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Facebook Survey Charts U.S. Social Networking Borders

by Warren Riddle on February 10, 2010 at 09:26 AM

Author Joel Garreau, who also serves as an editor at the Washington Post, has attracted a cult following among social scientists with his revolutionary work 'The Nine Nations of North America.' In the book, Garreau argues that states have become obsolete, and that North America should be reapportioned based on geographical, social, cultural, and economic factors.

Pete Warden, a former engineer for Apple, has taken a new approach to Garreau's segmentation by applying it to social networking. Warden analyzed profiles, fan pages, and corporate accounts of millions of Facebook members in order to determine his own United States of Social Networking.

Through his research, Warden identified seven distinct Facebook areas based on various factors, including each region's amount of nationwide and local interaction. Some of the zones are somewhat predictable, like the regionally proud regions of Dixie (which also warrants its own territory in Garreau's book) and Greater Texas. Others, like the whimsically named Stayathomia and Mormonia, are somewhat more surprising. Warden provides some fascinating hard data from the survey at his personal blog, where you can also determine whether you're a unique networker or just another regional stereotype. [From: PeteSearch, via: Salon]

Tags: facebook, geography, social networking, SocialNetworking, survey, top, web

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