25 June 2007

The Digital Class System

Apparently, there is one.

(I mean, aside from those able to afford regular/any computer access versus those who cannot.)

Social scientist Danah Boyd proposes that Facebook is the upper/upper-middle class counterpart to middle/lower class and marginalized Myspace.

I'm not sure I agree completely, but one thing is for sure: Facebook is the equivalent to a country-club or gated community -- you cannot even search others' profiles until you join. Myspace on the other hand is a garish strip mall, or maybe even a carnival complete with hucksters and garish lures. I don't like Myspace primarily because of its in-your-face crappy design ethic; it's as though the creators learned HTML back in 1997 and built in the capacity requirement for clashing text, ugly background tiles, and inflexible table widths.

Perhaps what is more telling is that libraries are embracing Facebook and are enhancing it to allow students to interact with library catalogs and library staff.
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