We've heard from Danah Boyd before. In this informal essay by her we learn about her theory that teens may choose to associate themselves either with MySpace or with Facebook based on their position in the school hierarchy. Boyd provides us with two admittedly imperfect terms to differentiate between the two social groups. Those who gravitate towards Facebook she classifies as "hegemonic" and those who tend to choose MySpace, the less popular of the two, she terms "subaltern," because they tend to be those who are ostracized or rebelling from the groups in power. MySpace is also a place for the musically inclined as it has become the go-to resource for promoting bands of all types. It seems that soon, this area will become a focus for MySpace. It was recently sold to new owners, including Justin Timberlake, and they want to make music its selling point in order to save the sinking ship. MySpace used to be on time, but has since been relegated to the so-called subaltern teens. I wonder if Google+ has the ingenuity and enough cool factor to do the same to Facebook. I, for one, think it does and am excited to jump ship when it launches officially and I have time to set up a profile.
Boyd's unsubstantiated, but plausible theory also has implications for libraries. Libraries are intended to serve all people. How can we make an online presence, even beyond social media, that attracts all classes?
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