What People are Doing [US Social Networking Sites]
—What People are Doing [US Social Networking Sites] (Businessweek)An interesting, but not very well-sourced graphic, that shows 70% of youth (ages 18-21) are members of social networks, but only 37% create content on those sites. (I’m not sure what the researchers count as “creating content” — there’s a separate column for “Critics” who comment on and rank the content others create, so presumably, according to this chart, leaving a message on someone’s wall doesn’t count as content creation.)
Found via Reeves Library.
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I'm not too surprised by the numbers and I'm trying to find a nice way of saying that some people don't have an original thought. That's not exactly what I mean; almost all folks have an opinion and they need the spark of seeing or hearing something elsewhere that encourages them to speak up, pro or con. But yes, those opinions/comments are creative input; just need a different impetus to get said. There's also the timidity of an age group that's just finding itself as an individual and who prefer the anonymity that comments allow.
Passive voyeurism trumps active creation every time, perhaps because in the social dynamic we're always audiences first (say, as very young children at a parent's knee) and creators later. It's a good reality check: being a part of a social network is not a sufficient condition for drawing the conclusion that the network member is actively "networking." Yet the very phrase 'social networking' implies an activity that obfuscates the role of passive reception in all this. Educational programs like ours at SHU can help students cross the bridge into active, responsible, networking.
Susan, as I read the stats, the 18-26 group is slightly more likely to post comments and criticisms, while it is the youngest users (12-21) who are more likely to create content. As the current 12-21 year-olds age, will they continue to be the most likely to create content, or will they shift to demonstrate the patterns that the current 18-26 group demonstrates? Mike, I agree -- tapping into the real strength of new media involves ongoing, participatory creative investment. Students who feel they are internet experts because they spend a lot of time chatting with friends or downloading songs sometimes have difficulty adjusting to just how much there is to know about the internet and the social forces that made it what it is today.