Advertising

Are you an Alpha Socialiser or an Attention Seeker?

| Print |

E-mail

Written by Ted Hastings

Thursday, 03 April 2008

by TedHastings

UK telecoms regulator Ofcom published a report on 2nd April 2008 which reveals that 49% of children aged 8-17 who have access to the internet have their own personal profile on a social networking site. The minimum age for major social networking sites is supposedly 13 or 14, but 27% of 8-11 year olds who are aware of social networking sites claim to have a profile on a site.

The research shows some amazing discrepancies between what parents think is taking place and what is really happening. Two-thirds of parents say that they set rules for their children's use of social networking sites, but only 53% of children agreed that their parents did so. 50% parents have installed some form of content blocking, and 80% of them think it works, but 67% of children believe that they can overcome it and access any content they want to. 24% of teenagers have a computer in their bedroom, so their parents can't see what they're doing in any case.

22% of adult internet users aged 16 and above have at last one online profile and many have a profile on more than one site. 50% adult social network users say that they access their profile at least every second day. Facebook is easily the most popular site amongst adults, followed by MySpace and Bebo. MySpace appeals more to adults in lower socio-economic groupings, but Bebo is the site used most by children aged 8 to 17.

Social networking sites are altering the normal meaning of the word 'friends' to include anyone a user has an online connection with, even those that they have never met or spoken to offline. Details of online friendships are often displayed publicly via friend lists, meaning that users are sharing personal details like political views, sexuality, religion and date of birth with people they barely know.

Ofcom's research involved 5,000 adults and 3,000 children. It suggests that there are five discrete groups of people who use social networking sites:

* Alpha Socialisers - these are mostly males under 25, who use sites in intense short bursts to flirt, meet new people and find entertainment.

* Attention Seekers - mostly female, who crave attention and comments from others, often by posting photos and customizing their profiles. A minority of younger women reported creating fake profiles for fun.

* Followers - males and females of all ages who join sites to keep up with what their peers are doing.

* Faithfuls - these are generally older males and females, aged over 20, who usually use social networking sites to re-establish old friendships, often from school or university.

* Functionals - generally older males who use sites for a specific purpose.

The research also suggests that there are three discrete groups of people who do not use social networking sites:

* Concerned about safety - these are often older people and parents worried about safety online, particularly making personal details available online.

* Technically inexperienced - these are often people aged over 30 who lack confidence in using the Internet and computers.

* Intellectual rejecters - usually older teens or young adults who have no interest in social networking sites and regard them as a waste of time.

Despite being one of the main reasons cited for not using social networking sites, privacy and safety are not a major concern for those who do use social networking sites. The research found that:

* 41% of children and 44% of adults leave their privacy settings as default 'open' which means that their profiles are visible to anyone

* 34% of 16-24 year olds are willing to give out sensitive personal information such as their phone number or email address

* 17% of adult users said that they talked to people on social networking sites that they didn't know and 35% spoke to people who were 'friends of friends'.

Some teenagers and young adults in their early twenties reported feeling 'addicted' to social networking sites and were aware that their use was reducing their study time. A minority of users reported being aware of bullying through social networking sites and some younger users admitted using social networking sites to 'get back' at people they had fallen out with.

About the Author:

Ted Hastings has 35+ years of experience of IT and education. He is author of a textbook on Internet Safety Skills and writes a popular blog called Surf Safely. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.