Excited
This research article, Whose Space? Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites, reports on a research study by Eszter Hargittai in Communication Studies and Sociology at Northwestern University. It finds connections between use of social network sites and a person’s gender, race and ethnicity, and parental educational background.
One difference between this research and previous studies, which allowed them to reveal these patterns, is that it disaggregated users by site. Instead of lumping all social network users together, they separated them into Facebook, Myspace, Xanga, and Friendster. They found striking differences among the sites. For example, Asians and Asian Americans are much more likely to use Xanga and Friendster than Myspace or even Facebook. Sixty-five percent of Asian American social network users are on Xanga, and 94% are on Friendster, versus 31% on Facebook and 21% on Myspace.
Another difference between this study and previous ones is that it surveyed younger people- mainly 18- and 19-year-old college students. So instead of looking at the education level of the users, they look at the education level of their parents. They found that users of Xanga, Facebook and Friendster have more highly educated parents than users of Myspace.
I think there are more interesting facts to be found here, but I’m not sure what they are. I would be curious to know if the answers to the following questions can be found in this article or elsewhere:
What percent of social network users are Asian American?
What percent of people use social networks?
What percent of Asian Americans use Xanga?
What percent of Xanga users are Asian American?
etc.
The most surprising result of this survey to me is that only 30% of Asian-American social network users are on Facebook. I would have thought it would be a lot more.
(Image credit: Crave @ CNET UK)
How does this post make you feel?
- Fascinated
- Amused
- Bored
- Sad
- Angry
NOTE: 8Asians.com is a community, and we thank you for being a part of it. While we welcome and appreciate differences in opinion, if you're rude or you're promoting spam, we have a right to edit or delete your comment. Read our comment policy for more information.
If you see a comment that violates the 8Asians.com comment policy, you may flag the comment by mousing over the comment and clicking "FLAG."
Some interesting info:
http://www.quantcast.com/xanga.com/demographics
http://www.quantcast.com/yelp.com/demographics
Both Yelp and Xanga index highly Asian- that bar graph means that there's almost three times as many Asians on Yelp and Xanga as compared to the rest of the internet.
Some interesting info:
http://www.quantcast.com/xanga.com/demographics
http://www.quantcast.com/yelp.com/demographics
Both Yelp and Xanga index highly Asian- that bar graph means that there's almost three times as many Asians on Yelp and Xanga as compared to the rest of the internet.
I thought Orkut would be Indian and Hi5 would be ASIAN-Asian.
I thought Orkut would be Indian and Hi5 would be ASIAN-Asian.
So why are all of us on Facebook? :D
So why are all of us on Facebook? :D
Interesting info here!
P.S. Though this is second-hand data, I've heard that:
Bebo: British
Orkut: Brazilian
Hi5: Black
Interesting info here!
P.S. Though this is second-hand data, I've heard that:
Bebo: British
Orkut: Brazilian
Hi5: Black
Good post, Lily. (It should be known that before my current position at Yahoo!, I worked as one of the developers for Yahoo! 360 and acted as de-facto Community Manager.)
People always forget that with every social network, a core community pops up for each social network. Every web developer on these sites will always plan to make a website for everyone - EVERYONE - but the people who work on sites like these do notice the core community members, and will make tweaks to make sure they retain these core members and keep them happy.
It's unspoken, but these are the core groups the following social networks caters to:
Xanga: Asian Americans, Canadians, Asian Canadians
Friendster: (early) Burning Man attendees, (early) gay men, (current) Southeast Asians - Singaporeans, Malaysians, Filipinos, etc
MySpace: "Middle America"
Facebook: 20-30 year olds, comfortable to affluent due to its college roots
Yahoo! 360: "Middle America" over the age of 35, Vietnamese college students, some Vietnamese Americans
LiveJournal: (early) "counterculture" kids, (current) Gay bear subcultures, (current) Russians
Point being - people usually hang out with their "tribe," and where people similar to them are, they go as well. Same goes for community websites on the Internet.
Good post, Lily. (It should be known that before my current position at Yahoo!, I worked as one of the developers for Yahoo! 360 and acted as de-facto Community Manager.)
People always forget that with every social network, a core community pops up for each social network. Every web developer on these sites will always plan to make a website for everyone - EVERYONE - but the people who work on sites like these do notice the core community members, and will make tweaks to make sure they retain these core members and keep them happy.
It's unspoken, but these are the core groups the following social networks caters to:
Xanga: Asian Americans, Canadians, Asian Canadians
Friendster: (early) Burning Man attendees, (early) gay men, (current) Southeast Asians - Singaporeans, Malaysians, Filipinos, etc
MySpace: "Middle America"
Facebook: 20-30 year olds, comfortable to affluent due to its college roots
Yahoo! 360: "Middle America" over the age of 35, Vietnamese college students, some Vietnamese Americans
LiveJournal: (early) "counterculture" kids, (current) Gay bear subcultures, (current) Russians
Point being - people usually hang out with their "tribe," and where people similar to them are, they go as well. Same goes for community websites on the Internet.
Custom Search
Recent Posts
- Chinese New Year Lanterns
- Is Kim Jong Un Dead? Assassination Rumors Hit the Internet
- Help Fight Stereoptypes With Asian Crew Clothing
- Deftones’ Chi Cheng Wakes Up From His 3-Year Coma
- SXSW 2012 Has a Nice Handful of Asian Movies
- Woman In China Gives Birth To 15 Lb Baby
- Naruto & Dragonball Now Available On Barnes & Noble Nook
Recent Comments
- : @LH Lawson Did you expect 8A, a blog dedicated to APA issues and current events, to NOT talk about the first American-born NBA player of... – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : Can you just let him ball. Damn. Just enjoy this. – What if Jeremy Lin Weren't Asian?
- : CUTE! i thought selca was self camera too, but self capture sounds better! please support my page~ http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ulzzang-Contest/330329873668042 – Selca: Taking Photos of Yourself, So You Don't Look Like A Fool Taking Someone Elses
- : you sound like some neonazi dike bitch who wouldnt know a good thing if it slapped ou in your fat pig head – NBC’s Outsourced Canceled: Sad But Not Surprised
- : Good luck! Hope things work out. – Behind The Scenes With Team Janet & A Call To Help Janet Find Her Match
APA Events
Feb 16: Adam WarRock and Kirby Krackle: West Cost Tour Dates!!!
Feb 16: (New York, NY) Amar Chitra Katha: Monica Ferrell, Chitra Ganesh, Keshni Kashyap, and Himanshu “Heems” Suri of Das Racist
Feb 17: (Los Angeles, CA) All My Sons
Feb 18: (Stanford, CA) Stanford’s 16th Listen to the Silence Conference- Feb 18: (San Francisco, CA) NAAAP-SF Lunar New Year Gala 2012
Feb 25: (Los Angeles, CA) Past Present I Future Imperatives: Queer Space Time
Mar 3: (New York, NY) Vong Pak’s ‘Electric Shaman’ Concert
Apr 30: (Sacramento, CA) California Asian Pacific Islander Policy Summit 2012: iAdvocate
Staff and Contributors
- Editors
- Ernie Hsiung - Founder, Editor-in-Chief
- Moye Ishimoto - Co-Editor, Editorial
- Joz Wang - Co-Editor, PR & APA Outreach
