In an interesting new “working essay” written recently by researcher danah boyd titled “Viewing American Class Divisions through Facebook and MySpace,” MySpace and Facebook are analyzed in light of the socio-economic (look at me, using big words and stuff) roles that they are playing. Facebook appears to be the choice of most “goodie two shoes, jocks, athletes, [and] other “good” kids,” while MySpace is increasingly the choice of most “Latino/Hispanic teens, immigrant teens, ‘burnouts, ‘alternative kids,’ ‘art fags,’ punks, emos, goths, gangstas, queer kids, and other kids who didn’t play into the dominant high school popularity paradigm.”

The study is more focused around the trends created by Highschoolers and less the “College” age (whom originally populated Facebook). It provides a very interesting portrait of how classes play out in America (the “working class” vs the “upper class”), even extending its observations to the Military (it appears that most soldiers use MySpace, while the officers use Facebook). A few possible reasons for the divide are given, and overall is an interesting look at the evolution of social networks and their effect on teen life.

I must say, from my personal experience as a member of both sites (but extremely inactive on MySpace), the essay does have many points that ring very true. Read it for yourself and form your own opinion – and don’t hesitate to comment!

Found via BoingBoing.