Danah Boyd on Facebook and Myspace

A really interesting article for anyone interested in social networks and their role and impact in our society.

"… I want to take a moment to make a meta point here. I have been traipsing through the country talking to teens and I've been seeing this transition for the past 6-9 months but I'm having a hard time putting into words.

Americans aren't so good at talking about class and I'm definitely feeling that discomfort. It's sticky, it's uncomfortable, and to top it off, we don't have the language for marking class in a meaningful way. So this piece is intentionally descriptive, but in being so, it's also hugely problematic.

I don't have the language to get at what I want to say, but I decided it needed to be said anyhow. I wish I could just put numbers in front of it all and be done with it, but instead, I'm going to face the stickiness and see if I can get my thoughts across. Hopefully it works…." (from Danah Boyd, Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace)

Danah's Boyd's disclaimer alone is thought provoking enough to get me to read the whole article about Myspace and Facebook.