Investigating the relationship between number of friends, posting frequency and received feedback on Facebook

摘要

This work investigates facilitation of interaction through Online Social Networks by examining the feedback which user-generated content triggers on Facebook. In the light of growing friend lists and corresponding issues of Information Overload, the analysis examines feedback upon message posts as a function of (1) the number of friends the originator has, and (2) the frequency at which he or she posts. Therefore, 6,705 messages are analyzed with respect to the feedback they triggered. Two different qualities of feedback are distinguished: (1) the number of people who comment on a message, and (2) the number of people who 'like' a message. The results show that both people with a small number of friends, as well as people with an abundance of friends receive less feedback upon their messages than those with a moderate friend count. Interestingly, the frequency at which people post messages does not appear to have a direct effect on feedback. Implications for both platform providers and users are discussed.