Gretchen Is: On Your Facebook Profile, Analyzing the Sociolinguistics of Your Status Message

Abstract

Some Facebook status messages get dozens of comments and "likes", while others are not interacted with at all. But is this social success just good luck, or are there certain features that can allow us to predict whether a status will be popular or not? This presentation examines a cross‐section of authentic Facebook status messages in an attempt to figure out what makes a status socially successful. Three types of status message are identified: the narcissistic status, the informative status, and the shared‐reference status. The narcissistic status is the stereotypical expression of emotion or mundane activity, where the audience is less important, and consequently less engaged, than the author. The informative status provides basic information about the user's current location or activity, which can allow him or her to be more easily contacted by friends, but does not tend to inspire much conversation. However, it is the shared‐reference status, which refers to an experience that the author shares with a relatively small group of friends, that inspires the greatest levels of dialogue in the form of comments and "likes." Further details to be discussed include the varieties of shared‐reference status and the relation of Facebook statuses to external perception of them and to real‐life rules of social interaction.