I spend a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter (which, I might add has taken a fair amount of energy away from this blog – it’s a lot easier to post a random thought on Twitter than a full blown blog entry.) So, I found this blog post on PeteSearch fascinating. It identifies some regional characteristics about Facebook from peoples’ connections, fan pages, etc.
The old Union states and the Confederacy seem to be identifiable as distinct regions. Dixie has a lot of nearby connections, and not so many far flung connections, and prominent displays of their love of God. The Union (which he labels Stayathomia) is also characterized by nearby connections and not so many far flung connections, but God doesn’t figure so prominently as sports and beer.
Greater Texas seems to revolve around “a central city” which I’m guessing is Dallas, and God is loved but comes in second to the Cowboys. There’s a “Mormonia” intermixed with the “Nomadic West” with Mormon communities likely to be strongly connected with other Mormon communities over long distances. They like Glenn Beck and, for some reason, Twilight. The Nomadic West is characterized by a tendency for small communities to be strongly connected to distant cities. “For example, Boise, ID, Bend, OR and Phoenix, AZ all have much wider connections than you’d expect for towns their size.” These folks like Starbucks.
Finally the Pacific West is divided up into Socalstan, with a center of gravity in L.A. and a tight knot around Seattle.
It would be interesting to see how this sort of thing changes over time. Will the connections get more diffuse? Will regional alignments shift around?
FYI, the author of the Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer, is Mormon, that’s probably why they like it.
it’s not just that the author is mormon; twilight is basically the mormon equivalent of erotic literature: passionate romance novels with all the sex removed.