3. What are Social Networking Sites? Online communities Allow people to develop profiles of backgrounds and interests Communicate with friends and strangers And share thoughts, photos, internet links, music, etc.
5. Author Barry Wellman “The internet plays socially beneficial roles in a world moving towards ‘networked individualism.’”
6. Use of the Social Networking Sites 60 million receive help with major life issues. 59% of students with access to the Internet report that they use social networking sites to discuss educational topics including career and college planning, and 50% use the sites to talk about school assignments.
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8. Who is affected? Everyone All age groups own at least one profile on a social networking site.
10. Social Networking Sites and Politics the day before the US presidential election, Democratic candidate Barack Obama had 2,379,102 Facebook. Republican John McCain had 620,359 Obama had 833,161 MySpace friends and McCain had 217,811. Obama had 384% more Facebook supporters and 383% more MySpace friends than McCain
11. Using the Internet for information Young voters seek information from social networking sites “52% have gone online to look for more information about candidates’ positions on the issues.” “More than a quarter of US voters younger than age 30 (including 37% of those aged 18-24) said they obtained information about the political campaigns from social networking sites.”
12. Politicians Use Networking Sites “candidates in the 2008 election engaged potential voters with YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and other social media.”
13. Social Networking Sites Beneficial for finding important contacts Benefits students with educational needs Help out politicians who need younger voters Helps younger voters obtain information on politics
BY: Amanda Lenhart, Senior Research Specialist RE: Adults and social network websites DATE: January 14, 2009, 4 PM EST 35% of adults & 65% of teens have profiles on Social Networking Sites.