Social sites reveal class divide
June 26th, 2007

Fans of MySpace and Facebookare divided by much more than which music they like, suggests a study. The BBC reports.

A six-month research project has revealed a sharp division along class lines among the American teenagers flocking to the social network sites.

The research suggests those using Facebook come from wealthier homes and are more likely to attend college.

By contrast, MySpace users tend to get a job after finishing high school rather than continue their education.

The conclusions are based on interviews with many teenage users of the social networking sites by PhD student Danah Boyd from the School of Information Sciences at UC Berkeley .

Fans of MySpace and Facebookare divided by much more than which music they like, suggests a study. The BBC reports.
A six-month research project has revealed a sharp division along class lines among the American teenagers flocking to the social network sites.
The research suggests those using Facebook come from wealthier homes and are more likely to [...]

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Comments
1 - jack

Is this really at all surprising given that FaceBook started off with a focus on colleges in the first place? This seems like a non-finding of the first degree.

2 - Nick

Jack said it. Myspace started out open to everyone. With its bloat and ads, anyone would want to get away if only their friends would come too. Facebook was that alternative, and selectively targeted the college audience. Though most won’t volunteer it, the majority of facebook users also have an abandoned myspace.

3 - Andrew

First of all, money has nothing to do with wealth. Second, anyone that has done anything of value in society didn’t value so-called school systems. It’s obvious that facebook was a “school” thing initially so why are would the School of Information Sciences at UC Berkeley waste time and money to do such an obvious study? Is it reaffirming how “school” makes people incapable to make independent, rational decisions? …”If you like school you’ll love work!”… Myspace people might know that school makes you slower, more ignorant, and in horrible debt. They might actually have their priorities a little straighter (like what actually works). But most of all… who cares about class anyway?! ..Cutters 4 life!!!

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