Article V- Gender Differences in “Social Portraits” Reflected in Social Profiles
MySpace is a very popular website for both younger and older people. It is a website used for communication, as well as friend-networking. It is very easy to meet new people and socialize with them on a daily basis. MySpace has sections that help other people know who they are. For example, there is an “About Me” section where people can write personal information about themselves. According to Article V Gender Differences in “Social Portraits” Reflected in Social Profiles, analysis of MySpace profiles provides a unique means of studying gender differences in identity, wherein men were much more likely than women to fail to mention their significant other even once in the “About Me” section of their profiles or in their “Interests” section. This article is trying to prove that males and females provide different information in “About Me” sections and “Interest” section.
There are many things a person can write about in their “About Me” section of their MySpace. The topic that is explained in Article V is about which gender will most likely mention their significant other on their MySpace. For males, 43% mentioned their significant other 0 times, 43% mentioned their significant other once, and 14% mentioned her between 2 and 10 times. For females, 16% had no mention of their significant other, while 47% mentioned him once, and 37% mentioned him between 2 and 10 times. These results were achieved in the spring of 2007. Also, there were results for information provided in the “Interest” section.”
In the “Interests” section, 67% of males did not mention their significant other at all, and 33% mentioned her between 1 and 5 times. Nearly half of females did not bring up their significant other in the “Interests” section, which is 47%. The remaining 53% mentioned him between 1 and 5 times. These differences are pretty accurate according to the article. They experimented on 100 people with MySpace accounts and achieved these results.
Moreover, this article’s main points were showing the differences of the gender roles in a MySpace account. Both males and females provide information in their profiles. However, they each provide different information. According to the article, the results may vary over the years because there are new accounts being made every day. The different information between males and females can change over time. New experiments can be performed which will have different results. Researchers are focusing on this subject more and more. Maybe one day the information that males and females provide will equal each other.
·MySpace and Facebook: Applying the Uses and Gratifications Theory to Exploring Friend-Networking Sites
Facebook Features and Socializing
With more than a 110 million users, Facebook is the 4th most-trafficked website in the world and the most-trafficked social media site in the world (Facebook). The use of Facebook has increased rapidly since it was first created in 2004. This worldwide friend-networking site has made a huge impact on people. From online chatting to just looking at profiles, Facebook has become very popular. In terms of generational differences, young adults spend more time using online communication and are more comfortable doing so as compared to older generations (Raacke and Bonds-Raacke 169). However, Facebook is still popular for both generations. With the many features that Facebook has, people everywhere are beginning to look into the site more and more every day.
When I first heard about Facebook, I thought it was a foolish website that had no meaning. I thought why would I want to make friends with strangers? Although it may be a good way to learn about different people, sometimes it can be dangerous because you do not know who’s behind the computer. However, there are more activities on Facebook that are interesting and fun. Many of my friends made Facebook accounts and I would always see them logging on and exploring the website. I started noticing the amount of time that they would spend on this website. It was like they added it to their daily routines. Whenever I would go to one of my friend’s house, they would be logged onto Facebook. They would either be looking at photos of their friends or even people they do not know. Also, they would be chatting with new friends they made on Facebook. I figured if my friends have fun with this website then why not make my own account?
Facebook has many features that interest others. According to the Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Facebook features “include the Wall, a space on every user’s profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user to see, Pokes, which allows users to send a virtual “poke” to each other, Photos, where users can upload albums and photos, and Status, which allows users to inform their friends of their whereabouts and actions” (Wikipedia, par. 12). These features are the reasons why people like Facebook so much. Now that I have an account on Facebook, I think that this website will not bore you. There is so much to do. For example, this site allows users to post information about them, post pictures, leave messages for friends about upcoming events, and link their sites to friends’ sites (Raacke and Bonds-Raake 170). The main use of Facebook is to meet friends, whether they are old friends or new friends. You can search any name and you may find the person you are looking for. Many users befriend other users “even if they are precarious acquaintances or absolute strangers” (Majmudar 2005). Just the idea of making new friends will help better your social life. Also, it is fun to just look at other people’s photos online. If you have nothing to do during the day, an account on Facebook will keep you company.
Like I said before, Facebook is for both the younger and older generations. However, the younger generation is more often on Facebook than the older generation. It seems that the features that the site has interests the younger people more than the older people. Older people have more responsibilities and less time to socialize online. On the other hand, younger people have plenty of time to make friends and they make Facebook a part of their daily lives.
One day when I was on the computer at the library, a girl, around the age of 18 or 19, came and sat on the computer that was next to me. Another girl, probably the same age, sat on the computer that was on the other side of me. At first, I did not pay attention to what they were doing because I was there to study. However, I glanced at one of the computers and she was on Facebook. I looked at the other computer, and she was also on Facebook. These girls probably did not have anything to do but check their accounts. After I finished studying, I decided to go on my Facebook account. As I was sitting their searching the site, a librarian comes up to me and the girls and asks us different questions about Facebook. Now, I was new to this website so I sat there and listened to the two girls explaining it. They started talking about how it was a friend-networking site and how it has many things that you can do. As a result, the librarian asked one of us to create a Facebook account for him. I decided to leave because this was just ridiculous. People are influencing others to create accounts that are made for socializing. It made me realize how fast the use of Facebook can spread.
Furthermore, the different aspects of Facebook have an impact on human society. Socializing and searching profiles have become more and more popular. Because of the variety of activities on this site, the use of Facebook has been increasing over the years. I believe that a couple years into the future, Facebook will advance and have more features that will interest more people. The number of accounts is increasing daily, whether it’s young people or old people who are creating them. Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with old friends, as well as new friends. I have noticed that almost every person that has a computer or laptop must have a Facebook account. If they do not have one, I believe that they will create one as soon as they hear about it. Mark Zuckerberg changed the way people used the Internet by creating Facebook, and helped people socialize in a new and fun way.
Work Cited
"Facebook." 30 Oct. 2008 .
"Facebook." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 26 Oct 2008, 07:33 UTC. 30 Oct 2008
·MySpace and Facebook: Applying the Uses and Gratifications Theory to Exploring Friend-Networking Sites
Five questions that could be answered in a four-page essay:
1.What affects do Myspace and Facebook have on our culture? Are they good or bad? How are racial backgrounds connected to the use of these websites?
2.Think about the different features that Myspace and Facebook have. Why do these features interest others? What age group would most likely start accounts? Why?
3.What are some advantages of the use of Facebook and Myspace? Disadvantages? Why did these websites become so popular?
4.Raacke says, “Women are more likely to engage in online communication to maintain personal connections with family, friends, and coworkers, whereas men use online communication for pursuing sexual interests and romance.” Do you agree or disagree with this assertion? Why?
5.Do you have an account on Facebook and/or Myspace? If so, what was the reason for the activation of your account? How significant is the account? Did these websites have an effect on your daily routine? Why or why not? Did these websites help you become more social?
Article II • MySpace and Facebook: Applying the Uses and Gratifications Theory to Exploring Friend-Networking Sites
The Experiment:
According to this article, women and men use Myspace and Facebook for different reasons. Women use them to maintain personal connections with family, friends, and coworkers, whereas men use them for pursuing sexual interests and romance. I will conduct an experiment that will show if this assertion is true or false. However, this experiment is only for people that already have Myspace or Facebook accounts. The experiment will be held at a public library because it is for all women and men of any age. The time of the experiment will be in the morning. Facebook and Myspace users usually check their accounts early to see if they have any important messages or appointments. Therefore, the results would be more efficient. To begin, I will ask all women to sit in one room in the library, while the men sit in another. These rooms will have computers that each person will be able to access. I will then tell each person to log on to either their Facebook or Myspace accounts. They will be asked to do what they normally do on these website at home. They will be given enough time to get the job done. An experimenter will then walk around and record what the people are doing on these websites. At the end of the experiment, I will compare the results of the reasons why women used Facebook or Myspace, as well as, the men’s reasons.
I have been learning cosmetology for about four years now. Growing up with a family of hair stylists, I began to like it more and more. When I was a little girl, I used to dress up my dolls and give them the best hair style. As I got older, I wanted to play with real people rather than dolls. So, I had a little brother that let me do anything to him. I used to play with his long hair and dress him up. Although, I found out that if you dress up a guy in girls’ clothing when they’re young, then they will grow up to be homosexual. Therefore, I stopped playing with him and started playing with my dolls again. Eventually, I grew out of my child phase and began to experience with real hair and real people.
I like giving advice to people about caring for their hair because I like seeing people happy. I want people to have as much knowledge as I have, or even more, about hair care because it is a very important characteristic in a person. Knowing facts about taking care of your hair can be helpful in life. It can make a person feel and look great. I mean who wouldn’t want to have healthy, beautiful looking hair?
The reason I chose to advocate this topic was because I see people with bad hair and in need of some good advice. There are so many myths that people tell that just don’t make sense to me. For example, one myth that is very common is, “If you want your hair to stay clean and healthy, wash it every day.” This is not true because washing your hair every day will dry it out and will lose all the shine. It is very important to keep some oil in your hair because the hair needs the shine to keep it from drying and braking. Another myth that is told is, “Wash your with a shampoo that has conditioner mixed with it.” It is best to use a shampoo and a conditioner separately because putting conditioner on the scalp will cause it to get too oily. When shampooing, you need to scrub your scalp very well in order to get it clean. If there is conditioner in your shampoo, then your scalp will not get as clean as it should be.
Was there ever a time when you thought, why did my hair stop growing? Well, hair will stop growing if there are slit ends. Split ends are when the ends of the hair slip into two or three strands that damages the hair. In fact, the more you cut your hair, the faster it will grow. Split ends will eventually split all the way to the root and then that hair strand will fall out. It is impossible for the hair to grow with a split end. Therefore, it is best to cut it constantly.
This activity was interesting and fun because all the information came from my knowledge. I decided to use a PowerPoint presentation for this activity because I wanted to list some different issues that we deal with every day. In each slide, I talked about a different issue. I want people to look at my PowerPoint presentation and learn something at the end of it. I hope everyone enjoys reading it and I hope to have answered some questions that you had in mind.
