Want to find out which are the hottest buzzwords on Facebook? Check out [Lexicon](http://www.facebook.com/lexicon/), which was [launched](http://www.insidefacebook.com/2008/04/15/facebook-lexicon-visualizes-conversation-trends-on-facebook/) on 15 April 2008.
Lexicon counts occurrences of words and phrases on Facebook Walls, over time. I made a few searches.
Not surprisingly, “Obama” appears more frequently than “Clinton.
The sharp spikes make sense as they corresponded with interest in the [Democratic primaries](http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/primaries/democraticprimaries/index.html) and caucuses, particularly Super Tuesday (5 Feb 2008) which accounts for the highest peak so far.
For targetted marketing, it would be better if we could narrow our searches further, within specific networks – such as Facebook users in the Singapore network. It’s good to think global, but sometimes words and phrases have different meanings in different cultures.
Also, while Lexicon indicates what Facebook users are interested in, it doesn’t indicate if people are for or against it. A keyword could appear many times but what if Facebook users were talking about a campaign AGAINST it? I have yet to prove my case, though, as there were no results for the phrase ‘child porn’ and limited results for ‘pornography’.
In the meantime, we can at least assure ourselves that even on Facebook, Love is all around.
