Re: [Air-l] viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace
Hi Jimmy and all, Points taken Jimmy, but there is more to go with arguments about class, I think. Your point about people not necessarily wanting to flee "people they don't like" may be warranted, but that doesn't necessarily mean that people aren't fleeing *towards* where "people like us" ("linked in", tech-literate, "creative") gather. Saying that MySpace has bad customer service doesn't account for the way in which different groups appear to be gravitating towards one or another of the range of alternatives. According to comscore numbers here http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/11516.asp (admittedly these are a year old) - People 18-24 are 3 times more likely than the average Internet user to visit Facebook. - People in households with an income over US$100,000 are 30% more likely than average to visit Facebook. - The slightly above average level of visitation from people with household incomes lower than US$25,000 is explained by the preponderance of users who are at college/university, who we can safely assume will inhabit a significant proportion of $100K+ households in the future, and will get there more quickly than those without a University education. Additionally, American teens seem to be going in large numbers to Xanga, while MySpace continues to grow, attracting an older demographic (the "late adopters"?). Facebook's aesthetics embody a kind of functional minimalism that appeals to a middle class sensibility (significantly personalisation applications do not disturb the overall layout and colour scheme). Facebook's privacy and networking models mean that you are significantly less likely to have to interact with people you don't know or like already. The "tech-success" narrative, and the refusal to sell to Yahoo appeal as a kind of modern entrepreneurial fable that aspirational college-educated users are attracted to participating in. The Murdoch-owned MySpace, by contrast, might be seen as a narrative of Big & Old (& Unfashionable) media capitalising on innovation. The marketing people, at least, are excited by the potential that Facebook offers for reaching a higher-income user-base, and ads on Facebook will cost you more: loads of links to this effect here http://del.icio.us/search/?user=digital_white_flight Cheers Jason Wilson ____________________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo!7 Mail has just got even bigger and better with unlimited storage on all webmail accounts. http://au.docs.yahoo.com/mail/unlimitedstorage.html
Hi, Jason wrote: "Facebook's aesthetics embody a kind of functional minimalism that appeals to a middle class sensibility (significantly personalisation applications do not disturb the overall layout and colour scheme)" Could you explain precisely what you mean by that, and the evidence or theorising that underlies it, particularly the part about the affinities between social class and the design interface? It's intriguing, but problematic. Thanks, Andy --------------------------------- Dr Andrew Chadwick, Head of Department, Department of Politics & International Relations, Director, New Political Communication Unit, Royal Holloway, University of London. ------------------------------------------------------ New Political Communication Unit: http://newpolcom.rhul.ac.uk Associate Editor, Journal of Information Technology and Politics: http://www.jitp.net Department Pages: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/politics-and-IR/about-us/chadwick Book Site: http://www.andrewchadwick.com ...Yes, I know I have too many websites in my sig...
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Jason Wilson Sent: 28 June 2007 05:18 To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-l] viewing American class divisions through Facebook andMySpace
Hi Jimmy and all,
Points taken Jimmy, but there is more to go with arguments about class, I think.
Your point about people not necessarily wanting to flee "people they don't like" may be warranted, but that doesn't necessarily mean that people aren't fleeing *towards* where "people like us" ("linked in", tech-literate, "creative") gather. Saying that MySpace has bad customer service doesn't account for the way in which different groups appear to be gravitating towards one or another of the range of alternatives.
According to comscore numbers here http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/11516.asp (admittedly these are a year old)
- People 18-24 are 3 times more likely than the average Internet user to visit Facebook.
- People in households with an income over US$100,000 are 30% more likely than average to visit Facebook.
- The slightly above average level of visitation from people with household incomes lower than US$25,000 is explained by the preponderance of users who are at college/university, who we can safely assume will inhabit a significant proportion of $100K+ households in the future, and will get there more quickly than those without a University education.
Additionally, American teens seem to be going in large numbers to Xanga, while MySpace continues to grow, attracting an older demographic (the "late adopters"?).
Facebook's aesthetics embody a kind of functional minimalism that appeals to a middle class sensibility (significantly personalisation applications do not disturb the overall layout and colour scheme). Facebook's privacy and networking models mean that you are significantly less likely to have to interact with people you don't know or like already. The "tech-success" narrative, and the refusal to sell to Yahoo appeal as a kind of modern entrepreneurial fable that aspirational college-educated users are attracted to participating in. The Murdoch-owned MySpace, by contrast, might be seen as a narrative of Big & Old (& Unfashionable) media capitalising on innovation.
The marketing people, at least, are excited by the potential that Facebook offers for reaching a higher-income user-base, and ads on Facebook will cost you more: loads of links to this effect here http://del.icio.us/search/?user=digital_white_flight
Cheers Jason Wilson
______________________________________________________________ ______________________ Yahoo!7 Mail has just got even bigger and better with unlimited storage on all webmail accounts. http://au.docs.yahoo.com/mail/unlimitedstorage.html
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I offer no theory but a parallel to Jason's comments. Jason's comments on FB aesthetics also reflect the design elements of the stereotypical, "cookie-cutter," suburban neighborhoods in the US. The designs of the houses vary only slightly, if at all. Furthermore, some of these communities are regulated by community boards or groups that enforce certain aesthetic rules (no flags on the houses, no holiday decorations, no toys left in yards overnight, etc...) The upshot is the anesthetized aesthetic now associated with suburban living. In light of this, I also find the use of language on this thread ("white flight") interesting and suggestive, since that was the popular term for (mainly white, wealthier) folks moving out of the cities (myspace?) and into the suburbs (FB?). Maybe literature on that social transition would be helpful here. Dan dan_sutko@ncsu.edu TA - Public Speaking Program RA - Mobile Gaming Research Lab Dept. of Communication North Carolina State University On Jun 28, 2007, at 2:24 AM, Chadwick Andrew wrote:
Hi,
Jason wrote: "Facebook's aesthetics embody a kind of functional minimalism that appeals to a middle class sensibility (significantly personalisation applications do not disturb the overall layout and colour scheme)"
Could you explain precisely what you mean by that, and the evidence or theorising that underlies it, particularly the part about the affinities between social class and the design interface? It's intriguing, but problematic.
Thanks,
Andy
--------------------------------- Dr Andrew Chadwick, Head of Department, Department of Politics & International Relations, Director, New Political Communication Unit, Royal Holloway, University of London. ------------------------------------------------------ New Political Communication Unit: http://newpolcom.rhul.ac.uk Associate Editor, Journal of Information Technology and Politics: http://www.jitp.net Department Pages: http://www.rhul.ac.uk/politics-and-IR/about-us/chadwick Book Site: http://www.andrewchadwick.com ...Yes, I know I have too many websites in my sig...
-----Original Message----- From: air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org [mailto:air-l-bounces@listserv.aoir.org] On Behalf Of Jason Wilson Sent: 28 June 2007 05:18 To: air-l@listserv.aoir.org Subject: Re: [Air-l] viewing American class divisions through Facebook andMySpace
Hi Jimmy and all,
Points taken Jimmy, but there is more to go with arguments about class, I think.
Your point about people not necessarily wanting to flee "people they don't like" may be warranted, but that doesn't necessarily mean that people aren't fleeing *towards* where "people like us" ("linked in", tech-literate, "creative") gather. Saying that MySpace has bad customer service doesn't account for the way in which different groups appear to be gravitating towards one or another of the range of alternatives.
According to comscore numbers here http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/11516.asp (admittedly these are a year old)
- People 18-24 are 3 times more likely than the average Internet user to visit Facebook.
- People in households with an income over US$100,000 are 30% more likely than average to visit Facebook.
- The slightly above average level of visitation from people with household incomes lower than US$25,000 is explained by the preponderance of users who are at college/university, who we can safely assume will inhabit a significant proportion of $100K+ households in the future, and will get there more quickly than those without a University education.
Additionally, American teens seem to be going in large numbers to Xanga, while MySpace continues to grow, attracting an older demographic (the "late adopters"?).
Facebook's aesthetics embody a kind of functional minimalism that appeals to a middle class sensibility (significantly personalisation applications do not disturb the overall layout and colour scheme). Facebook's privacy and networking models mean that you are significantly less likely to have to interact with people you don't know or like already. The "tech-success" narrative, and the refusal to sell to Yahoo appeal as a kind of modern entrepreneurial fable that aspirational college-educated users are attracted to participating in. The Murdoch-owned MySpace, by contrast, might be seen as a narrative of Big & Old (& Unfashionable) media capitalising on innovation.
The marketing people, at least, are excited by the potential that Facebook offers for reaching a higher-income user-base, and ads on Facebook will cost you more: loads of links to this effect here http://del.icio.us/search/?user=digital_white_flight
Cheers Jason Wilson
______________________________________________________________ ______________________ Yahoo!7 Mail has just got even bigger and better with unlimited storage on all webmail accounts. http://au.docs.yahoo.com/mail/unlimitedstorage.html
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On Jun 28, 2007, at 12:17 AM, Jason Wilson wrote:
Your point about people not necessarily wanting to flee "people they don't like" may be warranted, but that doesn't necessarily mean that people aren't fleeing *towards* where "people like us" ("linked in", tech-literate, "creative") gather. Saying that MySpace has bad customer service doesn't account for the way in which different groups appear to be gravitating towards one or another of the range of alternatives.
Sure, I agree. I am just cautioning against overinterpreting any move from Myspace to elsewhere as being "white flight".
I would certainly agree that any movement from one SNS to another can not simply explained by class / race. In my case this is what makes FB and MS so interesting, I signed up for Facebook a couple or years ago and did not use it much, this all changed at the beginning of this year with more and more ex work colleagues joining FB to provide the "tipping point", the tightly coupled netwroking (mini feeds) really gives me a sense of involvement with my friends, MS simply does not give this. The clutter of MS over the cleanliness of FB and what that means to respective users is a very interesting research question. Given FB's elitist origins, it will be interesting to see how the population stabilises in coming months / years, I personally don't like quantitative research, but I could almost see myself reaching for SPSS (-: On 6/28/07, Jimmy Wales <jwales@wikia.com> wrote:
On Jun 28, 2007, at 12:17 AM, Jason Wilson wrote:
Your point about people not necessarily wanting to flee "people they don't like" may be warranted, but that doesn't necessarily mean that people aren't fleeing *towards* where "people like us" ("linked in", tech-literate, "creative") gather. Saying that MySpace has bad customer service doesn't account for the way in which different groups appear to be gravitating towards one or another of the range of alternatives.
Sure, I agree. I am just cautioning against overinterpreting any move from Myspace to elsewhere as being "white flight".
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-- Martin Garthwaite PhD candidate, London Knowledge Lab www.lkl.ac.uk +447957 764819 Skype id mgarthwaite1330 MS IM marting@gmail.com
participants (5)
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Chadwick Andrew -
Daniel Sutko -
Jason Wilson -
Jimmy Wales -
Martin Garthwaite