Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 6.1 Year of origin of
selected social networking
sites
1997
Six Degrees
1999
Live Journal
2001
Cyworld
2002
Friendster
2003
LinkedIn, MySpace
2004
Flickr, Facebook
2005
YouTube
2006
Twitter
Another measure of the networked society is the use of digital social networks,
which greatly expedite the creation of an online presence and facilitate the
instantaneous exchange of information with friends and acquaintances. Social
networking sites like Friendster, LinkedIn, MySpace, and Facebook began in the
early 2000s (Table
6.1
). While some services are aimed at finding romantic
partners (e.g., Match.com), others such as YouTube allow sharing of digital
content with everyone, including like-minded strangers. The growth in popularity
of such networks is evident in Fig.
6.2
: more than one-half of the U.S. population
used social media sites in 2011, and roughly three-quarters of those under age 30
do so.
One particularly striking example of digital social networks is Facebook, by far
the most popular networking site in the world (Kirkpatrick
2010
). In February
2012, Facebook had more than 845 million users (Fig.
6.3
), or 12 % of the planet's
population: if Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest in the world.
These users are, of course, unevenly distributed around the world (Table
6.2
;
Fig.
6.4
). By far the largest single national group of Facebook users is found in the
United States, which has more than 157 million subscribers, or half of the total
population. Facebook is also popular throughout the Western hemisphere, Europe,
the Indian subcontinent, most of Southeast Asia, and Australia and New Zealand.
Within the U.S., the highest Facebook penetration rates are found in relatively
wealthy, educated states such as Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington State,
and those with a cosmopolitan primate city, such as Illinois and Georgia (Fig.
6.5
).
Indeed, Facebook has decisively trounced competing networking services such as
Myspace, which in the eyes of many users has become relegated to ethnic
minorities and low-income users.
Facebook is only the largest of several social networking sites worldwide
(Fig.
6.6
). Thus, in much of the former Soviet Union, the Kontakte network is
popular. China, ever suspicious that foreign systems might facilitate democratic
impulses, has promoted its home-grown Qzone system, while in Brazil Zing reigns
supreme. Dozens of other smaller networking sites also exist, such as Maktoob
(in the Arab world), hi5.com (Mongolia), and Habbo (Finland). Regardless of the
system used, however, the impacts of such networks on the social construction of
the self remain similar.
