With that disclosure out of the way, why do you see whites and non-whites self-segregating online based on the offerings of their online hangouts as a bad thing? MySpace offers colorful wallpaper & ways to dress up your blog and, most importantly, the ability to play music; color, pizazz, music and their culture are more important to African-American and Latino populations than most white people (trust me, I moved from New Orleans to middle Ohio – not much color, joie de vivre or music here). Do you have a problem with predominantly black or Hispanic nightclubs vs. white ones? With that in mind, perhaps a majority of non-whites just like to hang out in their own scene, rather than white people rejecting them for “whiter, more preppy” venues as you think. Many Americans awakened to social media with MySpace – groups & cliques formed their bonds there. Some got into their late 20s and early 30s and ditched MySpace for Facebook; others stayed on due to allegiance and a much better time. Yes, given the choice between standing next to a white person or a black person, most white people will probably choose a white person, but I don’t think that white people leave MySpace because of “ghetto-fication” or white fright/flight.

This nation does suffer a huge digital divide, I don’t doubt that for one second. The biggest problem we New Orleans bloggers faced was getting the poor, who suffered Katrina and The Flood the worst, to blog about their experiences. Forget the obvious fact that many poor don’t have computers or smartphones, you had to offer them motivation to get into social media: what’s in it for them? Their kids & grandkids got onlline, though – onto MySpace to find music and to interact virtually with their real-life friends, especially those displaced by the storm. A circle like that is hard to break. What’s in it for them to move wholesale to Facebook?

I’d also be interested to see the MySpace vs. Facebook breakdown by age.

I do not discount the social fragmentation you describe, but I contend, trust in the case of Facebook and a lack of trust in the case of Myspace was the key factor. This AdAge article explains this point based on casual conversation I had one day with a 16 year old. http://adage.com/digitalnext/post?article_id=137602

Judy Shapiro
Sr. VP, Paltalk

I agree that the political economy will influence digital use but the ‘chatter’ is more that people who are currently dominant are not using it. Endless smirks about Twitter by Wimbledon commentators, for example.

Around 2006, MySpace began to become flooded with spam messages, virus messages etc.

No one — especially those early users who were used to spam-free social networking, and likely privileged/tech-savvy — wanted to be a part of that. Facebook was spam and virus-free. That is definitely a part of the story.

Beyond that, I think there’s some great evidence and analysis here of how class colors our social networking experience.

You might want to look at this paper.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/325/5936/48

I think it is an explanation for the Nietzsche quote

“If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”

Even if you try to avoid something having an impact on you, just by trying to avoid it having an impact on you it will.

People associate with others like themselves because of homophily. If they associate with people not like themselves, they change, they become like the people they are associating with.