Class and Social Networking

There has been quite a bit of media buzz about this report from Danah Boyd. The basic premise is that mainstream, college-bound, white teens are using Facebook while their less affluent and minority counterparts are on MySpace.

The teens at my library are almost all members of a minority group and from working class backgrounds. They came late to the MySpace wave, mostly migrating from Tagged. I am yet to notice a Facebook page open on a public computer in my branch.

What bothers me about this article is that it seems to imply, while categorically denying that it does so, is that having a Facebook account is some sort of upgrade from a MySpace account.

If a social networking is simply a tool to connect people than why can’t different people prefer different tools? In library land we certainly have our preference for everything from email clients, to OPAC interfaces, to podcasting software.


My answer to why teens at my branch are on MySpace isn’t about “bling” or hip-hop as Ms. Boyd suggests, it is even simpler: Teens go where their friends are. Period.

If anything this means that librarians should seek input from a diverse group of teens before trying to reach them through social networking.