The arrival of the digital age and the communication platforms and software advances underpinning it are significant for a much older pursuit: the study of human behaviour. Revolutionary ‘big data’ now exists in the form of the internet traffic created by users of various websites and social networking services and applications. The nature of the information shared by internet users tends to differ depending on the type of site or platform concerned. Messages and other content posted on Facebook, and other social media linked to people’s ‘real’ identities, tend to be edited somewhat to present a more attractive or successful image. People’s Google searches, and usage of other sites where their ‘real’ identities can remain more concealed, reveal more accurate information about their lives.