Facebook v MySpace - a class divide

[Al-khiyal]

June 26, 2007 -- 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.

Facebook v MySpace - a class divide

[Al-khiyal]

June 26, 2007 -- MySpace and Facebook have come to reflect class divisions in American society, according to an informal research project.
Since Facebook opened up last September, ongoing press coverage of MySpace as a dangerous place and Facebook's positioning as a home for those with elite aspirations have help create a socioeconomic divide between the two sites, argues Danah Boyd, a Ph.D. student at the School of Information Sciences at University of California at Berkeley.

"The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other 'good' kids are now going to Facebook," Boyd observes in an essay titled "Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace." "These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college."

Facebook appeals to the ruling class, as Boyd sees it.

"MySpace is still home for Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, 'burnouts,' 'alternative kids,' 'art fags,' punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn't play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm," Boyd insists. "These are kids whose parents didn't go to college, who are expected to get a job when they finish high school. These are the teens who plan to go into the military immediately after schools."

Boyd believes the design choices of the two sites reflect and appeal to different sets of users. "Most teens who exclusively use Facebook are familiar with and have an opinion about MySpace," she says. "These teens are very aware of MySpace and they often have a negative opinion about it. They see it as gaudy, immature, and 'so middle school.' They prefer the 'clean' look of Facebook, noting that it is more mature and that MySpace is 'so lame.' "

The glitzy MySpace aesthetic, Boyd argues, "resonates far better" with those of lower social rank.

Boyd points to the military's ban on MySpace last month to illustrate the divide between the two sites. "A month ago, the military banned MySpace but not Facebook," she observes. "This was a very interesting move because the division in the military reflects the division in high schools. Soldiers are on MySpace; officers are on Facebook."

Boyd says she don't quite know what to do with this work, but she hopes it will prompt some questions. "What does it mean that, in a society where we can't talk about class, we can see it play out online?" she asks. "And what does it mean in a digital world where no one's supposed to know you're a dog, we can guess your class background based on the tools you use?"

Boyd says she has analyzed more than 10,000 MySpace profiles, logged some 2,000 hours online at MySpace, and interviewed 90 teens from a variety of backgrounds in seven states. She acknowledges that her approach to ethnography has underemphasized rural areas and the Deep South, and notes that she doesn't have access to Facebook profiles.

Migration from MySpace to Facebook shows class divide

[piccolomondo]

Mashable: There’s buzz around the blogosphere this week about an opinion essay by Berkeley Ph.D. student Danah Boyd on the class divide between users on Facebook and MySpace. According to Boyd, “The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other ‘good’ kids are now going to Facebook” and MySpace is “… home for … ‘burnouts,’ ‘alternative kids,’ ‘art fags,’ punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn’t play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm.”

We were intrigued, and decided to do our own quick study, taking a look at the most popular artists on MySpace (by number of plays) and on Facebook (according to Facebook Pulse at the University of Maryland - overall network stats aren’t available).
We report, you decide ...