Social sites reveal class divide

[ComradeR]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6236628.stm
I found this article rather interesting, what do you think?

[Red Scare]

hmmm very interesting..... It always kinda seemed like that, i do not how th professor used the term 'queers', it is derogatory to most homosexuals

[AmbitiousHedonism]

the term 'queers', it is derogatory to most homosexuals

huh? not since like 1970...

[bolshevik butcher]

As facebook is aimed at students this seems a slightly ridiculous article...

[Global_Justice]

yeh facebook is aimed at students so obviosuly theres gonna be more students. :blink:

[Red Scare]

Originally posted by [email protected] 26, 2007 10:50 am

the term 'queers', it is derogatory to most homosexuals

huh? not since like 1970...
well it depends on who is called it, some people take it as a complement, some take it as an insult, if i was homosexual i would think of it as a insult

[Janus]

well it depends on who is called it, some people take it as a complement, some take it as an insult, if i was homosexual i would think of it as a insult
The term is still controversial; some see it as derogatory but there are also homosexuals out there who refer to themselves as queer and even some movements that have adopted the term. In the context which you pointed out, I think the author was simply using it as a comprehensive term.

[Janus]

As facebook is aimed at students this seems a slightly ridiculous article...
This study was a cross-sectional study of teenagers who used both sites not a mere analyzation of all the users of both sites. However, you are right in that Facebook was originally designed to be much more school-oriented as it was only limited to college students thus it appeals to a slightly different demographic than Myspace which was and always has been a purely social networking site.

[Raúl Duke]

Yeah...I was gonna mention that most likely the results are like that because facebook started as a college social network site while myspace was open to public.

But everyone already mentioned it.... :(

[RevSouth]

I saw an essay on this same subject, with a little more on it.

http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html

[EneME]

interesting topic, and i could see how their could be correlations, but at the same time, the article didn't go into any details. where/how was the data collected? how was the sample group selected? population size? it was kind of vague on how they came to the conclusions... :huh:

[RedCommieBear]

Well, if it's true that there is a class divide between social sites, I wouldn't be too surprised. We go to different schools, live in different neighborhoods, go to different social gatherings, etc. Real life class divides simply bleeding over online.

[mikelepore]

The article says: "In a preliminary draft of the research, Ms Boyd said defining 'class' in the US was difficult because, unlike many other nations, it did not map directly to income."

Of course class doesn't "map directly to income." The term "income" used in brief implies the quantity of that income. Class is based on the source of one's income, and not the quantity of it.

[AmbitiousHedonism]

well it depends on who is called it, some people take it as a complement, some take it as an insult, if i was homosexual i would think of it as a insult
The term is still controversial; some see it as derogatory but there are also homosexuals out there who refer to themselves as queer and even some movements that have adopted the term. In the context which you pointed out, I think the author was simply using it as a comprehensive term.

Certainly; also, some folks use 'queer' as a term kind of beyond hetero/homo/bi as a catchall for any sexual behavior that isn't 'straight'.

[Janus]

the article didn't go into any details. where/how was the data collected? how was the sample group selected? population size? it was kind of vague on how they came to the conclusions...
Most news articles don't, you have to go to the source for that information.


Originally posted by Boyd on methodology
The practice of 'ethnography' is hard to describe in a bounded form, but ethnography is basically about living and breathing a particular culture, its practices, and its individuals. There are some countables. For example, I have analyzed over 10,000 MySpace profiles, clocked over 2000 hours surfing and observing what happens on MySpace, and formally interviewed 90 teens in 7 states with a variety of different backgrounds and demographics. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. I ride buses to observe teens; I hang out at fast food joints and malls. I talk to parents, teachers, marketers, politicians, pastors, and technology creators. I read, I observe, I document.

While social network sites are in vogue, not everyone uses them. When PEW collected data in December 2005, it found that 55% of American teens 12-17 admitted to having a SNS profile in front of their parents. 70% of girls 15-17. These numbers are low, but we don't know how low. In the field, I have found that everyone knows about them and has an opinion of them. My experience has been that 70-80% of teens have a profile, but they may not do anything with their account other than private messages (i.e. glorified email). The percentage who are truly active is more like 50. Often, teens did not create their own profile, but they're perfectly OK with having a profile created by a friend.

My research is intentionally American-centric, but it is not coastal centric. I have done formal interviews in California, Washington, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts. When I do this, I do not capture parents' income but I do get parents' education level and job. In each of these communities, I have spent time roaming the streets and talking informally with people of all ages. I have analyzed profiles from all 50 states (and DC and Puerto Rico). I use the high school data from these profiles and juxtapose them with federal information on high school voucher numbers to get a sense of the SES of the school. I have spent time in cities, suburbs, small towns, and some rural regions. There are weaknesses to my data collection. I have spent too little time in rural environments and too little time in the deep south. How I find teens to formally interview varies based on region, but it is not completely random. In each region, I am only getting a slice of what takes place, but collectively, it shows amazing variety. The MySpace profiles that I analyze are random. I do not have access to Facebook profiles, although I have spent an excessive amount of time browsing high schools to see what kind of numbers show up, even if I can't see the actual profiles. Again, none of this is perfect, but it helps me paint a qualitative portrait of what's going on.

Essay (http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html)

[Janus]

I saw an essay on this same subject, with a little more on it.
That's simply the original essay and it must be pointed out that it is merely a blog essay rather than a formal study/research paper.