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Follower, Faithful Or Functional? |
By:
Ted Hastings |
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Follower, Faithful or Functional?
Ted Hastings
UK telecoms regulator Ofcom published a report on 2nd April 2008 which reveals that 49% of children aged 8-17 who have access to the internet have their own personal profile on a social networking site. The minimum age for major social networking sites is supposedly 13 or 14, but 27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking sites claim to have a profile on a site.
Ofcom's figures emphasize some incredible discrepancies between what parents think is taking place and what is actually happening. For example, 66% of parents claim to set rules for their children's use of social networking sites, but only 53% of children agreed that their parents did so. 50% parents have installed some type of content blocking, and 80% of them think it works, but 67% of children consider that they can get round it and access any content they want. Given that 24% of teenagers have a computer in their bedroom, their parents can't see what they're doing in any case.
22% of adult internet users 16 and over admit to having an own online profile and many have a profile on more than one site. Half of adult social network users claim to access their profile every second day. Facebook is the most popular site for adults, followed by MySpace and Bebo. Adults in lower socio-economic groupings are more likely to use MySpace, but Bebo is the site used most by children from 8 to 17 years of age.
Social networking sites are altering the normal meaning of the word ?friends? to include anyone a user has an online connection with, even those that they have never met or spoken to offline. Details of online friendships are often displayed publicly via friend lists, meaning that users are sharing personal details like political views, sexuality, religion and date of birth with people they barely know.
Ofcom's research involved 5,000 adults and 3,000 children. It suggests that there are five discrete groups of people who use social networking sites:
* Alpha Socialisers - generally males aged under 25, who use sites in intense short bursts to flirt, find new friends and seek entertainment.
* Attention Seekers - mostly female, who crave attention and comments from others, often by posting photos and customizing their profiles. A minority of younger women reported creating fake profiles for fun.
* Followers - males and females of all ages who join sites to keep up with what their peers are doing.
* Faithfuls - these are generally older males and females, aged over 20, who usually use social networking sites to re-establish old friendships, often from school or university.
* Functionals - these are mostly older males who use sites for a specific purpose.
The research also suggests that there are three discrete groups of people who do not use social networking sites:
* Worried about safety - often older people and parents concerned about safety online, especially making personal details available online.
* Technically inexperienced - these are often people aged over 30 who lack confidence in using the Internet and computers.
* Intellectual rejecters - usually older teens or young adults who have no interest in social networking sites and regard them as a waste of time.
Despite being one of the main reasons cited for not using social networking sites, privacy and safety are not a major concern for those who do use social networking sites. The research found that:
* 41% of children and 44% of adults are content to leave their privacy settings at the default setting of ?open?, making their profiles are visible to anyone
* 34% of 16-24 year olds are prepared to give out sensitive personal information such as their email address or phone number
* 17% of adult users admitted that they talked to people they didn't know on social networking sites that and 35% spoke to people who were ?friends of friends?.
Some teenagers and young adults admitted that they felt ?addicted? to social networking sites and realized that their use was reducing the time available for studying. Some users had heard of bullying through social networking sites and a minority of younger users admitted that they had used social networking sites to get back at people they had fallen out with.
Ted Hastings has 35+ years of experience of IT and education. He is author of a textbook on http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1843725789?ie=UTF8&tag=sursaf-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1843725789) Internet Safety Skills and writes a popular blog called http://surfsafely.eu) Surf Safely.
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Article Source: http://www.statssheet.com/articles/article73943.html |
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