Facebook Users Addicted to Sex, Too

CYBERSPACE—The results are in and, as expected, sex is popular on Facebook, very popular. That fact may not warm the cockles of parents whose kids have profiles on the massive multi-user social network, but what are you going to do? The stats don’t lie.

Social and viral marketing scientist Dan Zarrella compiled the data, which is the result of unique linguistic methodologies he utilizes to evaluate online behavioral patterns. Using Regressive Imagery Dictionary (RID) and Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) methods, he previously applied his technique to Twitter users, and this time to Facebook devotees.

The results are not surprising, even to Zarrella, who charted his findings.

“If you want to [get] your blog post or article shared on Facebook,” he concluded, “[try] writing (positively) about sex.”

Of course, the mention of addiction in the headline is meant to be facetious. The one aspect of Zarrella’s results we find especially heartening is the emphasis on the positive. Considering the fact that sex as a subject on Facebook is so popular, it is encouraging to see positive perspectives garnering more interest than negative, though only by 10 percent. Still, the results infer a decidedly non-addictive engagement with sex rather than an obsessive relationship that usually results in a negative and self-destructive outlook not just on sex, but also on life.

Considering most parents’ mortal fear of Facebook, maybe these results will mollify their concerns.