What your Facebook status really says about you.

It isn’t all pretty.

We use Facebook to share. What you might not know is that what you share on Facebook can actually speak volumes about your personality.

We have the proof.

A group of leading UK researchers have studied whether or not your personality type influences the way you use social media. Hint: The answer is yes it does.

The study tested more than 550 people for the most prominent personality traits, which are extraversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. They then determined how these traits were linked to what we do on Facebook.

Their findings were published in the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

(Talking of Facebook, do you live a “fake Facebook life”? Click here to read what it is.)

Here’s what they found:

You post a lot about your loved ones.

Oh no. While you might think you’re all loved up, research finds that posting a lot about your relationship was linked to feelings of low self-esteem.

"Considering that people with low self-esteem tend to be more chronically fearful of losing their romantic partner, and that people are more likely to post relationship-relevant information on Facebook on days when they feel insecure, it is reasonable to surmise that people with low self-esteem update about their partner as a way of laying claim to their relationship when it feels threatened," the study said.

You post about meals you just ate or your exercise regime.

More than likely, you're going to be a narcissist. The study concluded that narcissistic personality types used Facebook for validation, and suggested they "may broadcast their diet and exercise routine to express the personal importance they place on physical appearance".

You write a lot about your children.

Posting a lot about your kids could mean you're more conscientious. But it also means you're likely to be a little competitive. (Read here to hear about a mum whose sister gave everything about her baby away on Facebook.)

"Conscientious individuals may update about their children for purposes other than communicating with their friends. Perhaps such updates reflect an indirect form of competitive parenting," the researchers said.

You post a lot about what's going on in the world.

You can take a breath now. The study found that people who post lots of articles about intellectual topics was linked to the individual having a higher degree of openness. In other words this makes you creative, intellectual and curious. Win.

"People high in openness, then, may write updates about current events, research, or their political views for the purpose of sharing impersonal information rather than for socialising," the study explains.

Did you find the study to be true for you?

While you're here, SCROLL THROUGH the gallery for 8 photos of your kids you really need to stop posting on social media...

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