for debate? Yeah, they're going to talk about it on Facebook too...and probably Twitter... and they might Snapchat a witty reference to it... and you can bet they'll Instagram a picture of what they ate after it last came up in conversation...

[Passenger Shaming - What Not To Do On A Plane To Avoid Being Publically Disgraced]

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What does your social network activity say about YOU? Let us know in the comments!