In-Depth Social Networking ReportIn-Depth Social Networking ReportMarketing Research- Mktg 44619 February 2010Students representing various colleges were asked a series of questions regarding social networking and their uses of social networking sites. The participants were also asked about using social networking sites for academic purposes by having professors and their students connect on these websites. Participants in the study included an accounting major from the College of Business and Economics, an elementary education major from the College of Education and Human Development, a geology major from the College of Science and Technology, an anthropology major from the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences, a political science major from the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences, and a communication sciences and disorders major (COSD) from the College of Health and Human Services. All of the students interviewed indicated they had an account on at least one social networking site. Every interviewee used Facebook as a networking tool; some students used additional networking sites with a majority having MySpace accounts. The only student with a LinkedIn account was the political science major. The anthropology major had never heard of LinkedIn until asked about it during the interview. After analyzing the number of profiles for eachwebsite, no one indicated having more than one profile on any given social networking site.When asked which social networking site was updated most often, each of the students responded with Facebook. The reasons for visiting Facebook most frequently varied among the students. Several of the students said Facebook was the best network as far as keeping up with friends and was the easiest site to navigate. Others mentioned that they liked it due to the ease in which the site allows for the posting of pictures. A few of the interviewees also commented that Facebook is more professional and mature than MySpace. One student said he liked Facebook best simply because it was the most popular social networking took and appeared to be the most user-friendly. Another interviewee said that Facebook was the only thenetworking site he used. Responses varied when students were asked to identify some of the ways they used social networking sites. While all of the students indicated that they used these sites to keep in touch with their friends, others added that social networking sites allowed them to keep in touch with people from his hometown or high school, “most of whom split ways when everyone went off to college.” Other students said they liked using tools such as Facebook to make comments,send messages to friends, and to chat with multiple people at the same time. Others said they use these sites simply as a way to pass time. One person indicated that he actively used MySpace as a way to keep up with his favorite bands. Although interviewees varied in their responses about some of the tools available on social networking sites that they did not use, a few major themes did prevail. These themes all seemed to revolve around a central idea: personal privacy. The concern of releasing very private information on the internet was quite apparent for several of the students. This observation was important for a number of reasons. First, it suggests that many people were able to successfully identify a certain threshold of personal privacy. In short, people were able to point out the extent to which they were willing to share certain aspects of their personal lives. With this being said, it seems that the functions of certain social networking sites, such as Facebook, which facilitates a very close personal connection between individuals and their “friends” on the site actually cause some people to reconsider what type of information they are willing to share, especially in the context of the lengths to which that information (whether it be text, pictures, or video) can travel, be stored, be used, or be altered.Another central theme that became apparent revolved around the idea that some of the functions of social networking sites were “useless,” “pointless,” or “of no value.” This, as with the sharing of personal information, was also quite interesting in that it seems to be a rebuke against the “perpetually virtually connected” attitude of many popular social networking sites. This is to say that as some sites offer certain applications or functions to bring people together in a virtual world, those same functions or applications seem to be embraced by some but also rejected by others. Some of those who reject such functions or applications (such as groups or fan pages) seem to possess opinions rooted in the meaninglessness and false sense of belonging that these “pseudo-groups” seem to foster. The interviewees’ responses seemed to allude to the role of these online social networking functions as attempting to replace real-life interactions, proposing that these online groups have no real social value. After all, in following with the rationale of the proponents of these functions, who cares “how many fans a pickle can get anyway”? When the students were asked what they liked best about social networking sites and why, the responses centered around the idea that social networking sites were an impersonal way of communicating/keeping up with others. According to one student, Facebook is a way of passively keeping in contact with those he otherwise would not. Also, most of the respondents said something along the lines that social network sites do not take up too much of their time and they were easier to deal with than talking on the phone. They would much rather send someone a message, write on someone’s wall, or use “Facebook Chat.” On another note, an overwhelming majority also mentioned viewing other’s photographs on Facebook as “entertaining” and a good way to “waste time.” One student had slightly different views on Facebook; he primarily used it for searching for people believing it as easier to use than a telephone directory since a search can be done by only knowing a person’s first name.When asked what they like least about social networking websites, the interviewees had strong opinions. Many individuals expressed a certain level of indignation when talking about what they do not like about the site, citing examples such as people saying “Let’s make