College Students’ Social Networking
This article from eMarketer shows that social networking usage has nearly doubled in the last two years. As a relative newcomer to social networking, it is easy to see some of the great things about it: it is easy to reconnect with old friends, share events and photos and simply stay more connected. I wonder if these college students are spending more time online (ie. twice as much) or if they are spending less time doing other things online and now mostly just social networking? Your thoughts?
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=e789f161-e270-43e6-9ec9-bbe1c5c73319)
Sep 23, 2008 @ 01:48:11
I’d argue it’s a bit of a split.
College students are more likely to have laptops (due to their mobility) and I’d wager that social networking sites are open while students are doing other things. Something like facebook or myspace doesn’t always take active interest. In fact, being passively involved with either is still a very comprehensive interest. Maybe computer usage is up, but if you’re sitting on a bus with facebook on your iphone, is that just taking away from staring out the window?
Sep 23, 2008 @ 09:58:07
I’d agree. I think it’s both – certainly I use facebook etc more now, but it is often passive, and moreover, I don’t think I’m adding any time to how long I spend online daily (it was already way too much) – meaning I guess I’m doing less of other things online. I guess it (ie facebook) means I email more distant friends a lot less because I can just look at their page and see what they’re up to – and the communication can also be even less formal than with email.
Sep 26, 2008 @ 01:49:58
Go facebook!