As the largest social media platform, Facebook has now reached more than 1 billion users worldwide. If the network were country, it would’ve been the third largest after China and India. Imagine what a mix of personalities, interests, understandings and beliefs this massive group of interconnected people contains!

The other day I came across a presentation that shows just that – a classification of the types of people using Facebook to interact with brands. It’s a fascinating and funny categorisation created by the digital agency Soap Creative. According to them there are actually 36 different Facebook fans.

As the agency said, “Like any large ecosystem, Facebook’s billion-strong audience presents a fascinating glimpse into the sheer variety of fans that swarm to brand pages like African fauna around a watering hole. While many are relatively benign, and some are downright pleasant, there do exist various types that have the potential to drive one to drink.”

Here are some of the characters:

I believe the categorisation is actually quite accurate and gives some good insights into what role each of these types plays in the social engagement on the platform. This can give brands a better idea of who they are dealing with on their Facebook page and potentially how to address any issues.

Ready to laugh? Here’s the full list: 

[embed width="550" height="450"]http://www.slideshare.net/soapcreative/36-faces-of-facebook-fans-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-15062498/[/embed] 

Which one are you? Or are you a Facebook chameleon with many different faces?