Social Networks: Influenced by Race and Education?

With so many social networks today, it seems that their use and membership depends largely on one's social class, education, race or ethnic background.

In a startling finding, researchers from Northwestern University challenged the concept that everyone is 'equal' online. In a recent press release, they announced the details of their study that determined that ones social class, race, and the level of parents education are the strongest predictors of which social networking site someone will use. They also determined that the three most popular sites were MySpace.com, Facebook.com, and Xanga.com.

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Their concern is based on the fact that social networking sites could be creating a two-class system, those with more social connections and those students who do not have social connections.

According to the study, white college students tend to use Facebook. Hispanic college students tend to use MySpace, and Asian students (including Asian Americans) use Myspace less than any other social networking site. No preference was found for African American college students.