Audience research company Crowd Science has found that the site’s users are not Liking much content. No single type of Facebook feature has attracted Likes from more than 20 percent of Facebook users, according to study conducted by the firm in June 2011 with a random sample of 1,224 respondents.
If you actually look at the infographic above, you’ll notice that 14 percent of the respondents don’t even use the social network. Despite this, a quick math calculation shows you that all the content listed is still Liked by less than 20 percent of Facebook users (16 divided by the difference of 100 and 14).
The breakdown is not too surprising: personal content receives more attention. 16 percent of respondents said they have Liked content such as Wall posts, pictures, and comments. These were followed by videos (12 percent), non-brand Pages (10 percent), and brand Pages (9 percent). Those who have Liked brand Pages tended to skew younger and spend more time on the Internet.
Over one-quarter reported Liking content on Facebook because “I wanted to show my support” and/or “I enjoyed what was being said or shown.” All other statements were shared by fewer people: “Because I like the brand” (14 percent), “To keep informed about the brand” (10 percent), “To inform my friends of the brand” (7 percent), “To get discounts on the brand’s offerings” (6 percent), and “To enter a sweepstakes” (5 percent).
“These findings show that while users have been willing to ‘like’ Facebook items to some extent, they’re far from loving the idea,” says Sandra Marshall, VP of Research at Crowd Science. The company also believes this is one of the main reasons Facebook developed its new Timeline profile and is pushing its Open Graph. I can believe that.
