Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites

In Whose Space? Differences Among Users and Non-Users of Social Network Sites, Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1) (2007), Eszter Hargittai examimes predictors of social media site usage, with particular focus on Facebook, MySpace, Xanga, and Friendster based on survey data administered to a diverse group of young adults. From the abstract:

Findings suggest that use of such sites is not randomly distributed across a group of highly wired users. A person's gender, race and ethnicity, and parental educational background are all associated with use, but in most cases only when the aggregate concept of social network sites is disaggregated by service. Additionally, people with more experience and autonomy of use are more likely to be users of such sites. Unequal participation based on user background suggests that differential adoption of such services may be contributing to digital inequality.

[JH]