Social sites reveal class divide

[133724]

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.

...

Broadly, Ms Boyd found Facebook users tend to be white and come from families who are keen for children to get the most out of school and go on to college.

...

"MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracised at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers," she said.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6236628.stm

[Ben Masel]

1. This took a 6 month study?

Someone had to justify a budget.

[RedCappedBandit]

2. I don't know what to say

shouldn't it be absolutely friggin obvious that facebook would be home to more college students when compared to myspace, considering the fact that facebook was originally intended as a college-student-only website? ... I don't see what being a "geek, freak, or queer" has to do with it..

[ContraBass Black]

3. Facebook started as a college-only networking site.

Somebody got paid for this research?

[geek_sabre]

4. I'm curious about her research methods

I'd imagine that facebook isn't "primarily white," but an accurate reflection of college populations as a whole. Just based on my own experience on the site.

I find myspace, in general, to be a more immature site than facebook. There's just something about allowing idiots to choose their own backgrounds and color themes, along with embedding stupid songs in the background that makes 90% of all myspace pages impossible to navigate/load. Facebook, on the other hand, is more uniform, easier to navigate. There's no scrolling down two years to get to the comments/wall.