[lbo-talk] Class division as reflected by who prefers/is on MySpace vs. FaceBook

[B.]

[I have a page on both sites but lately have eminently
preferred Facebook, myself. 1) MySpace, since Fox
bought it especially, has gradually become spam hell,
bacgkround movie ads make the place gaudy, slow, etc;
2) There seem to be a lot of, er, higher-brow type
communities on Facebook, higher-caliber sorts of
discussion forums, linked by profession, academic
interest, etc.; 3) Facebook allows for way, way less
self-exhibition than MySpace, though this is gradually
changing; 4) Facebook is less a random sex hookup type
thing than MySpace can be; i.e. not as many shady 50
year old men messaging 17 yr old gals w/ "Wow ur
interesting, you seem rilly smart & cool, not like
other girls ur age, lets be friendz"-type messages; 5)
Facebook is opening its doors to more folks but still
isn't as band-friendly as MySpace; many bands use a
MySpace page as their band's default homepage, which
does actually make sense - videos, mp3s, show
rosters/announcements, etc. -B.]

Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and
MySpace

Danah Boyd
June 24, 2007

Citation: boyd, danah. 2007. "Viewing American class
divisions through Facebook and MySpace ." Apophenia
Blog Essay. June 24 . 

http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html

[...]

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.

[...]

I have been reticent about writing about this dynamic
even though I've been tracking it for a good six
months now. I don't have the language for what I'm
seeing and I'm concerned about how it's going to be
interpreted. I can just see the logic: if society's
"good" kids are going to Facebook and the "bad" kids
are going to MySpace, clearly MySpace is the devil,
right? ::shudder:: It's so not that easy. 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.

[...]

http://www.danah.org/papers/essays/ClassDivisions.html