SOCIAL NETWORKING

Social Networking

Social Networking

Introduction

Media use provides an important backdrop for the social, emotional, and cognitive development of youth, accounting for a large portion of their time. One type of online application that has grown rapidly in prevalence and popularity in recent years is social networking on the Internet. Social networking websites, such as Facebook, MySpace, Friendster, LiveJournal, and Bebo, are member-based Internet communities that allow users to post profile information, such as a username and photograph, and to communicate with others in innovative ways such as sending public or private online messages or sharing photos online. The top 10 social networking sites in the U.S. grew in number of users from 46.8 million to 68.8 million during the previous year. These sites reveal important information about how adolescents and young adults are interacting with one another in the information age.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study will be to provide descriptive information about the use of social networking sites by college students. Crucial questions for understanding the use of such applications address time commitment, why college students use these sites, how they interact on these sites, and the nature of their influence on the development of identity and friendship in emerging adulthood. Here we consider these questions with respect to Facebook, a popular social networking site.

Background of the study

Prevalence and time spent on social networking sites

Media are a ubiquitous influence in youth development, with 8-18 year old U.S. youth investing approximately 6.5 h per day with media. Social networking sites have captured the interest of many adolescents and young adults. Recent reports on the prevalence of online activities indicate that the majority of U.S. adolescents and young adults utilize social networking sites and that the number of memberships increases with age. For instance, a nationally representative survey of U.S. youth by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 41% of 12-13 year olds and 61% of 14-17 year olds use social networking sites. Among those surveyed in college, the use of such sites is nearly universal. For example, a large survey of college students from several universities in the Midwest U.S. found that 91% of respondents use the site Facebook.com(Roberts 2005).

Spending time on social networking sites appears to be part of most U.S. young adults' daily activities. In one study, U.S. college students reported using Facebook an average of 10 to 30 min daily.

Hypothesis

H1: Young adults would use Facebook daily;

H2: Young adults would use Facebook primarily for previous termsocialnext term interaction;

H3: Young adults would interact with their peers that they know offline rather than searching for new friends on Facebook or contacting family members;

H4: Profile information, which is clearly intended for others to read, would be used to express identity;

H5: As these students are young adults, their profile would involve information about religion, political ideology, and work, topics that are germane to identity development during emerging adulthood;

H6: Young adults would interact with one another by posting messages in public ...