Life Online – Week 5 Social Network Sites

1. Kevin Swelsen 0665422 Life Online – Week 5Social Network Sites

2. Index • Definition, Features and a brief history of Social Network Sites (Boyd & Ellison, 2007) • Social Networking 2.0 (Baym, 2010) • Benefits of Social Networking Sites: Social Capital (Ellison, Steinfeld & Lampe, 2007) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

3. Index • Definition, Features and a brief history of Social Network Sites (Boyd & Ellison, 2007) • Social Networking 2.0 (Baym, 2010) • Benefits of Social Networking Sites: Social Capital (Ellison, Steinfeld & Lampe, 2007) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

4. Social Network(ing) Sites • Web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system. (Boyd & Ellison, 2007) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

5. Social Network(ing) Sites • Boyd & Ellison chose to use Network sites instead of Networking sites • Networking emphasizes relationship initiation, which is not the main goal of most Social Network Sites • Networking is not what differentiates them from other forms of Computer-mediated communication Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

6. Features of Social Network Sites • Users have profiles, unique pages where one can “ type oneself into being” (Sunden, 2003) • Users can indentify others in the system with whom they have a relationship (Friends, Contacts, Fans etc.) • Mechanism for users to leave messages on their friends’ profiles • Private Messaging • Many, many others Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

7. Brief History • In the United States it started in 1997 with SixDegrees.com. This was named the first real Social Networking Site. • After SixDegrees a lot of other (not very known) websites started • Since April 2000 in the Netherlands: Cu2 • LinkedIn (2003), Myspace (2003), Hyves (2004), Facebook (2006) etc. followed. Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

8. Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

9. Overview • Definition, Features and a brief history of Social Network Sites(Boyd & Ellison, 2007) • Social Networking 2.0 (Baym, 2010) • Benefits of Social Networking Sites: Social Capital (Ellison, Steinfeld & Lampe, 2007) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

10. Three major themes characterizing social research (Baym, 2010) • Identity • Community • Relationships Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

11. Identity • Authenticity • Both online and off people would rather connect with those who share acquaintances. (Donath & Boyd, 2004) • Privacy • Default privacy settings are important since users rarely change them (Gross & Acquisti, 2005) • Users revealed a good deal of personal data (Gross & Acquisti, 2005) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

12. Idendity(2) • Identity Categories • Impact of race and nationality on identity construction • Visible Friends • Physical attractiveness may be affected by the attractiveness of one’s peers (Walther et al., 2008) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

13. Community • Online groups develop norms and behavioral standards (e.g. Baym, 1993; Lea et al., 1992), internal hierarchies (e.g. Galegher et al., 1998) and social support (e.g. Kollock, 1999) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

14. Relationships • Online relationships are less developed than offline ones ( Mesh & Talmud, 2006; Parks & Roberts, 1998) • However, the differences between on and offline friendships were shown to diminish over time (Chan & Cheng, 2004; McKenna, Green & Gleason, 2002) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

15. Relationships(2) • Relational Maintenance • Simply having access to one another’s updates on a Social Networking Site facilitates a sense of connection (e.g. Humphreys, 2007) • Primary use for teens is socializing when they are not able to be together in an unmediated way (Boyd, 2006) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

16. Relationships(3) • Ambiguity • Definition of a friend • Be held to account for the behaviors of ‘friends’ they barely know (Boyd & Heer, 2006; Donath & Boyd, 2004) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

17. Overview • Definition, Features and a brief history of Social Network Sites(Boyd & Ellison, 2007) • Social Networking 2.0 (Baym, 2010) • Benefits of Social Networking Sites: Social Capital (Ellison, Steinfeld & Lampe, 2007) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

18. Social Capital • Resources accumulated through the relationships among people (Coleman, 1988) • Has been linked to a variety of positive social outcomes, such as better health, lower crime rates and more efficient financial markets (Adler & Kwon, 2002) • Seen as a positive effect of interaction among participants in a social network (Helliwell & Putman, 2004) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

19. Bridging and bonding Social Capital • Bridging social capital is linked to what ‘weak ties’, loose connections between individuals who may provide useful information or new perspectives but typically not emotional support (Putnam, 2000 & Granovetter, 1982) • Bonding social capital is found between individuals in tightly-knit close relationships such as family or close friends (Putnam, 2000) Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

20. Research • Given prior research, Ellison, Seinfeld & Lampe (2007) came up with 7 hypotheses to research social capital and Social Networking Sites (Facebook) • Associations between the intensity of Facebook use and bridging and bonding social capital and whether gained social capital depends on a person’s self-esteem and satisfaction with life Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

21. Findings • In their sample, Ellison et. al. (2007) found that 94% of the respondents are Facebook users • Respondents view the primary audience for their profile to be people with whom they share an offline connection • Intensity of Facebook use is positively associated with perceived bridging capital Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

22. Findings(2) • Respondents reporting low satisfaction with life and low self-esteem appeared to gain in bridging social capital if they used Facebook more intensely • Bonding social capital can be predicted by the intensity with which respondents used Facebook Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites

23. Questions? Kevin Swelsen - Social Network Sites