3.3. How are students interacting on Facebook?
Like traditional media such as television and film viewing, Facebook consists of a one-to-many communication style, where
information presented reaches many “viewers” at a time. However, with social networking sites, users are now the creators of
content, and they view one another's profiles and information rather than viewing mass-produced content made by large
corporations. They also become the stars of their own productions. As students commented:
“I primarily use Facebook to maintain connections with people that I do not get to see or talk to that often. It has also been
an easy form of mass communication to disseminate information or things such as pictures.”
“They are very helpful for networking, Myspace especially – where you can become an internet celebrity.”
This pattern of one-to-many communication is also revealed by what students do online (observe/lurk) and by wall posts
(where many students can see what they are doing all at once) rather than sending private messages.