BJ Fogg wants to study the Facebook addiction, even as throngs of disgruntled users scramble to delete their accounts and the Facebook backlash grows louder.
Fogg, who is teaching a "Psychology of Facebook" class over at Stanford University, says he hopes to "drill down on the Facebook psychology . . . just really look at the human experience."
It's a subject near and dear to Fogg's heart: He already has about 70 student papers on the subject from a previous class he taught last year.
"One of the students analyzed the top 100 Facebook applications and came up with six categories, listed on a two-by-three grid. The paper got accepted at a major academic conference," Fogg says.
Of course, Fogg has his own theory as to why the site is so compelling.
"It puts three things together at once. One, it motivates people. It's motivating to see what your friends are doing. Two, it's easy to use -- you have the ability to use it. Three, it triggers behavior really well. It's the combination of motivation, ability and triggers that makes it work. If it were missing any of those elements, it might not."
(And here we thought Facebook popularity is fueled by workplace boredom.)
Photo: Courtesy BJ Fogg
