If Facebook decided to carry out its own experiments with users, what prevents others from doing something similar? Perhaps not as controversial as Mark's and his squad's projects, but this time, it's the University of Cambridge that wants to generate a "psychodemographic profile" from everything you like on the social network.
To start, a bit of honesty: My current relationship with Facebook is one of definite love-hate. I appreciate its communication capabilities and the ease of contacting others, however, it will be a very cold day in hell if I ever touch one of its popular games, or add any of its recommendations. In other words, I take what I need and that's it. Needless to say, I'm not the kind of user that Facebook wants in its ranks, but still, I represent a certain sector that behaves exactly the same way. Does it all come down to a matter of convenience, or does my way of using Facebook reflect part of my personality? At the University of Cambridge they want to find out that and much more through "You Are What You Like", an online personality test.
How does it work? Upon confirming entry, Facebook presents the (very long) list of permissions necessary for the test to develop correctly. Then, the portal performs a calculation taking as main element the "Likes" that we have indicated. For example: If a user said they like something like DeviantART, the test interprets that it is someone liberal, while a Like on the official NASCAR profile tips the prediction towards a more traditional person. The main advantages of a test with these characteristics are three: The results are instantaneous, behavior within Facebook provides greater fidelity, and it is more difficult to falsify the results, since at the university they highlight that during common tests participants tend to transmit a different idea of themselves, even if they don't intend to.
As part of this article, I decided to participate in You Are What You Like and present my profile to what is undoubtedly a respectable institution that will handle the data responsibly... although I could do nothing but laugh for five minutes at the sad face and "Sorry", reporting that I don't like enough things within the social network to make a precise prediction. A hermit inside Facebook? Maybe, but still, don't stop trying it!
