It's virtually the million dollar question: Why do we tweet?

Is it the short form that appeals the us, the sense of connectivity, the anonymity, the hashtags?

Taking a more scientific approach, a new study from the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence might have the answer.

Hands up

The study conducted long-form surveys with over 600 Twitter users to try and divine why people favourited tweets.

First of all, only 65 per cent of users were aware of the favouriting feature. However of the 35 per cent that did, almost three-quarters (73.5 per cent) were big fans of favouriting.

A lot to Like

It's hardly breaking news to reveal the main reason users favourited a tweet was if they liked it.

However digging a little deeper, most respondents associated “liking” a tweet with finding it amusing or entertaining.

Informative

The second most popular reason for a favouriting action is when users found a tweet informational.

Many respondents reported they favourited the tweet as a mark of appreciation for the sender.

The creator myth

The study found the identity of the user was the third most popular reason people favourited a tweet.

The pendulum swung both ways here: respondents were just as likely to favourite a tweet from a celebrity or high-profile user as they were an acquaintance who did not have a large Twitter following, or had recently joined the platform.

This could be referred to as a “sympathy” favourite. 

Mix it up

While the findings are far from conclusive, they do provide an interesting snapshot into user behaviour on Twitter.

Conduct your own test and see if funny or informative score more hits. You could just become the next Lady Gaga.

To find out more visit cs.nott.ac.uk. 

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