Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace - The Diigo Meta page

• 24 Nov 09
  

  John Rison

  facebook myspace sociology class socialnetworking

• 22 Nov 09
  

  Allison Kipta

  "When MySpace launched in 2003, it was primarily used by 20/30-somethings (just like Friendster before it). The bands began populating the site by early 2004 and throughout 2004, the average age slowly declined. It wasn't until late 2004 that teens really started appearing en masse on MySpace and 2005 was the year that MySpace became the "in thing" for teens. Facebook launched in 2004 as a Harvard-only site. It slowly expanded to welcome people with .edu accounts from a variety of different universities. In mid-2005, Facebook opened its doors to high school students, but it wasn't that easy to get an account because you needed to be invited. As a result, those who were in college tended to invite those high school students that they liked. Facebook was strongly framed as the "cool" thing that college students did. So, if you want to go to college (and particularly a top college), you wanted to get on Facebook badly. Even before high school networks were possible, the moment seniors were accepted to a college, they started hounding the college sysadmins for their .edu account. The message was clear: college was about Facebook. For all of 2005 and most of 2006, MySpace was the cool thing for high school teens and Facebook was the cool thing for college students. This is not to say that MySpace was solely high school or Facebook solely college, but there was a dominating age division that played out in the cultural sphere."

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• 28 Sep 09
  

  Kelly Stolt
• 

  Amber Sipes
• 27 Sep 09
  

  Daniel King
  • I want to take a moment to make a meta point here
  • is not an academ
  • 2 more annotations...
  • • ield, but I'm not trying to situate or theorize what
    • As this past school year progressed, the division around usage became clearer. In trying to look at it, I realized that it was primarily about class.
• 21 Sep 09
  

  Terry Elliott

  Danah boyd article

  facebook myspace socialnetworking class culture

  • not a shift so much as a fragmentation.
  • probably because it seems to primarily have to do with socio-economic class.
  • 46 more annotations...
  • • I'm going to face the stickiness and see if I can get my thoughts across.
    • The academic side of me feels extremely guilty about this; the activist side of me finds it too critical to go unacknowledged.
    • When MySpace launched in 2003, it was primarily used by 20/30-somethings (just like Friendster before it). The bands began populating the site by early 2004 and throughout 2004, the average age slowly declined. It wasn't until late 2004 that teens really started appearing en masse on MySpace and 2005 was the year that MySpace became the "in thing" for teens.
    • college was about Facebook.
    • For all of 2005 and most of 2006, MySpace was the cool thing for high school teens and Facebook was the cool thing for college students.
    • Still, even with the rise of high school students, Facebook was framed as being about college. This was what was in the press. This was what college students said.
    • In addition to the college framing, the press coverage of MySpace as dangerous and sketchy alienated "good" kids. Facebook seemed to provide an ideal alternative. Parents weren't nearly as terrified of Facebook because it seemed "safe" thanks to the network-driven structure.

    • the division around usage became clearer. In trying to look at it, I realized that it was primarily about class.

      
      

    • She argues that class divisions in the United States have more to do with lifestyle and social stratification than with income.
    • In sociology, Nalini Kotamraju has argued that constructing arguments around "class" is extremely difficult in the United States.
    • Class divisions in the United States have more to do with social networks (the real ones, not FB/MS), social capital, cultural capital, and attitudes than income.
    • Social networks are strongly connected to geography, race, and religion; these are also huge factors in lifestyle divisions and thus "class."
    • attempt to delineate what we see on social network sites in stereotypical, descriptive terms

    • The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college. They are part of what we'd call hegemonic society. They are primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities.

      
      

      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. 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. Teens who are really into music or in a band are also on MySpace. MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.

    • first group of teens "hegemonic teens" and the second group "subaltern teens."
    • The division
    • Most teens who exclusively use Facebook are familiar with and have an opinion about MySpace.
    • hat "clean" or "modern" look of Facebook is akin to West Elm or Pottery Barn or any poshy Scandinavian design house (that I admit I'm drawn to) while the more flashy look of MySpace resembles the Las Vegas imagery that attracts millions every year. I suspect that lifestyles have aesthetic values and that these are being reproduced on MySpace and Facebook.
    • aesthetics do divide MySpace users.
    • teens on Facebook all know about MySpace, not all MySpace users have heard of Facebook.
    • the hegemonic teens see MySpace as "where the bad kids go." "Good" and "bad" seem to be the dominant language used to divide hegemonic and subaltern teens in mixed-class environments. At the same time, most schools aren't actually that mixed.
    • Teens from poorer backgrounds who are on MySpace are less likely to know people who go to universities. They are more likely to know people who are older than them, but most of their older friends, cousins, and co-workers are on MySpace. It's the cool working class thing and it's the dominant SNS at community colleges. These teens are more likely to be interested in activities like shows and clubs and they find out about them through MySpace. The subaltern teens who are better identified as "outsiders" in a hegemonic community tend to be very aware of Facebook. Their choice to use MySpace instead of Facebook is a rejection of the hegemonic values (and a lack of desire to hang out with the preps and jocks even online).
    • Subaltern
    • MySpace is the primary way that young soldiers communicate with their peers.
    • Given a lack of language for talking about this, my choice of "hegemonic" and "subaltern" was intended to at least insinuate a different way of looking at this split.
    • The division around MySpace and Facebook is just another way in which technology is mirroring societal values.
    • I worry because it reproduced the idea that the "good" kids are good and that Facebook participation is good.
    • PBS Frontline put out a video called The Lost Children of Rockdale County.
    • As a society, we have strong class divisions and we project these values onto our kids. MySpace and Facebook seem to be showcasing this division quite well. My hope in writing this out is to point out that many of our assumptions are problematic and the internet often reinforces our views instead of challenging them.
    • People often ask me if I'm worried about teens today.
    • hegemonic teens,
    • the lack of mobility and healthy opportunities for play and socialization, and the hyper-scheduling and surveillance.
    • unrealistic expectations for becoming rich and famous, their lack of work ethic after being pampered for so long, and the lack of opportunities that many
    • locking teens indoors coupled with a fast food/junk food advertising machine has resulted in a decrease in health levels
    • ostracized teens, I'm worried about the reasons why society has ostracized them and how they will react to ongoing criticism from hegemonic peers.
    • lack of opportunities available to poor teens from uneducated backgrounds.
    • opportunities for meaningful working class labor as these youth enter the workforce
    • what a prolonged war will mean for them
    • how gangs provide the only meaningful sense of community
    • they've been told that to succeed, they must be a famous musician or sports player
    • I'm amazed at how well teens are coping and I think that technology has a lot to do with that. Teens are using social network sites to build community and connect with their peers. They are creating publics for socialization. And through it, they are showcasing all of the good, bad, and ugly of today's teen life
    • t breaks my heart to watch a class divide play out in the technology. I shouldn't be surprised - when orkut grew popular in India, the caste system was formalized within the system by the users. But there's something so strange about watching a generation slice themselves in two based on class divisions or lifestyles or whatever you want to call these socio-structural divisions.
    • He argued that working class teens will reject hegemonic values because it's the only way to continue to be a part of the community that they live in. In other words, if you don't know that you will succeed if you make a run at jumping class, don't bother - you'll lose all of your friends and community in the process.
    • I feel as though the implications are huge.
    • 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?
    • MySpace and Facebook are new representations of the class divide in American youth.
• 19 Sep 09
  

  Deborah Fitchett

  "Until recently, American teenagers were flocking to MySpace. The picture is now being blurred. Some teens are flocking to MySpace. And some teens are flocking to Facebook. Who goes where gets kinda sticky... probably because it seems to primarily have to do with socio-economic class." (2007)

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• 18 Sep 09
  

  Alice Barr

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• 09 Sep 09
  

  Jim Daly

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• 30 Jun 09
  

  Bill Guinee

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• 29 Jun 09
  

  Luis Pedro

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• 19 May 09
  

  Julia Wells

  Imported Study Social Software and Web 2.0 On Networking

• 11 May 09
  

  Marcia Roberts

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• 05 Apr 09
  

  gradstuAZ

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• 09 Mar 09
  

  A. Cheryl Curtis
• 05 Mar 09
  

  Jackie G

  GenY Facebook

• 18 Feb 09
  

  Dana Longley

  infolit information_evaluation socialnetworking delicious

• 09 Feb 09
  

  Julian Sanchez

  Class divisions occuring on the social networking site. Are we surprised? No. We just have to be aware of audiences as we utilize info.

  research social networking

  • The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to
    Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and
    going to college. They are part of what we'd call hegemonic society. They are
    primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking
    forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities.
    

  • 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.
    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. Teens who are really into music or in a band
    are also on MySpace. MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at
    school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.
  • 3 more annotations...
  • • The look and feel that is acceptable amongst average Latino users is quite
      different from what you see the subculturally-identified outcasts using.
    • In particular, subaltern teens who go to school exclusively with other subaltern
      teens are not likely to have heard of it. Subaltern teens who go to more
      mixed-class schools see Facebook as "what the good kids do" or "what the preps
      do
    • Teens from poorer backgrounds who are on MySpace are less likely to know people
      who go to universities. They are more likely to know people who are older than
      them, but most of their older friends, cousins, and co-workers are on MySpace.
• 

  Ron Rosenberg
  • Until recently, American teenagers were flocking to MySpace. The picture is now
    being blurred. Some teens are flocking to MySpace. And some teens are flocking
    to Facebook. Who goes where gets kinda sticky... probably because it seems to
    primarily have to do with socio-economic class.
  • For all of 2005 and most of 2006, MySpace was the cool thing for high school
    teens and Facebook was the cool thing for college students
  • 4 more annotations...
  • • a dominating age division that played out in the cultural sphere.
    • Class divisions in the United States have more to do with social networks (the
      real ones, not FB/MS),

    • The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to
      Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and
      going to college. They are part of what we'd call hegemonic society. They are
      primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking
      forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities.
      

    • 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.
      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. Teens who are really into music or in a band
      are also on MySpace. MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at
      school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.

• 26 Jan 09
  

  Cathy Zhang

  • The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to
    Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and
    going to college. They are part of what we'd call hegemonic society. They are
    primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking
    forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities.
    

    
    

    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.
    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. Teens who are really into music or in a band
    are also on MySpace. MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at
    school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.

• 24 Jan 09
  

  Julien PIERRE

  danah-boyd idnum myspace facebook

• 

  Tricia Jackson

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• 15 Jan 09
  

  FruFru FourOne

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• 09 Jan 09
  

  Brian Edwards

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• 03 Jan 09
  

  Csaba Meszaros

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• 30 Dec 08
  

  Jane Challinor

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• 16 Dec 08
  

  Marion Walton
• 12 Dec 08
  

  Tim McGee

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• 22 Sep 08
  

  Yann Leroux

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• 01 Aug 08
  

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• 21 Jul 08
  

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• 20 May 08
  

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• 07 Apr 08
  

  Kim Snyder

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• 15 Feb 08
  

  davedenis

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• 07 Feb 08
  

  chellery stick

  The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to Facebook.... MySpace is still home for Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, "burnouts," "alternative kids," "art fags," punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other ki

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• 11 Nov 07
  

  Adriana Lukas

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• 10 Nov 07
  

  Bob McFarland

  Research Myspace Facebook

• 

  Bo McFarland

  Research Myspace Facebook

• 01 Oct 07
  

  Hans Henrik H Heming

  Kan man imiterer virkeligheden online?

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• 10 Sep 07
  

  Mark Rabnett

  Apophia blog

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• 29 Jul 07
  

  Lambert Heller

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• 27 Jul 07
  

  Matt Vance
• 21 Jul 07
  

  Or W

  Sociology

• 20 Jul 07
  

  Blair Adams

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• 

  Maria Monaco

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• 09 Jul 07
  

  Suzanne Malley

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• 05 Jul 07
  

  Steve Garwood

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• 

  Spiro Bolos

  danah boyd

  psychology sociology class

• 02 Jul 07
  

  David Jennings

  Cultural and class differences between MySpace and Facebook.

  myspace facebook class Digital culture

  • The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college. They are part of what we'd call hegemonic society. They are primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities. 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. 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. Teens who are really into music or in a band are also on MySpace. MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.
• 01 Jul 07
  

  Rene Clausen Nielsen

  Danah Boyd skriver igen en spændende artikel - nu om Fjæsbog MitRum

  facebook myspace culture class sociology socialnetworking sociologi DanahBoyd

• 30 Jun 07
  

  Will Richardson

  myspace social facebook

• 28 Jun 07
  

  Aviva Gabriel

  A month ago, the military banned MySpace but not Facebook. 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.

• 

  Tuija Aalto

  danah boyd löysi verkkoyhteisöjen luokkaerot: facebookin käyttäjät korkeammin koultuettuja, myspacesin käyttäjät todennäköisemmin duunareita

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• 27 Jun 07
  

  Jeppe Kabell

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• 

  Jody Foo

  Essay about Facebook vs MySpace users

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• 26 Jun 07
  

  Sam King

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  Frank Colcord

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  Harry Haller

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• 

  dhruvee

  danah boyd informally discusses class division reflected in social networking sites. via waxy

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• 25 Jun 07
  

  PG Holmlov

  Tagging & social software Customer and Society 0mvarldenIntnl

  • The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college. They are part of what we'd call hegemonic society. They are primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities.
    
    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. 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. Teens who are really into music or in a band are also on MySpace. MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.
  • The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to Facebook. These kids tend to come from families who emphasize education and going to college. They are part of what we'd call hegemonic society. They are primarily white, but not exclusively. They are in honors classes, looking forward to the prom, and live in a world dictated by after school activities.
    
    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. 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. Teens who are really into music or in a band are also on MySpace. MySpace has most of the kids who are socially ostracized at school because they are geeks, freaks, or queers.
• 

  Wei-Jing Zhu
• 

  Wei-Jing Zhu
• 

  Cassandra Disque

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• 

  Claudia Scholz

  internet social research stratification

• 

  Michele Wendell-Senter

  MySpace Culture

• 

  Michel Bauwens

  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. These are kids whose

  Facebook MySpace Social-Software P2P-Youth P2P

• 

  Lynette Webb

  social-networking

  • What does it mean that, in a society where we can't talk about class, we can see it play out online? And what does it mean in a digital world where no one's supposed to know you're a dog, we can tell your class background based on the tools you use?
• 

  Amy

  social networking myspace facebook class Technology sociology culture

• 

  Martin Lindner

  The goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, or other "good" kids are now going to Facebook. ... MySpace is still home for Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, "burnouts," "alternative kids," "art fags," punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and others

  facebook socialsoftware deli

• 

  L@jost EU project

  myspace Facebook SocialNetworks socialsoftware web2.0 l@jost

• 

  Howard Rheingold

  an increasing number of articles high school teens leaving MySpace for Facebook. That's only partially true. There is indeed a change taking place, but it's not a shift so much as a fragmentation.
  
  

  facebook sociology social_networks

Public Stiky Notes

• 
  Terry Elliott on 2009-09-23
  Because she relates the history in a nutshell? I am pretty impressed with this gist. Does academic mean more elaborate? more accurate? I thought it meant peer-reviewed.
• 
  Gina Minks on 2009-01-20
  the entire article? or something in particular?
• 
  Gina Moss on 2008-05-05
  here's a good example of how this is NOT an academic article.

Page Comments

• 
  Christy Tucker on 2007-06-25
  Ethnographic study about class divisions in MySpace and Facebook. MySpace tends to attract more teens from working class and immigrant families, while Facebook attracts more college-bound, upwardly mobile high schoolers.
  

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