Social networks for social research
Social networks are cool. But to get any benefit out of them, it is pretty important to spend significant and frequent chunks of time using them. I’ll admit it, I got bored with Facebook quickly and now I’m lucky if I check it twice a week. For me, in practical terms, a tool like Facebook for regular social discourse just can’t hold my interest for long. Use the concept to build something around an important issue or as an agent of real change and that’s different.
While my misgivings about Facebook make me doubt its usefulness as anything but fun diversion, a Danah Boyd essay from June has me wondering if there’s something deeper to online social networking, in terms of social research, and what these systems say about us. I’ll admit to the kind of knee-jerk reaction to MySpace that Danah writes about as she notes the class distinction between users of the two sites.
The discomfort in her writing doesn’t take away from what seem to be pretty keen observations about kids, their choice of social network and the broader perceptions around that. Demographic and psychographic comparisons of the two types of users very clearly delineate along socio-economic lines. While I’m no ivy-leaguer, the clean design and visual ubiquity of Facebook profiles appeals to me much more than the garish varieties of MySpace pages – I like white space and consistency. While it’s easy to see the appeal of these stark differences for marketers, how can we use this information to effect positive social outcomes?
Perhaps the divides between users of the two systems is more depressing social commentary on how we make assumptions about each other (and assumptions parents make about ‘their’ kids using Facebook):
Danah Boyd:
The division around MySpace and Facebook is just another way in which technology is mirroring societal values. Embedded in that is a challenge to a lot of our assumptions about who does what. The “good” kids are doing more “bad” things than we are willing to acknowledge (because they’re the pride and joy of upwardly mobile parents). And, guess what? They’re doing those same bad things online and offline. At the same time, the language and style of the “bad” kids offends most upwardly mobile adults. We see this offline as well. I’ve always been fascinated watching adults walk to the other side of the street when a group of black kids sporting hip-hop style approach. The aesthetics alone offend and most privileged folks project the worst ideas onto any who don that style. When I see a divide like this, I worry because it reproduced the idea that the “good” kids are good and that Facebook participation is good.
But are these conclusions about social class and online social network correct across the board? After all, MySpace came first and appeals to younger users, probably in part, because of the colourful and tacky way profiles can look, and that it’s much more about music, hip-hop and entertainment than is Facebook. Notwithstanding the fact that the clean white Facebook interface is not changeable, users can still trash up their space like crazy with everything from cyber-drink purchases, to zombie status and all manner of the downright silly and useless. And, while Facebook came later and started as a closed college network, it’s trying to become the platform for everyone. Just look at all the postings on Craigslist for Facebook application developers if you don’t believe me.
Certainly, it seems that some interesting research into behaviour and association can be done through online social networking, but I’m not sure it can inform us much beyond seeing if that behaviour is mirrored in the real world, or if something different or more profound is derived from using online social networks.
I know one thing. From a taste perspective (and this isn’t a knock against hip-hop, MySpace OR those who like them), I’m no more likely to listen to hip-hop than I am to use MySpace. Does that make me an elitist or racist? No.
July 15th, 2010 at 9:09 pm
[...] Social networks for social research [...]
July 15th, 2010 at 9:10 pm
[...] Everything is saved for later use and you can spit out references in a variety of academic formatting, suitable for whatever you’re writing at the time. I’m already hooked and, whether I decide to go the project or thesis route, I’m sure it will become pretty much my favourite online research tool. These discoveries are nothing short of serendipitous for me. Social networks for social research [...]