06 Mar The Formation of Love on Facebook

Facebook Data Scientist published recently some analysis on how the social media interaction takes shape before and after relationship starts. Its amazing what social media can tell.

During the 100 days before the relationship starts, we observe a slow but steady increase in the number of timeline posts shared between the future couple. When the relationship starts (“day 0”), posts begin to decrease. We observe a peak of 1.67 posts per day 12 days before the relationship begins, and a lowest point of 1.53 posts per day 85 days into the relationship. Presumably, couples decide to spend more time together, courtship is off, and online interactions give way to more interactions in the physical world.

“We observe a general increase [in sentiment] after the relationship’s ‘day 0,’ with a dramatic increase in days 0 and 1!” he says. Here’s a chart describing that change:

The analysis only looked at couples who “declared an anniversary date” between April 2010 and October 2013, not just those who changed their relationship status. For the sentiment analysis, it focused only on English-speaking users.

Source: Facebook Data Science

Thanks +The Atlantic