It’s always interesting to see how people believe that the Internet will somehow be this utopia where all the problems of the physical world are transcended.  What is this, 1996? The Internet is definitely an empowering, magnificent place, but it is also dirty, corrupt, and downright dangerous.  It should be no surprise to anyone the results proclaimed in this recent CNN news story bemoaning how social networks are beginning to reflect real-life social stratas.

In the story, reporter Breeanna Hare details how the users of MySpace and Facebook differ: MySpace users are generally poorer and less educated, while Facebook users were usually highly educated and affluent.  The smartest and wealthiest of the popular networks was LinkedIn.  These results should really surprise no one – MySpace is the grab-all of social networks with its open member policy and amateurish page customizations.  Facebook and LinkedIn though have historical roots as targeting particular population segments – Facebook of college students, and LinkedIn of professionals.  No wonder then that despite Facebook long having opened its doors to everyone, it still has a predominantly “higher-class” of members.

You could say that Facebook is more attractive to the more affluent sectors because those with higher incomes tend to be have better access to technology, education, and therefore are more likely to be technically savvy – all factors which imply a distaste for sites full of annoying ads and downright gag-worthy member pages full of crazy graphics, nauseating color schemes, and music.  As one person in the article put it, MySpace  “… is like, ghetto.”

What’s more thought-provoking about this article is that it also details how friends lists show that users tend to stick to their own racial group, with users of mixed backgrounds often acting as the link between groups – something that the article says reflects real life.  So does this mean the hopes for an Internet of openness and freedom from racial and socio-economic boundaries is just a pipe dream? I would like to not think so.  In my opinion, sites like Facebook and MySpace may strongly reflect our personal inclinations in choosing social mates, but it still allows us to connect with others outside of our comfort zone.  Hasn’t everyone connected with at least one person that they normally would never socialize with, or reunited with old friends? Social networks still achieve their goal of connecting people around the world. It’s not time yet to give up on the dream of a discrimination free Internet, just perhaps to be more realistic about it.

Related posts:

1. Sex Offenders Kicked Off Facebook and MySpace
2. Facebook, Freud and Marx: Social stratification and profit in social media
3. Betcha don’t know the world’s #1 social networking site

Tags: Facebook, MySpace, social networking

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