"Soldiers are on MySpace; officers are on Facebook" (UK Guardian)

[Nikki Stone1]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2111487,00.html

Facebook v MySpace - a class divide


Bobbie Johnson, technology correspondent
Tuesday June 26, 2007
The Guardian

Social networking websites MySpace and Facebook are increasingly splitting along class lines, according to a US academic. The sites, which allow users to make friends and share pictures and information about themselves, have become two of the most popular destinations on the internet. But Danah Boyd, a researcher at the University of California, says their populations are now dividing on the basis of social and economic backgrounds.

In a paper this week, Ms Boyd said typical Facebook users "tend to come from families who emphasise education and going to college. They are primarily white, but not exclusively". MySpace, meanwhile, "is still home for Latino and Hispanic teens, immigrant teens" as well as "other kids who didn't play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm".

Ms Boyd also conjectures that the US military's recent decision to ban personnel from using sites including MySpace is evidence of social fissures in the armed forces. "A month ago, the military banned MySpace but not Facebook. This was a very interesting move because there's a division, even in the military. Soldiers are on MySpace; officers are on Facebook."

MySpace, owned by Rupert Murdoch, has enjoyed massive success - particularly among young music fans - and recently became the most visited site on the web. But Facebook, started by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg, has been gaining ground. Figures last month suggested it had more than 3.5 million UK users. Until last year membership was limited to university students and individuals with an email address from an academic institution. This, said Ms Boyd, has given the site higher value among aspirational teens.