The article “Explaining
Why Young Adults Use MySpace and Facebook Through Uses and Gratifications
Theory” (2008) by Mark Urista, et al. explored why young adults use
social networking sites (SNS) so heavily for all sorts of information. It was
interesting for me to read early on in this article that MySpace and Facebook
were both popular, since the last couple of years has seen Facebook really
dominate the social networking space while the MySpace name and site were sold
off by its owners.
The different features of SNS like Facebook were explored
for its attractiveness, and I discovered that “the need for personal identity,
escape, and self-presentation” (219) were some of the needs of people that
social media addressed, and the mixture of entertainment value, social status
and information sourcing were all reasons that I joined Facebook. Socializing
with others is definitely a strong factor that drives Facebook adoption, and
the convenience of finding so much pooled information in one place keeps me
coming back to the service. “SNS satisfy a variety of needs in one central
location, thus making it a popular destination for many Internet users” (219),
and their study showed that people used SNS to spread news to friends quickly
and bring attention to events in one’s life.
It was nice to find that the study—done at a central
university in California—correlated with my own uses of social networking, as I
use Facebook to check up on what my friends are doing and to easily communicate
a subject or something important to a particular person for others to see and
contribute to. It was also welcoming to see that many people like me use
Facebook to investigate into someone new and “examine the profile of a person
in whom they are interested to form an opinion about that person” (223). Many
conversations with new people end with finding and/or ‘friend’-ing them on
Facebook, and it’s a fast and easy way to get to know somebody without going
too far in a personal conversation with them.
Accessibility and privacy is a topic that comes up in every
social networking study, as well as the “noticeable distinction between online
friends and ‘real’ world friends” (227), and the discussion here was thorough.
The freedom of SNS to access information about friends is both the strength and
weakness of a place like Facebook, and continued use will keep social
networking as popular and encompassing for social interaction.
It's weird how much SNS is a part of daily life. My 11 year old nephew is using Facebook even though he technically isn't at the right age for it. I've seen his profile and friends and their profiles are so much different than my friends. (Of course because of age difference) When it comes to privacy, Facebook, one of the leading (I think it is the leading SNS right now) is constantly changing up its privacy options because more and more people are connecting through Facebook. First it was friends. Then parents. Now you're co-workers and bosses, and let's face it-- there are some things that I wouldn't want my mom to see. There are some things that I wouldn't want my boss to know.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the great things about SNS is that we're able to stay connected instantaneously with our friends, close ones and old ones. Say you want to show your friend a picture of your kid: Back in the day we would have to print out the picture and mail it off and wait a few days for it to arrive at its destination, then wait a few more to hear back. Then there was email, but we would have to wait for the other person to check their email and email us back. NOW on Facebook and other SNS, we can simply upload a picture and instantly get comments back. Easy to use. Instant gratification.