Rainbow photos on Facebook are social research

If you've ever filled out a survey, you may have been surprised to see that some of the questions have only two answer options. It is true that the ability to understand people's behavior from such simple questions that are not very permeable to nuances can be questioned, but in a global sense These types of surveys have statistical utility.

Although it may seem strange, the fact that many people find themselves in the situation of having to opt for one answer or another helps to establish profiles, study which variables influence that decision and know in broad strokes why one or the other is chosen answer.

The rainbow photos on Facebook could be a social investigation

We have recently witnessed another phenomenon that could be interpreted as a type of social research: the choice of apply a rainbow filter on the profile photo used on Facebook.

This initiative, which has been related to the ruling of the Supreme Court of the United States in favor of marriage homosexual (by the way, something similar happened the day before in Mexico without causing such a stir) has materialized in a option of automatic modification of the profile photo that a large part of the habitual people of the social network have had to accept or reject. Does this situation ring a bell? Yes, it is practically the same context in which the questions of an online questionnaire or survey are presented.

Why would Facebook want to study this kind of thing?

Well, actually the question should be: why should I not want to study it? Facebook is an endless source of information for research based on data mining, since the social network is made up of by millions of people who minute by minute are uploading texts, photographs and statuses that are easily analyzable by a system computer. The potential is incredible and practically unfathomable.

See, for example, the utility that Mark Zuckerberg's invention can have in establishing personality models, as we saw in this article.

However, the possibility of coloring the profile image is of special interest. Using the rainbow will rarely be the result of boredom, hasty decisions, or a simple desire to appear open-minded. Even in the 21st century, supporting the equality of all people regardless of their sexual preferences has a revolutionary, almost controversial, and can have adverse effects on the person who decides to make their defense of these values.

Arguments, slanderous comments behind the back, family problems... Standing up for equality is always free. therefore, the decision to apply the rainbow filter or not will possibly be approached from a more thorough analysis than the one that leads to putting on a ribbon in favor of the victims of terrorism or an avatar related to the type of music to which one is fond. Besides, the LGBT flag It is internationally known, so everyone who puts it on as a filter will attribute a similar meaning to it. The same will happen to all those who see it.

possible points of interest

In the end, the data extracted from a simple click to modify the profile photo can be used to, among other things, create statistical models that allow us to see:

• To what extent do people who stand up for same-sex marriage they do so influenced by the number of Facebook friends who do the same.

• To what extent the fact of having placed the filter affects the appearance of conflicts or the deterioration of ties (indirectly measurable through the number of interactions with others via Facebook and the frequency with the one that people click on the option "to stop being friends" in the weeks after the application of the filter.

• The typology of people who put on the filter, that of those who do not wear it, and study their interactions on Facebook.

• The relationship between all these variables and the political preferences registered on Facebook, the attachment to certain brands, etc.

... and many other possibilities, as many as the response and interaction options offered by the social network.

Not an outlandish possibility, considering that everything we do is no longer private the moment you enter Facebook. and companies are perfectly capable of paying to obtain all kinds of information and that, moreover, this also applies to studies in Social psychology and sociology made to order. In fact, there is already a very similar precedent.