Five Weird Facts About Facebook
With the rapid expansion of social media, it has never been easier to keep up with friends and family. As with any social interaction, sometimes things can get a little weird. By examining a combination of user behavior and statistics, we hope to examine just how weird Facebook can be.
The Facebook, as it was known when created in 2004, is an online social networking site who’s humble beginnings at Harvard University have blossomed into a multi-billion dollar industry. In fact, after dropping “the” from its name, fast forward 10 years and this recent study shows exactly how people are using the site today.
We wanted to have a little fun and take a look at some weird facts about the site.
Here are five of the strangest ones we could find:
• I Need Sex – This was the name of a Facebook page set up by an attractive British woman named Laura Michaels in 2010. The group gained a total of 100 members, 50 of which Michaels claims to have slept with.
• The Republic of Facebook – If Facebook were a country, it would be the 5th largest in the world based on population only trailing China, India, the U.S., and Indonesia.
• Law of Averages – The average Facebook user spends more than 55 minutes a day on browsing the site. They use the “Like” button 9 times and write about 25 comments each month. Multiply that by the total number of users and the number of comments is staggering.
• Facebook Wants You to Hack It – Facebook has an ongoing challenge to internet savvy users to find original bugs within the Facebook software and system. Bounties of $500 are paid out for each security bug found.
• Arrr Matey! – There is actually an option under Account settings to change your language on Facebook to English (Pirate). The language edit will add Cap’n in front of your friends names and on national Facebook day, this is what your public status could read as: “Tis’ be talk like a pirate day yeeee haaarrr!!!”
Facebook is a great way to keep up with friends, family, and current news. Like any tool, however, people can find ways to push boundaries. What starts innocently enough can take a dive into the realm of weird in a matter of moments. That’s precisely what makes this social media experiment so fun though!
