A new study confirms that there are only 4 types of Facebook users

It is the fact that every person is unique, but some researchers have found out that Facebook users can be categorized into 4 main groups. Which one do you belong to?

A new study, published in the IJVCSN, confirms that Facebook has a "Rashomon" effect: various user groups interpret the experience of using it very differently. The researchers also found they could categorize users into these four broad types:

• Relationship builders

• Window shoppers

• Town criers

• Selfies

The researchers admit that you may see yourself reflected in more than one category. 

Let's introduce every type of users:

Relationship builders 

These people use Facebook to strengthen existing relationships with friends and family. Many representatives of this category said: “Facebook helps me to express love to my family and lets my family express love to me.” This type of users consider Facebook a mini-hub site for personal storytelling, where information freely flows between friends and family. 

Relationship builders also tend to be heavy posters and viewers of pictures and videos; they commonly comment on the images and updates others have shared, and engage in conversations.

Windows shoppers

These users see Facebook as "a sense of social obligation" or an inescapable part of modern life and very rarely post personal information or share photos. They don't like or comment anything. One of the representatives explained: “I can freely look at the Facebook profile of someone I have a crush on and know their interests and relationship status.” These people don't consider Facebook as a place to post things about themselves or about their daily life - they think people who want to know them will be around doing it with them. 
 

Town criers

These are very specific users who see Facebook primarily as "a business". It's the self-styled or professional journalists, activists or event organizers who post things and they don’t even care if someone likes it or not. Representatives of this category see Facebook as the easiest way to send a clear message and inform about something. One town crier explained: “I don’t talk to my family on Facebook. They are more important than that.”
 

Selfies

These users routinely use the same Facebook features as relationship builders - posting pictures, videos, and status updates - but they do it primarily to call attention to themselves. One selfie said: “The more ‘like’ notification alarms I receive, the more I feel approved by my peers.” The selfies agreed with statements like: “Taking [a] picture and letting it sit on my phone makes it nothing and useless, but once I post something on Facebook, it shows I’ve done something.”