If you are wondering why your posts don’t get as many thumbs up or
comments as compared to other friends who get hundreds of them even
when the only thing they say is ‘I’m so tired’ – this study has the
answer for you. Charles Darwin and team from the University of
Twente revealed that having good looking, healthy, happy, and sexy
friends can significantly boost your popularity on Facebook – this
is especially true for women.
“People are attracted by other people who look very healthy, happy
and productive in a sexual sense. That is an accepted evolutionary
law,” Dutch researcher Piet Kommers stated.
Four mockup Facebook profiles of one male and one female (deemed
‘neutral’ in attractiveness in a pre-test evaluation) were created.
Each person gets two Facebook profiles – one with photographs of
attractive ‘friends’, one with unattractive ‘friends’. Otherwise,
the two profiles are identical.
Scientists then asked 74 students to rate the profiles: whether or
not they would want to be friends with the samples, whether they
think he/she is pleasant to be with, etc. The results show
that respondents are 20% more likelier to choose the profile with
‘attractive friends’.
“The appearance of one’s Facebook friends in fact influences the
perception of the profile owner. More specifically, the
attractiveness of one’s associates on Facebook has a direct
positive influence on one’s own social attractiveness,” the study
which was published in the International Journal of Web Based
Communities stated.
The authors also noted that the study rings true vice versa.
Having unattractive images could harm the appeal of
individuals and businesses in social media.
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