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"If you thought you were seeing all your Facebook friends swap their photos to red equality signs Tuesday, you were right. Facebook reported a 120% increase in profile picture swaps, as compared to an average day. \nAccording to a post from Facebook data scientist Eytan Bakshy, 2.7 million more users swapped their photos Tuesday, March 26, than on the previous Tuesday, due to the viral marriage equality Facebook campaign started by the Human Rights Campaign. \nThe HRC kicked off its call to action Monday afternoon at 1 p.m. EDT, in anticipation of the two gay marriage cases argued before the Supreme Court Tuesday and Wednesday.\nSEE ALSO: Brands Give Shout Out for Marriage Equality on Facebook\n\nFacebook dug into the trend to evaluate just how many U.S. users changed their photos. The following charts show the usual profile picture changing habits of users (above) and the increase in the average number of changes (below). Facebook confirmed that the increase began when the HRC shared its call to action, which is noted on the graph with a dotted line.\n\nFacebook also looked into who were the power profile picture-swappers. Comparing changes March 26 (in red) with the previous Tuesday (in black) by user ages, Facebook found the most significant increase among its users closest to age 30, 3.5% of whom changed their profile pictures. Females were slightly more likely than males to change their pictures, with 2.3% of self-reported females making the swap, compared to 2.1% of self-reported males.\n\nFacebook also investigated which counties' users were most likely to change their pictures. In the below map, the darkest red counties showed the most significant changes. \nRoughly 6.2% of users in Washtenaw County, Mich., home of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, swapped their photos in response to the HRC's campaign. The top 25 counties were loaded with universities, including the University of North Carolina, Duke University, Indiana University, the University of Iowa, Ohio University, the University of Wisconsin, the University of Colorado and the University of Texas.\nUrban areas, including San Francisco County, San Mateo County (Silicon Valley) and Washington, D.C., ranked highly, while Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago showed more modest increases.\n\nBONUS: 18 Creative Red Facebook Pics\n\n\nRed Marriage Equality Profile Pics\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n1. Bert and Ernie\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n2. Rafiki\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n3. Princess Bride Priest\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n4. Mario and Luigi\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n5. Babies\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n6. Iron Man\n\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n7. Joints\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n8. Holding Hands\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n9. Sweet Brown Meme\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n10. Finger Hearts\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n11. Red Room\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n12. Pillows\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n13. Abbey Road\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n14. Twins\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n15. Heart and a Fence\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n16. Mermaid\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n17. Supreme Court Justices\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n18.  Piet Mondrian's Painting\nImage courtesy of Tumblr, red4equality\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nImage courtesy of Facebook; composite by Mashable"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2013/03/29/facebook-marriage-equality-traffic/>