Using MySpace, Facebook or Xanga is Influenced by Race, Ethnicity and Education

MySpace, Facebook, and Xanga are all social networking sites. In a startling finding, researchers challenged the concept that everyone is 'equal' online. In a recent press release, they announced the details of their study that determined that ones social class, race, and the level of parents education are the strongest predictors of which social networking site someone will use.

Researcher from Northwestern University conducted a study to determine if there were differences in the social networking site that college students decided to use. They determined that the three most popular sites were MySpace, Facebook, and Xanga.

Many people believe that the Internet and social networking levels the playing field, giving all students equal opportunities. Researchers believe that this belief is wrong, and social networking sites could actually be having the reverse effect.

Their concern is based on the fact that social networking sites could be creating a two-class system, those with more social connections and those students who do not have social connections.

"In a two-tier system, some college students cultivate lots of networks and social capital while others benefit considerably less from this important part of the college experience. Everyone points to that wonderful New Yorker cartoon of the dog at the computer telling a canine friend by his side that 'on the Internet nobody knows you're a dog," said Eszter Hargittai, an assistant professor of communication studies and sociology at Northwestern University and faculty associate at the Institute for Policy Research.

She continued, "In reality, however, it appears that online actions and interactions should not be viewed as independent of one's offline identity."

Who uses which site?
White college students tend to use Facebook. Hispanic college students tend to use MySpace, and Asian students (and Asian Americans) use MySpace less than any other social networking site.

Asian and Asian American students tend to use Friendster and Xanga.

The study did not find a preference for African American college students.

Researchers were surprised when they determined that there was a statistical correlation between a college student's parent's education level and the type of social networking site that a student selected.

Both Facebook and Xanga attracted more users whose parents had attended college, or had received a college degree. MySpace users tend to attract users whose parents never attended college, and many of the parents had not completed high school.

Facebook was launched in 2004 and has often thought to reach the largest number of college students. Research confirmed that four out of every five college students used Facebook.

According to survey results, 54 percent of college students used MySpace. Less than one in 10 college students used the least popular social networking sites, Xanga, Friendster, Orkut and Bebo.

Researchers based these findings on a survey of over 1,000 freshmen at the University of Illinois, Chicago. This study has been published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communications.

Source:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/nu-sfu111907.php