Marketers probe Facebook Lexicon

17 April 2008

Web analysts and online marketers have been poring over Facebook's new analytics tool this week, for insights into the social network's members.

Facebook Lexicon produces graphs that allow registered users to compare the popularity of terms in posts on Facebook users' Walls. At present, the system allows searches for up to five two-word terms or single words.

Suggested comparisons include trends for the Democratic presidential election candidates and for the frequency of 'party tonight' versus 'hangover'.

Announcing the new feature on Tuesday, engineer Roddy Lindsay acknowledged the influence of Google Trends and Technorati on the decision to develop Lexicon.

"The Wall is a really interesting place to look for buzz, because when one person writes a post on a friend's or a group's Wall, tens, hundreds, or even thousands of people might see it," he wrote. "Those viewers may read, digest, and pass on that information, spreading it virally."

Digital marketers have been busy using Lexicon to test some hitherto unknown aspects of Facebook user behaviour.

For instance, Vasanth Sridharan at Silicon Alley Insider reckons the tool proves that Facebook 's own users didn't much care about the Beacon advertising debacle last year.

"What Facebook doesn't tell you: Exactly how many mentions it's tracking," Sridharan writes. "But compare Beacon to genuine internet phenomenon Barack Obama, and the apathy toward the tracking program becomes apparent."

"Turns out college kids care more about politics than the internet marketing schemes. Who knew?"

Category: Online marketing, Social media