Data-mining 10,000 Facebook status updates to graph breakup patterns

[jcs]

http://www.geekosystem.com/facebook-breakup-graph/

[gaius]

It's been said that the credit card companies have such good data on spending patterns that they can predict major life events, such as weddings and divorces.

Anyway, I called Amex and they wouldn't tell me mine...

[rgarcia]

original post: http://mathiasmikkelsen.com/2010/10/amazing-facts-about-face...

although still no y-axis :(

[jdrock]

I'm curious to see if this guy will get a letter from Facebook's legal department, like Pete Warden did.

[jplewicke]

Based on their election widget and access to demographic information, Facebook probably could put together scarily accurate, realtime election results.

[chopsueyar]

This is quite US-centric.

[jpeterson → chopsueyar]

The world is US-centric.

[thamer → jpeterson]

Facebook isn’t. From http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics : “About 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States”

[steven_h → thamer]

But it isn't the US vs the World, its the US vs other individual countries. Which other countries make up 30% of Facebook's population?

[aw3c2]

This means 10000 status updates that mentioned a break-up. I did not guess that at first and was surprised how many of 10000 random updates could have been breakups...

[shaddi → aw3c2]

Probably looked at relationship status changes. I'd personally be interested in seeing the opposite -- i.e., peaks in people starting relationships, as well as the inter-arrival periods of relationships.

[scrrr]

Hm. Any idea why people break up so often before Christmas?

[jcdreads → scrrr]

"I'm thinking about breaking up anyway, and I don't feel like spending a bunch of money on a Christmas gift."

[thibaut_barrere → scrrr]

Just a guess: because it reminds you that another year just passed ?

If you don't like your current situation, then it put you into the perspective of your whole life being wasted.

[smiler → scrrr]

College kids rushing into relationships at the start of term and then breaking up at Christmas when they go home for holidays?

[topherjaynes]

10,000 statuses over the course of year is not a significant percentage. Did he just pool his friends status's?