New research from Bit.ly shows that people share more links about dogs than cats. Using their internal search engine, Bit.ly data scientists looked for the number of pages with content containing the term “cat” and “dog.” They included the plural and any variations. While it’s clear that dogs are the most popular animal on the Internet, the data shows that the majority of people want to cuddle multiple dogs at one time, whereas people would rather cuddle with one cat at a time. What makes people want to share links about dogs more than links about cats?
This data counters the fact that viral videos like “I love every cat” and the horrendously addictive “Welcome to Kitty City” proliferate on the Internet.
Why Do Dogs Rule The Internet?
Sam Gosling, a psychologist at the University of Texas in Austin and his graduate student, Carson Sandy, conducted a study to determine the differences between cat people and dog people. They surveyed 4,565 individuals via the Web, asking them whether they were dog people, cat people, neither or both. The results may shed further insight into why links about dogs are shared more often than links about cats.
Just on the basis of the nature of dogs being more sociable than cats, one might expect that the personalities of dog lovers would also reflect higher sociability. The results showed that dog people were generally about 15 percent more extroverted and 13 percent more agreeable, both of which dimensions are associated with social orientation. In addition, dog people were 11 percent more conscientious than cat people. “Conscientiousness” is a tendency to show self-discipline, to complete tasks, and aim for achievement. The trait shows a preference for planned rather than spontaneous behavior.
Could it be that more people share links about dogs because dogs, like their owners, are just friendlier?
Image via LOLCats.
