A recent study by Anderson Analytics examined the personality traits of users of various social networks. I’ll break it down for you…

Facebook Users:

• You are completely average in every way. Out of 45 possible interests, only national news, sports, exercise, travel, and home and garden skewed even a tiny bit higher than average.

• You are kind of old. Facebook users are more likely to be married (40%), white (80%) and retired (6%) than users of other social networks.

• You are loyal. Three-quarters of users claim Facebook is their favorite Web site.

Twitterers:

• You are educated and cultured. Twitter users have a strong interest in news, restaurants, sports, politics, personal finance, religion and pop culture.

• You are a self-promoter. Twitterers are more likely than others to promote themselves on the site.

• You are highly-caffeinated. Nearly a third of Twitter users buy coffee online, far above the average 21% of other social networkers.

MySpacers:

• You are childish. MySpacers are more likely to have joined for fun and be interested in entertaining friends, humor and comedy, and video games.

• You are not a high-roller. Their average income is the lowest among the social networks, at $44,000.

• You are probably high-schoolers. MySpacers are more likely to be single (60%) and students (23%).

LinkedIn Users:

• You are a dude. LinkedIn has the only user group with more males than females (57% to 43%).

• You are rich. LinkedIn users have the highest average income ($89,000) and are more likely to have joined the site to boost their careers.

• You have grandma hobbies. Twelve percent of LinkedIn users look for gambling information online, while 10% go online to catch up on their soap operas.

Where do you fit in?

—Alyssa

Nielsen Online just released its report on the top 20 social networks of 2008. MySpace beat out Facebook by 3 million unique visitors, in order to take the top slot. LinkedIn came in fourth, and Twitter placed 12th. It seems even the older generation is embracing social networking as well, with Classmates.com and Reunion.com coming in third and fifth, respectively.

—Alyssa

The New York Observer on the art of choosing an online avatar:

Believe it or not, there’s some science behind choosing an avatar. Or, at least, there should be.

“In the age of spamming, the profile picture gives you credibility,” said Whitney Hess, a user-experience designer who often blogs about social media’s impact on the human experience on her blog, Pleasure and Pain, in a phone interview with The Observer last week. “It shows people that you’re real.”

In other words, having an online image makes people feel more comfortable communicating with you. Even celebrities and politicians are catching on.

[Hillary] Clinton uses her black-and-white portrait on her Facebook, Twitter and personal campaign site. Barack Obama uses his campaign logo on Twitter and a photo of himself on Facebook (professional and personal). Shaquille O’Neal is growling and gripping a basketball with his giant hands in his Twitter avatar (he’s fun!). MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow uses her official headshot as her Twitter profile picture (she’s serious). Juno script-writer Diablo Cody’s Twitter pic has her looking posed in a director’s chair, dressed in a green, furry jacket with a computer on her lap (she’s successful and funky!). Dave Matthews, lead singer of the jam band, opts not to have a picture of himself on Twitter and instead uses a shot of an abstract, red light dragged across a black background (he’s broody).

We all have avatars over on the right-hand side of this page — what do they say about us? My avatar is the same one I currently have on Facebook, and I have a slightly different one on LinkedIn, but my Twitter one is totally different (because in that one I’m wearing a shirt that says, “Wearing my Twitter shirt”!) I’ve definitely been recognized at tech events solely on the basis of my avatar.

—Alyssa

According to a new study covered on MediaPost, nearly 60% of LinkedIn’s users “have high personal incomes and hold executive-level or consultant positions.”  The independent study showed a strong correlation between personal income, profession and using LinkedIn.  “Users with personal incomes between $200,000 and $350,000 were seven times more likely than those below that level to have over 150 LinkedIn connections.”  Makes me think I need to make some more LinkedIn connections!

- Cody

CNBC and LinkedIn announced yesterday that the business news leader’s content will be integrated into the social network, including articles, blogs, financial data and videos.

The agreement is latest in a string of alliances for LinkedIn, as it tries to woo users from the much larger Facebook.

-Danny

Starting this week, LinkedIn members reading an article in either the business or technology section of NYTimes.com will see a box featuring five stories selected for them based on their LinkedIn profile.

-Maria

Eve T. (dont ask me to spell her last name) just put out her MSNBC.com column discussing why you don’t have to sign up for every networking group out there.

Just of curiosity, how many social networking sites are you a member of?

I’m on 763. =)

- Danny