Are you an Alpha Socialiser or an Attention Seeker?
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.
Ofcom’s figures highlight some astonishing discrepancies between what parents think is happening and what is actually taking place. 66% of parents claim to set rules on their children’s use of social networking sites, but only 53% of children agreed that their parents set such rules. Half of parents have installed some kind of content blocking, and 80% of them believe it works, but 67% children think that they can get round it and access any content they want. However, since 24% of teenagers have computer in their bedroom, parents can’t see what they’re doing anyway.
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, which involved 5,000 adults and 3,000 children, suggests that there are five distinct groups of people who use social networking sites:
* Alpha Socialisers – generally males aged under 25, who use sites in intense short bursts to flirt, find new friends and seek entertainment.
* Attention Seekers – these are mostly females, who crave attention and comments from others, often by posting photographs and customizing their profiles. Some younger women reported creating fake profiles for fun.
* Followers – include both males and females of all ages who join sites to keep track of what their peer group is doing.
* Faithfuls – older males and females, generally aged over 20, who typically use social networking sites to rekindle 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 – often older people and parents concerned about safety online, in particular 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 – often older teens and young adults who have no interest in social networking sites and see them as a waste of time.
Privacy and safety are often quoted as major reasons for avoiding social networking sites, but they do not appear to be a major concern for those who do use such sites. The Ofcom research found that:
* 41% of children and 44% of adults are happy to leave their privacy settings at the default setting of ‘open’, meaning that their profiles are visible to anyone
* 34% of 16-24 year olds are prepared to give out sensitive personal information such as their email address or phone number
* 17% of adult users admitted that they talked to people they didn’t know on social networking sites that and 35% spoke to people who were ‘friends of friends’.
Some teenagers and young adults admitted that they felt ‘addicted’ to social networking sites and realized that their use was reducing the time available for studying. Some users had heard of bullying through social networking sites and a minority of younger users admitted that they had used social networking sites to get back at people they had fallen out with.
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