Dana Boyd in “White Flight in Networked Publics? How Race and Class shaped American Teen Engagement with Myface and Facebook” explores the notion that class and race are deciding factors in which teenagers utilizes Facebook and MySpace. "This article explores a division that emerged between MySpace and Facebook among American teens during the 2006-2007 school year" (3). The division that Boyd speaks about, between Myspace and Facebook users, is synonymous with Caucasians moving to the suburbs, the "white flight" (4). Hence, White teenagers move from MySpace to Facebook, thus showing a preference between social media sites, which correlate with race and class.
It seems that Boyd also feels that it's not just only about race or class that distinguishes why a particular race move from one social media to another, but that aesthetics and taste also play a role in understanding the social divisions. However, taste and aesthetics may reflect a particular race or class. This interpretation of taste and aesthetics seems to always reflect class and race.
Myspace and Facebook may not be the first social media. However, they both appealed to the young adults who adopt these social media sites a way of right of passage. Myspace is viewed my teenagers as the site to connect with “cool adults” with reference to older siblings or relatives who are into the nightlife and partying. Users of Myspace are also able to connect with their favorite bands. Parents who are aware of Myspace are indifferent to this site and they try to warn their children about the dangers of Myspace. The origins of Facebook begin with elite college students at Harvard. As a result, Facebook caters to a college level audience only. Slowly teens adopt this social media site as a rite of passage to identity with other collegiate (7-8).
Boyd’s perspective on race and class with regards to the use of Myspace and Facebook by teenagers is not based on statistics. However, there are some statistics from Hargittai (2007) and Hare (2009) to corroborate Boyd’s point that the race and class of individuals’ manifest their preference of Facebook to that of Myspace or vice versa.
White and Asian students and those parents of higher education took to Facebook. On the other hand, Hispanic students and those parents who did not have a high school degree took to Myspace. African-Americans students did not more like to choose one or the other. Affluent individual tend to use Facebook rather than Myspace. Boyd also points out that if an individual decides to choose either of these two sites then it’s evident that there is some relevance to the patterns. However, without knowing the demography and the biases of these surveys, the validity of this argument is less convincing.
Boyd asserts that teenagers have a tendency of sticking to peer groups of their race or socio-economical background. This insinuates that teens typically use social media sites where they can connect with people who are like them, similar to what is evident in schools. In other words, teens create their social categories and group labels that is their shared identities. On the other hand, there are times when teen self-segregate thus recreating the class and race structure evident in the wider community (12-14). Boyd quotes several sociologists, to give some bearing on nature of forming identity and social groups. In fact, this did give some understanding of how social groups and identities are form. According to Boyd, “Teens joined social network sites to be with their friends. Given social divisions in both friendship patterns and social spaces, it is surprising that online communities reflect what everyday social divisions”(16). Nevertheless, her point is not completely a racial one; people will in fact create groups that may be racially, economically o and educationally justified.
Boyd points out that there are those teens that chose a particular social media site based on the features and designs these social media sites can afford to their users. Myspace and Facebook make affordances in some areas and hindrances in others that eventually appeal to or deter particular users. In one of Boyd’s interview with a teenager, she (the teenager) feels that Facebook appears safer than Myspace. However, she could determine why she feels that Facebook safer than Myspace. The determining factor for choosing a social media site is friend participation in a particular point.
The key features that draw individuals to a particular social media site are aesthetics and profile personalization (22). With regards to Myspace users can “pimp” or “bling” out their sites to suit their profile or taste. In the same token, pro Myspace users may prefer t abhor the thought of using such features. On the other hand pro Facebook users like the simplicity of their sites while Myspace users might find it dull (22). Hence, tastes in design of these social sites play an integral role in the groups of teens who use a particular site. According to Boyd “Taste and aesthetics are not universal, but deeply linked to identity and values” (24). Thus the implication is that hip-hop which is mostly linked with urban societies, youths and the African-American groups is common on Myspace. Boyd also states “ The choice of certain cultural signals or aesthetics appeals to some while repelling others” (23-24). Based on Boyd’s report about the users of Myspace and Facebook, taste and aesthesis also reflect race and class (24-25).
It appears that most of the teens that Boyd interviews aren’t saying that there is a direct racial distinction among those who use Myspace or Facebooks. They seem very cautious in the manner in which they convey their observations. Most of the times her participants seem to clarify the fact that they are only making an observation, or rather stating the obvious. However, Boyd guides students to pinpoint what they are seeing as patterns of race and class that is evident on social media sites.
It’s evident that there is a shift in users from Myspace to Facebook. Does it have to be a socio-economical or racial issue? A politically correct take on the shifts from one social media site to another should be about the designs, affordances or hindrances that these social sites present users.
Some of Boyd’s ideas hint to the fact that teens are searching for their identity. However, their inexperience may lead them to choose subculture groups that are inferior to others. Boyd presents a valid claim that social cohesion is a major factor in explaining why teens leave a social media site than the other. Also, another major factor is that teen especially like trying out new things. Her other arguments hold some truth in them for example there is a shift in users from Myspace to Facebook due to parents fear for inappropriate use.
In the article Trial by Twitter by Ariel Levy, Levy showed how social media can be use to shed light on some heinous crimes, like rape. Levy looks at how the Steubenville football players faced with rape charges against an intoxicated fifteen year old. When social media plays a role in a trail then there is the aggregate of evidence and public opinion that could influence the outcome of a trail. Many people, youths especially think that they can say anything on social media sites but they can come back to plague these users who are participating on social media sites.
Fifteen years ago, Richmond and Mays would have escaped suspicion: before smartphones and Twitter, rumors floated around high schools and then dissipated, often before adults knew what was real and what was adolescent imagination. As it was, the evidence was limited to tweets, the photograph of Richmond and Mays carrying the girl, and a cell-phone video recorded late on the night of the parties and then uploaded to YouTube. It showcased a ruddy recent graduate of Big Red named Michael Nodianos sitting in a bedroom at the second party and drunkenly holding forth about the evening. “You don’t need any foreplay with a dead girl,” he says. He is laughing uncontrollably, as are several other boys in the room. “She’s deader than O.J.’s wife. She’s deader than Caylee Anthony,” he continues. “They raped her harder than that cop raped Marcellus Wallace in ‘Pulp Fiction.’ . . . She is so raped right now.” Nodianos keeps on riffing, and his audience keeps on laughing, for more than twelve minutes (Levy 2013).
There is not doubt that social media can taint a case and throw off what the proper authorities think is the case or investigation because of online participants input. As in a lot of rape the evidence weakens with time. However, there is still enough online dialogue, video and pictures that seem enough to convict the two teenagers accused of rape.
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