--- title: 7 Things Every Facebook User Needs to Know, Backed by Research description: Your Facebook profile probably reveals your true personality. It’s especially indicative of how extroverted and open to new experience you are but it can also... canonical: https://time.com/3606242/facebook-user-needs-to-know/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-28T05:01:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:03:04.896Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 7 Things Every Facebook User Needs to Know, Backed by Research og:description: Your Facebook profile probably reveals your true personality. It’s especially indicative of how extroverted and open to new experience you are but it can also... og:url: https://time.com/3606242/facebook-user-needs-to-know/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte98b7ce107671356/69876b16f887dcca39e889d8/facebook2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Facebook og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 7 Things Every Facebook User Needs to Know, Backed by Research twitter:description: Your Facebook profile probably reveals your true personality. It’s especially indicative of how extroverted and open to new experience you are but it can also... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte98b7ce107671356/69876b16f887dcca39e889d8/facebook2.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 7 Things Every Facebook User Needs to Know, Backed by Research by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Nov 28, 2014 5:01 AM UTC  The Facebook Inc. logo is displayed on an Apple Inc. iPad Air in this arranged photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014\. Facebook Inc. is expected to release earnings data on Jan. 29\. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images The Facebook Inc. logo is displayed on an Apple Inc. iPad Air in this arranged photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Jan. 27, 2014\. Facebook Inc. is expected to release earnings data on Jan. 29\. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg/Getty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Nov 28, 2014 5:01 AM UTC * Your Facebook profile probably reveals your [_true_ personality](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-a-facebook-profile-show-you-someones-rea). It’s especially indicative of how [extroverted and open to new experience](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-areas-of-our-lives-say-the-most-about-ou) you are but it can also tell people whether you have [anxiety](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-you-tell-who-suffers-from-anxiety-by-look) and even [predict your job performance](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-your-facebook-profile-predict-your-job-pe). * I wouldn’t get too paranoid though; [most people just judge you off the photo](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/which-words-in-your-facebook-profile-do-peopl). Then again that photo can predict how happy you’ll be [3.5 years from now](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-i-predict-how-happy-youll-be-in-the-comin). (Just from status updates, Facebook knows how happy the entire US is [every day of the year](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/united-states-gross-national-happiness-measur).) * Your “relationship status” says a lot about [how happy you probably are](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/are-facebook-users-happier-single-or-in-relat). What’s a really good sign? Men who listed their partnership status (“In a relationship with…”) and women whose profile picture displayed their partner both [had happier relationships](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-does-your-facebook-profile-say-about-you). * Facebook knows [the days and months](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-does-facebook-know-about-your-relationsh) when you’re most likely to start a new relationship. Hell, Facebook can predict with a 33% accuracy [who you’ll be dating _next week_](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/can-facebook-predict-who-youre-going-to-be-da). * [_Dunbar’s number_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s%5Fnumber) says we can only sustain 100-230 friends. [It holds up online too](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-there-a-limit-on-how-many-friends-you-can); despite how many “friends” you have you’re probably only active with about 100-200 of them consistently. Facebook promotes mainly [weak, low-commitment friendships](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-kinds-of-friendships-does-facebook-promo) anyway. And [the main reason for un-friending](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/what-are-the-top-reasons-for-facebook-un-frie) is because somebody posts too much uninteresting crap. * Only about 1/5th of your Facebook friends [influence your behavior](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/how-many-of-your-facebook-friends-actually-in). You don’t end up blindly liking what your Facebook friends like; in fact, you look to them [to find out what _not_ to like](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-you-end-up-liking-what-your-facebook-frien). And it’s [definitely worth reconnecting](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-it-worth-reconnecting-with-old-acquaintanc) with old friends on the site. * On Facebook everyone shows the best and not the worst, leading to portraits of unattainable lives that [can make us feel bad by comparison](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-facebook-make-us-miserable). [Here](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-facebook-making-us-lonely) are some great tips by experts for using Facebook to enhance your happiness. Overall, Facebook users [get more emotional support](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/does-facebook-increase-or-decrease-the-amount) than other people. Now there _are_ definitely problems that have been caused by Facebook; for instance the site makes it [quite difficult to be an undercover cop](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/is-facebook-making-it-impossible-to-be-an-und). :) **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_B_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/5-things-your-clothes-are-saying-about-you/)[**_arking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/05/7-things-every-facebook-user-needs-to-know/)**_._** **Join over 135,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** Related posts: [How To Make Your Life Better By Sending Five Simple Emails](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2013/07/make-your-life-better/) [How To Stop Being Lazy And Get More Done – 5 Expert Tips](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/08/how-to-stop-being-lazy/) [New Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More Successful](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2014/09/be-more-successful/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3606242/facebook-user-needs-to-know/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3606242/facebook-user-needs-to-know/"},"headline":"7 Things Every Facebook User Needs to Know, Backed by Research","datePublished":"2014-11-28T05:01:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:03:04.896Z","description":"Your Facebook profile probably reveals your true personality. 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