A Study of Adult and Teen Differential opinion regarding Online Social Dissertation

A Study of Adult and Teen Differential opinion regarding Online Social Networking - Dissertation Example 46 References†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 48 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 The Problem and Its Background The purpose of the study is to study the perceptional differences among adults and teenagers in the usage of and issues related to online social networking. Objectives: Specifically, it aims to answer the following research objectives: 1. To determine if there are differences between the two age groups in terms of how often they use it; 2. To determine if there are differences between the two age groups in terms of perceived importance; 3. What are the differences between the two age groups in terms of issues encountered when using social networking sites? Introduction The availability of Internet as a means of communicating and bridging people from different places around the world has been increasing for the past decade. Along with the increase in Internet usage come with changes such as the way people interact and communicate with each other (Harris, 2006). It has been determined by various studies such as Kiesler (2007) that communication via the Internet fosters and improves communication and relationship building, which means that those who commonly use the Internet stays more connected to their families and friends than those who do not. Nowadays, the most commons means of communication is via social networking. ... Orkut, Face book and Twitter are only a few examples. Orkut is community based and less personal, while Face book, Twitter and My Space are more personalized kind of social networking platforms. The common characteristics of all social networks are the provision rather the requirement of making a profile that usually demands some personal information including contact information. According to CNN or Cable News Network (2006), Facebook and My Space are two of the most popular social networking sites among high school and college students. According to this documentary, My Space has over 20 million registered users while Facebook have been recording as much as 9.5 million registered users as of September 2006 and it has been increasing by as much as 230,000 registrations in a day. Dumon (2008) reported that in May 2008 Facebook was able to have a higher visitor rates as compared to MySpace. The factors why it’s very popular among high school and college students are mainly its ability to offer various means of communicating with other people. Users can post information about themselves or ideas, pictures, send messages, get instant messages, and even upcoming events, which makes communicating very flexible. Dumon (2008) also stated that Facebook is very successful as compared to other social networking sites because the users are being connected using different categories like city, workplace, school, region, and via this connection they can interact. Rationale of the Study Various researches have analyzed social networking sites and people who use them, often focusing on theories like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that could explain the popularity of such means of communication. However, not many researches have focused on the difference