Why Higher Education Institutions Should Pay Closer Attention to Social Networking Websites

January 8th, 2007 Karine Joly 5 Comments

Long time, no post. So, first let me wish you a happy new year.

According to “Social Networking Websites and Teens: An Overview,” the latest Pew Internet Research Project Data Memo published yesterday, it looks like 2007 could be the year of the social networking websites.

I know I’ve been saying it for a while, but it doesn’t hurt to back it up with fresh statistics, which is exactly what this report brings to us.

The telephone survey was conducted last October and November among a national sample of 935 youths ages 12 to 17. They were asked how and why they use these social networking sites.

Below are a few highlights, but you should definitely download and read this 10-page report available in PDF

  • 55% of online teens have created a personal profile online, and 55% have used social networking sites like MySpace or Facebook.
  • 66% of teens who have created a profile say that their profile is not visible to all internet users. They limit access to their profiles.
  • 48% of teens visit social networking websites daily or more often; 26% visit once a day, 22% visit several times a day.
  • Older girls ages 15-17 are more likely to have used social networking sites and created online profiles; 70% of older girls have used an online social network compared with 54% of older boys, and 70% of older girls have created an online profile, while only 57% of older boys have done so.

There’s definitely more to this report. If time permits, I’ll try to post more about it later today or this week.

5 Responses

  1. David Anderson says:

    Be sure to check out Danah Boyd’s take on it. She thinks the participation #s skew a little bit higher.
    http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2007/01/07/pew_data_on_soc.html

  2. Sam Jackson says:

    Danah Boyd added some great insight into some of the numbers and the methodology explaining why, for instance, she thinks it underestimated the figures in some situations: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2007/01/07/pew_data_on_soc.html

  3. Karine Joly says:

    It was on my to-read list, but thanks.
    After reading, David’s and Sam’s comments that I both approved from the comment queue at the same time, I’m not sure though if she thinks they’re inflated or underestimated ;-)

    More in a follow-up post.

  4. Karine Joly says:

    Heather,

    I’m not surprised ;-)

    I stumbled upon your profile a while back. But, as I said in my email to you, I’m looking forward to writing a bit more about you’re doing with myspace.

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