Your digital image: factors behind demographic and psychometric predictions from social network profiles

We demonstrate how information gathered from social network profiles can be used to predict personal attributes such as gender and age, religious and political views, intelligence, happiness and personality traits. Our approach is based on applying machine learning techniques to a large dataset of people who volunteered their Facebook profiles along with their demographic and psychometric test results. We combine various features from the profile, including the numbers or rates of posting status updates, pictures and group memberships, and the specific items liked by individuals. Our system provides insights regarding how the predictions are made, allowing people to understand how they may be perceived by others based on their social network profiles.