Do Facebook and MySpace represent a new view of the class divide?
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Here's an interesting article by Danah Boyd which talks about the growth of these 2 social networking sites and the battle that is currently raging between them to gain an ascendency:
Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace
Some of the really important points that Danah raises are over whether these sites represent different classes of American youth. Could it be true that MySpace is the blue collar portal and that Facebook is for the white collar mob? Interesting discussion. Here's a snippet taken from the article to give you a taste for it:
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.