Facebook is good for keeping in touch with old friends, and for cyber-stalking your ex’s new girlfriend… but it’s also a rich source of data about millions of people’s feelings about everything from politics to baseball.
This interactive map made by the New York Times using Facebook aggregate data shows the complicated way baseball fandom exists in contemporary America. And it turns out that we really are a divided country–and, in many cases, divided cities–when it comes to what team we root for. Except in Baltimore. In Baltimore, we cheer for the Orioles.
Not only is our entire city solid Oriole orange, we’ve also made inroads with our neighbors. The data shows that the O’s have won over Gettysburg, Pennsylvania– an impressive feat, especially considering that the Phillies don’t seem to have had any success winning fans on our side of the Mason-Dixon line.
Things haven’t gone quite as well south of the city. As the Times notes, “While the Orioles have held onto many Maryland suburbs, the Nats now dominate Washington and much of the Virginia suburbs. In parts of the Washington region, the Orioles aren’t even the second-favorite team; the Yankees or the Red Sox are.”
