Legal Research

Facebook getting more diverse

Facebook releases first-ever demographic look at users
by Mike Swift

"Illustrating the growing diversity of online users as the Internet matures, a study by Facebook researchers found that about 11 percent of the social network's approximately 100 million U.S. members were African-American, about 9 percent were Latino and 6 percent were Asian, according to a blog Facebook posted Wednesday evening ? a much higher share for blacks and Latinos than four years ago."

"The hoard of demographic data owned by Facebook ? age, gender, education and now race and ethnicity of perhaps a third of the U.S. population, along with a list of their closest friends ? is a huge potential bounty for advertisers. But Facebook said this study was not done for business purposes, but to get a sense of how closely the social network mirrors America."

It's getting interesting from a sociological point of view. More insights and comment beyond the link.

Stephen

Full post as published by Stephen's Lighthouse on December 17, 2009 (boomark / email).