Business School

Independent Study

Student ID 200403091 - Word Count 5433 Tutor – Phil Smith

3rd April 2008

“In the beginning, social networking was a way to connect with friends. But
now that’s not enough” Taek Kwon, Friendster CEO.

Social Networking Sites:

What are they and how do we use them?

A Critical Examination.

1
Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction 5

Chapter 2: Review of Published Evidence 7

Chapter 3: Research Aims and Methodology 9

Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis 13

Chapter 5: Conclusion 28

Appendices 30

Copy of Questionnaire 52

Gannt Chart 62

References 63

List of Figures
Figure 1. Social Network Diagram 6

Figure 2 – Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Survey Research 10

Figure 3 – Tips for Conducting Online Survey Research. 11

Figure 4 – Email Survey Response Rates 12

Figure 5 - Usage statistics from Question 2. 14

Figure 6 - Showing which Social Networking Sites are Used. 14

Figure 7 - Showing the Large Majority of Social Networking Sites are Unheard of. 14

Figure 8 – Frequency of visits. 15

Figure 9 – Most Frequent Time of Visits 15

Figure 10 – Privacy Settings. 16

Figure 11 – Social Network Site Usage 17

Figure 12 – Detagging of Photos on Facebook 18

Figure 13 – Visiting Facebook from a Mobile Device. 18

Figure 14 – Friends List Consisted Of. 19

Figure 15 – Pie Chart displaying Business Group Memberships 20

2
 Figure 16 – Group Motivations 20

Figure 17 – Further uses of SNS (2) 20

Figure 18 – Further Uses (3) 21

Figure 19 – Further Uses (4) 21

Figure 20 – Further Uses (5) 21

Figure 22 – Further Uses (7) 22

Figure 23 – Total Friends 23

Figure 24 – Work and Personal Life 24

Figure 25 – Censoring SNS profile 25

Figure 26 – SNS Ads 25

Figure 27 – SNS Ads (2) 26

Figure 28 – Technology Usage 26

Figure 29 – Top 5 Tech Usage 27

List of Appendices
Appendix 1 – Timeline 30

Appendix 2 - Random Sample of Answers from Q27 of Questionnaire 34

Examples of Company Branded Facebook Pages 32

Appendix 3 – Screenshot of H&M Branded Group. (45,591 Members) 32

Appendix 4 – Microsoft Branded Student Group (19,341 Members) 32

Appendix 5 – Primark Branded Group (94,639 Members) 33

Appendix 6 – Apple Branded Group (424,667 Members) 33

Appendix 7 – Product RED Branded Group (47,292 Members) 34

Appendix 8 – Top 5 Products Pages on Facebook 34

Appendix 9 – Marketing Week Cover 15th Nov 2007 35

Appendix 10 - 1st Email sent out to Business School students. 36

Appendix 11 – Refined email sent out to students 36

Appendix 12 - Relevant Mentions in Mainstream Press 37

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 Appendix 13 - Facebook Advertising Rates 46

Appendix 14 - MySpace Internal Company Slides 48

Appendix 15 - Copy of Questionnaire 52

Appendix 16 - Gantt Chart 62

References 63

4
 Chapter 1: Introduction

The current research seeks to build on previous research in to usage of the internet
by investigating A) What are social networking sites used for? B) Who are the
leaders in terms of members and return visits? and C) Are users aware that 62% of
recruiters use social networking sites as a further screening measure for
recruitment? Does this change how an individual acts online?

Social network sites (SNSs) have exploded in to the public eye in recent years.
However, the first recognisable social network site launched in 1997, 11 years ago.
(See Appendix 1 – Timeline) The phenomenon is increasingly attracting the attention
of academic and industry researchers who are fascinated by their global reach and
usage by all ages. Unfortunately, many researchers have taken a highly technical
and mathematical approach. The aim of this research piece is to try to bridge the gap
between theory and practice.

Social networking websites are online communities of individuals who share hobbies,
activities and interests, or who are interested in finding out and keeping updated on
the activities of others. They typically provide a medium for users to interact through
a variety of ways including messaging, chat, email, voice chat, video, blogging and
discussion groups.

A social network is a structure that consists of nodes which can consist of either
individuals or organisations. These are bound by specific types of similarities, such
as religion, friends, hobbies, dislikes, music and other special interests important to
the individual.

When broken down in to its simplest form a social network is essentially a map of all
of the relevant ties between the nodes being studied. See Fig 1 for a graphical
representation.

5
 Figure 1. Social Network Diagram

Source – http://www.usask.ca Date Accessed 18th March

Social Networking Sites enhance both the maintenance of social ties and the
formation of new connections. Early research on online communities was
predominantly centred around the idea that individuals who were making use of such
systems were connecting with others outside their social group or location, allowing
them to cherry pick and form further communities around shared interests instead of
just for example being friends with people in the same town (Wellman, Salaff,
Dimitrova, Garton, Gulia, & Haythornthwaite, 1996)

6
 Chapter 2: Review of Published Evidence

Previous academic research into social networking has focused on areas

such as identity formation (Gosling et al 2007), information disclosure (Stutzman
2005; Mazer et al 2007), the role social networks play in maintaining and forming
social capital (Ellison et al 2006, 2007), profile structure predicting friendship (Lampe
et al 2007); identity presentation and privacy concerns (Acquisti & Gross 2006;
Govani et al 2005) and general student usage of Facebook (Stutzman 2006; Golder
et al 2007). There has been research into personality and Internet use in general
(e.g. Hamburger & Ben-Artzi, 2000; Kraut et al 2002; Landers & Lounsbury 2006) but
not specifically the impact social networks have on daily life. Acquisti and Gross
(2005) predict that users could be putting themselves at risk offline (e.g., stalking)
and online (e.g., identify theft). Other recent Facebook research examines temporal
patterns of use (Golder, Wilkinson, & Huberman, 2007), the relationship between
profile structure and friendship articulation (Lampe, Ellison, & Steinfield, 2007) and
student perceptions of instructor presence and self-disclosure (Hewitt & Forte, 2006;
Mazer, Murphy, & Simonds, 2007.

Previous research suggests that Facebook users engage in "searching" for

people with whom they have an offline connection more than they "browse" for
complete strangers to meet (Lampe, Ellison, & Steinfield, 2006).Michigan State
University examined the use of Facebook by undergraduate students (Ellison,
Steinfeld & Lampe 2005) “..to better understand why individuals would voluntarily use
a site that, based on media reports, offered them only a way to disclose information
they should not disclose, collect hundreds of “friends” they didn’t know, and waste
time better spent studying”1. Participants of the study commented on how the uses of
Facebook helped them maintain and strengthen relationships. Tools that enable us
to engage in online self-presentation and connect with others will be increasingly part
of our social and professional landscape.2

1
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/is-myspace-good-for-society-a-freakonomics-quorum/ Date
Accessed 20th March 2008

2
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/is-myspace-good-for-society-a-freakonomics-quorum/ Date
Accessed 20th March 2008

7
 Secondary research for this study includes academic textbooks such as
Social Networks in Youth and Adolescence by John Cotterell, Social Networks and
Social Exclusion by Chris Phillipson and Graham Allan Social Network Analysis,
Methods and Applications by Stanley Wasserman, Social Networking – The Essence
of Innovation by Jay Liebowitz, Inside Facebook: Life, Work and Visions of
Greatness by Karel Baloun. Marketing Week and Marketing which are published
weekly have been must reads as part of my media diet and have provided some very
useful, insightful articles. Management Today has also been a regular monthly read
for its business orientated approach to social networking in articles. The Guardian,
The Independent and The Times, have all featured articles around the phenomenon
of social networking the writer has read with great interest. Websites Mashable,
Brand Republic, Unit Structures, Hitwise and many more all provided unbiased and
objective views on social networking which aided my own background knowledge
and research. Because some of the sources used are websites, extra caution
needed to be applied to the content to assess the objectivity and bias of the writer.
Thus the reader has only used sources I respect and know they are of sound
background.
.

8
 Chapter 3: Research Aims and Methodology

The aim of this research piece is to find out how social networking sites are used,
what makes users choose one over the other given such a breadth of choice and
what can be learnt from an individual’s usage of Social Networking Sites.

The research questions to explored which will help answer such questions are as
follows.

RQ1: What are social networking sites used for?

RQ2: Who are the leaders in terms of members and return visits?
RQ3: Are users aware that 62% of recruiters use social networking sites as a further
screening measure for recruitment? Does this change how an individual acts online?

Before the questionnaire was released for consumption, a pilot study was carried out
on ten students to garner their thoughts on the structure and flow. This procedure
was important for me to correct any errors that I hadn’t noticed myself and before it
was too late (Zikmund, 2003). On average users took between 10 and 15 minutes to
complete. Questions that didn’t answer anything of merit were removed after user
comments. As a result of the pilot study, some questions were re-worded and further
questions were added (Bell, 1999).

Interviews and focus groups were intended but time restrictions did not allow. The
questionnaires provided the data required in a form that could be analysed with ease.
It was ensured that the questionnaires provided gave the respondent both
quantitative and qualitative information from open and closed questions. (Bell, 1999).
The data was then imported in to Excel and analysed.

It was important for the writer to try to find a balance between ease of analysis and
quantity of information provided by the respondent (Burns, 2000). Closed questions
were asked in the majority with 27 closed questions but a further 8 out of 35 required
a custom response by the respondent. It was also a conscious decision to adopt the
funnel technique to ensure that the questions did not influence the respondent’s
answers in any way. (Zikmund, 2003 and Burns, 2000).

9
The chosen method of sampling was electronic as a web based online survey. This
method was chosen as it allowed for a greater reach and enabled the writer to send
the link to everyone he knew across the country, regardless of geographic location,
thus minimising my supervision, travel time and print costs. Electronic surveys are
becoming increasingly more widespread due to it becoming easier to create and
ultimately easier to complete by recipients. This is only expected to continue as year
on year numbers using the internet rises.3 (Bized, 2008) See the below figure for an
overview of the advantages and disadvantages associated to online survey research.

4
Figure 2 – Advantages and Disadvantages of Online Survey Research

Many advantages are offered by using online surveys as listed above. Alternatively,
the disadvantages associated should also be known.
.
The questionnaire was hosted by http://www.surveymonkey.com The writer chose
the site because of the customisation and data analysis tools available. These tools
were not available on a standard, free account so I upgraded to the Professional
account at a cost of £10 a month in order to ensure I got the optimum questionnaire
experience. A free account allowed for 10 questions only so most would have

3
http://www.bized.co.uk/timeweb/digging/dig_source_expl.htm Date Accessed 20th March 2008

4
Source –
http://www.research.plymouth.ac.uk/ methodologicalinnovations/Methods07/Presentations/poade.pps
Date Accessed 20th March 2008

10
ensured their questionnaire did not go over this. However, the writer found this
limited the researcher as once started, realised it would be preferable to spend the
money to allow for a greater breadth of questioning. The writer feel this was money
well invested as the richness and quantity of the data was worth going that extra mile
for.

The questionnaire was completed by 204 people. This number was achieved through
sending an email out to all students enrolled at the Business School at Hull
University. The writer also created a group on Facebook and MySpace to distribute
the website link to acquaintances. This allowed the researcher to reach a diverse
country wide sampling which would have been impossible if conducting the process
purely with a traditional paper questionnaire.

Figure 3 – Tips for Conducting Online Survey Research. 5

With some studies of online surveys, response rates have been known to be equal to
or better than those for traditional mailed surveys (Mehta & Sivadas, 1995; Stanton,
1998; Thompson, Surface, Martin, Sanders, 2003). This led the writer to consider the
techniques which would effectively increase response rates. One particular technique
which is used by market researchers to great success is a financial incentive to the
recipient. In this case, something that is relevant to the student population. The writer
spoke with a few friends about how much would encourage them to carry out a task
for someone else, with no direct benefit to themselves. £20 was a figure that most

5
Source -
www.research.plymouth.ac.uk/ methodologicalinnovations/Methods07/Presentations/poade.pps

11
believed would be an agreeable figure. In the early days of starting this research and
publishing it online, the incentive was a £20 Waterstones gift voucher. Although it
incentivised, many individuals did not believe this to be an enticing enough prospect
that would ensure others would follow suit. After consideration and useful feedback,
the incentive was changed by popular demand to a £20 gift certificate to a shop,
online or retail of the randomly selected winners choice. This was then praised as the
winner could choose where they wanted to use the £20. Other suggestions were
“Give me £20 to spend on alcohol” and many more not to be repeated! Alcohol may
be most representative to the student domain, but I decided against it as I didn’t want
people taking the questionnaire and rushing through the questions giving inaccurate
answers just so they could be in with the chance of winning some beer.

Previous research findings informed me that recipients of the questionnaire are three
times more likely to complete the questionnaire when there was an incentive for them
upon completion.6 Further research suggests that writing a personal email to
individuals I have not met increases their likelihood of completion by 12% and
offering an effective incentive adds a further 12%7 so by adding the personal touch
and an offering I increased the response rate by 24%.

Figure 4 – Email Survey Response Rates

6
www.crt.dk/uk/staff/chm/wap/survey/response.pdf Date Accessed 21st March 2008

7
www.crt.dk/uk/staff/chm/wap/survey/response.pdf Date Accessed 21st March 2008

12
 Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis

A copy of the Questionnaire which users completed can be found at the end of this
research piece. A total of 204 respondents completed the online questionnaire which
for my studies is a healthy number. 114 males (55%) and 90 (45%) females provided
their thoughts on social networking site usage. The gender divide is quite evenly split
so the results can be generalised to
some degree with both sexes. The
average age of the male was 25.1
years old and for females it was 22.5
years old. The youngest male to
complete the questionnaire was 17
whilst the oldest was 54. For females
the youngest was 16 and oldest 39.
These figures may suggest that my reach as a male allowed me to speak to more
males and of a more varying age. This could be due to the disproportionate amount
of male contacts of the experimenter resulting in more males being asked to
complete the survey. My findings actually go against the idea that females generally
are more likely to respond than males. Eckel and Grossman (1998) proposed that
women are more “socially-orientated (selfless)” whilst men are more “individually-
orientated (selfish).” The average age of all respondents was 23.9 which I believe to
be a representative age for this study due to being of a similar age.

Users were asked in Question 2 (Figure 5) which of the listed social networking sites
they used, tried before but moved on, had heard of or had never heard of. The
results were fairly conclusive but to be expected. Taking in to account that Facebook,
MySpace and Bebo are the top 3 social networking sites the following information
was interesting. 177 out of 204 use Facebook (88.1%) 41 (20.4%) use MySpace and
8 (4%) use Bebo. These figures show the dominance that Facebook has within the
University student age group and the comments received during the period of the
questionnaire that Bebo and MySpace were more orientated towards school and
college students were validated. Figure 7 below shows that the most popular answer
for 12 out of the listed 17 networks was ‘Never heard of it’. This shows the stronghold
the top 3 have on the UK whereby users do not need to look elsewhere.

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 Figure 5 - Usage statistics from Question 2.

Figure 6 - Showing which Social Networking Sites are Used.

Figure 7 - Showing the Large Majority of Social Networking Sites are Unheard of.

14
In Question 6 (Figure 8) users were asked how regularly do they visit their favourite
social networking site (which in 88% of individuals was Facebook). This was to
guage the ‘stickyness’ of the site. 8 Dave McClure, a social networks analyst
comments “..while MySpace is much larger in overall users, Facebook blows them
(and everyone else) away in terms of user stickiness... half of all their users login
DAILY. I don't know of any other site with that level of usage frequency for such a
broad group of users.” 9 This incidentally corresponds with my findings as seen below
where the largest percentage of users (39.5%) were said to log in ‘Daily’. 31.8% of
users login frequently throughout the day also. This shows the huge ‘stickyness’ of
Facebook as a site that is visited on a very frequent basis by the majority of its users.
Figure 8 – Frequency of visits.

Linking in with the previous question, users were asked at what time of the day they
mostly visited their chosen SNS shown in Question 7 (Figure 9). The results were
interesting with the most frequent times being from 5pm-8pm and 9pm-12am. This is
a time when most will be free from lectures or work and at home relaxing.

Figure 9 – Most Frequent Time of Visits

8
http://www.virtuescience.com/stickysite.html Date Accessed 21st March 2008
9
http://500hats.typepad.com/500blogs/2007/02/facebook_big_st.html Date Accessed 21st March 2008

15
Traditionally more time was spent watching TV than online but this this is now not the
case. Analysts from TNS found that, on average, we spend 164 minutes online every
day compared to 148 minutes watching television.10 45.2% of all users questioned
visit a social networking site during the hours of 5-8pm and a further 36.2% between
9pm-12am. The results therefore reinforce the fact that media diets are changing and
“It is believed to be the first time that using the Internet has overtaken what was
traditionally seen as the nation's favourite pastime”11
Figure 10 – Privacy Settings.

When it comes to the privacy and security of the individuals’ data, 53.1% take
matters in to their own hands and ensure that their personal information is only
visible to friends and not the general public and search engines (which incidentally
can now access user’s information on Facebook if they have not specifically opted
out). It is a simple process to keep strict control of personal information on social
networking sites so it is certainly encouraged to all.

Reasons for social network site usage were asked in Question 10 (Figure 11) and as
expected, the option chosen for the majority of networks was ‘I don’t use this SNS’.
88.6% use Facebook for ‘Staying in contact with friends’, in 2nd place is MySpace
with 20.9% and interestingly Friends Reunited at 13.4% which would suggest the
average age of all users which was calculated to be 23.9 years are more interested
in talking to old school friends than being on the more youth orientated Bebo.

10

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=379226&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source
=&ct=5 Date Accessed 21st March 2008

11

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=379226&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source
=&ct=5 Date Accessed 21st March 2008

16
Figure 11 – Social Network Site Usage

17
 Figure 12 –
Detagging of
Photos on
Facebook

55.7% of respondents agreed that they have taken physical steps themselves to
remove pictures that have been put up of them on Facebook which shows the vanity
of the majority of the individuals questioned. Robin Camille, a well known figure in
the blogosphere puts it very well. “It's disgustingly immediate and it plays on my
vanity. I have to see those photos I'm in. Do I look good in them? Should I untag
them or leave them? How kind of it to pander to my self-centeredness. I know I can
turn off these notifications, but the thing is that I don't want to,”12 (Robin Camille
2008)

Figure 13 – Visiting Facebook from a Mobile Device.

With the increase
in usage of mobile
technology for
keeping up to date
Facebook introduced a mobile friendly site for web devices and mobile phones
(http://m.facebook.com) Question 12 (Figure 13) wanted to see if there has been a
take up of this service at all

It is clear from the above that there is still some way to go in mobilising the social
user with 72% having never accessed the mobile friendly Facebook site. This figure
was to be expected, as previous research suggests that 33.2% of 18- to 24-year-old
Americans post photos to Web sites via mobile phones, according to mobile
consultancy M:Metrics. “This suggests to me there's absolutely interest in
participating in Mobile Social Networks,” says Mark Donovan, an analyst at
M:Metrics13 If we look a year or two down the line, and asked the same question
again, the number of users would have increased considerably from 28%. Many

12
http://robincamille.livejournal.com/ Date Accessed March 21st 2008

13

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2006/tc20060530_170086.htm?chan=technology_technology
+index+page_more+of+today's+top+stories Date Accessed 22nd March 2008

18
analysts believe mobile social networking will be the way forward. A few select
quotes, "Virtually every online social network application is going to have a mobile
component over the next year or two," says Jill Aldort, the Yankee Group.14 Similarly,
“Within two years, at least 5% of all text messages sent through wireless networks
may relate to social network interaction, estimates Tole Hart, Gartner.”

Figure 14 – Friends List Consisted Of.

Question 15 (Figure 14) was a clear indication that social networking sites are
predominantly a domain used most frequently by students, largely whom are at
University with 66% of all users friends lists consisting of ‘Friends I knew from
University and see regularly’. A further 52.6% are ‘People I’ve met socially’ and
50.5% ‘Friends I knew from School and have not spoken to in years’. These figures
suggest that such sites are used like a filofax or organiser of years gone by had been
used and has been brought up to date in this information age to keep social contacts
organised in one place for convenience.

14

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2006/tc20060530_170086.htm?chan=technology_technology
+index+page_more+of+today's+top+stories Date Accessed 22nd March 2008

19
 Figure 15 – Pie Chart displaying Business Group Memberships
The results found were not a surprise. It is clear that
companies are struggling to monetise the popularity
of Social Networking Sites. Companies such as
H&M, 02, Mars, Motorola and more all have branded
groups on Facebook for example. Various
screenshots of branded groups as examples can be
found in the Appendices. This is an almost weekly
debate in magazines such as Marketing Week,
Marketing and Campaign. An example of the importance of the topic can be seen at
Appendix 9 where it was the cover subject in Marketing Week.

Following on from Question 16 (Figure 16) users were asked ‘What are your main
motivations for being a member of such a group?’ The writer chose this question to
follow on because it wasn’t enough for him to simply know whether users were
members of such groups or not, he wanted to know why. Since 81% had previously
noted they were not part of such a group the answers were expected to be low for
the following question. ‘Keeping up to date with the latest developments’ was the
main motivation for being a member of a group that was related to a business.

Figure 16 – Group Motivations

Figure 17 – Further uses of SNS (2)

Such sites have been found to be predominantly used

on a social basis and for organising an individual’s social
calendar. Figure 17 reiterates this fact. Henceforth, using
SNS’s to find out more about a social contact is an
occasional to regular past time for 76.6% of all
respondents. 30.6% regularly use an SNS for this reason
and 46% are occasional users.

20
Figure 18 – Further Uses (3)
This is where social networking
starts to come in to its own. It’s free
of geographical restrictions and
most importantly, there is no cost
involved. The writer keeps in regular
contact with family in America,
Australia and Israel through this
medium. This simply would not
have been financially viable as a student before the advent of social networking sites.
Skype, an internet VOIP (Voice Over IP) service, has gone some way to lowering the
costs of international calling but this still requires both users to be at a computer,
downloaded the software and a microphone to speak with. From the results provided,
41% of all users questioned use an SNS for this reason with a further 27% being
‘Occasional’ users. Only 15% have never used an SNS for this reason and the writer
believes this number to only go down in years to come.

Figure 19 – Further Uses (4)

It is apparent that along with keeping in touch with
friends and family who are across the other side of the
world, the results in Figure 19 show that it has more use
currently in maintaining ‘strong ties’ who are people an
individual is friends with and sees regularly. 50% of all
users keep in touch via SNS’s ‘Regularly’ with friends
they see frequently. Only 5% (10 respondents) say they
‘Never’ use an SNS for this reason.

Figure 20 – Further Uses (5)

The largest positive percentage
of respondents in one option
was displayed in Figure 20.
52% of all users are ‘Regular’
users of a SNS to ‘Keep in
touch with friends I rarely see in
person’ A further 36.7% are

21
more ‘Occasional’ users for this reason but having said that, this closes off 88.7% of
all users, a high percentage.
Figure 21 – Further Uses (6)
Figure 21 displayed most interesting results as it
showed the largest negative percentage of respondents
in one option out of all others. After experience huge
year on year growth, social networking sites are now
seeking to monetise operations by seeking ways of
making money out of the hundreds of millions of social
networking site users. The results were unanimous with
71.4% of respondents questioned never having used a
SNS to buy or sell anything and a further 21.4% choosing ‘Rarely’, together totalling
a huge 92.8% of all respondents.

Figure 22 – Further Uses (7) 67% use a social networking site to track friends
birthdays ‘Regularly’ or ‘Occasionally’ in Figure 22.
The writer finds this personally to be a great use for
a social networking site which everyone you know
personally is also a member of. Incidentally, one of
the first sites that Michael Birch15 created (founder of
Bebo with wife Xochi) was
http://www.birthdayalarm.com a self updating
address book in 2001.

The site now has 47 million users16. At the time, in the early years of the dot com
boom, a site keeping track of friends Birthdays was genius, a revolutionary idea.
Moving on 7 years, it is now a feature of all social networking sites and this the writer
believes was the very start of social networking as we know it.

15
http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/06959143452991985401/bebo-michael-birch.html Date Accessed 23rd March
2008
16
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/mar/02/newmedia.guardianweeklytechnologysection Date Accessed
23rd March 2008.

22
 Figure 23 – Total Friends
The results of Question 24 (Figure 23)
were spread fairly well across the board
but the most conclusive result was 18.4%
who according to my findings gave the
answer ‘101-150’ friends and the lowest,
being 3.6% who have ‘401-500’ friends.
The results received were a perfect fit in
comparison with existing research.
Previous work undertaken by Professor
Robin Dunbar at the University of
Liverpool resulted in most people having an average of 150 people in their social
network, with a core of around five close friends. 17

Badenoch & Clark, an international consultancy, have gone on record that checking
social networking sites was routine for recruiters18. Its research found that 62 per
cent of British executives were signed up to Facebook, MySpace or another social
networking site, so were well equipped to dig the digital dirt on that seemingly perfect
candidate.

“First it was just a Google search, but more and more employers are looking at
Facebook and MySpace. Most people have many elements to their online presence,
but they don’t all necessarily show us in the best light. Interestingly, some companies
are making it known and promising that they do not adhere to these practices.
Sainsburys for example has a policy of not checking social networking profiles.
Donna Miller, a Director at Enterprise Rent-A-Car, argues that “Looking up applicants
online was like going in to their house and searching their cupboards. Existing
checks are sufficient,”19 she said.

In Question 27, “In a recent survey, 62% of recruiters have admitted to using social
networking sites as a further screening measure for recruitment. What do you think of
this?” was put to all questionnaire respondents whom were asked how they felt about

17
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119518271549595364.html Date Accessed 23rd March 2008
18
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article3300531.ece Date Accessed 23rd
March 2008
19
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article3300531.ece Date Accessed 23rd
March 2008

23
this. In the interests of space, a random sample of 10 comments has been placed in
the appendices.

Figure 24 – Work and Personal Life

The overwhelming majority
believed that when asked in
Question 28 work and personal
time should remain separate.
This is quite an active debate in
the blogosphere with articles
such as ‘Should Employers Use
Social Network Profiles in the
Hiring Process?’ 20 and ‘Employers Are Viewing Your Profile on Social Networking
Sites’21 On the pro side, Greg Fish, Business Week Online argues that “A public
profile is a vehicle for casually interacting with others in an informal setting, on
personal free time,” If this was the case though, “Employees were opening
themselves up to potential discrimination lawsuits, and worse may be doing so on the
premise of false information,”22 Against this notion is Timothy Lee who does not have
a problem with it. “Employees in sales, public relations, and customer service
function as representatives for the companies they work for, so employers have a
legitimate interest in ensuring potential workers won’t embarrass the company,"
“Treat how you behave online the same as how you'd behave in any other public
place,”23 Similarly, “More than 60 percent said the information they see on these
profiles will influence what they think about the job candidate, and more importantly,
who gets hired and who doesn't”24

20
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/should_employers_use_social_netowrking_when_hiring.php Date
Accessed 23rd March 2008
21
http://education-portal.com/articles/Employers_are_Viewing_Your_Profile_on_Social_Networking_Sites.html Date
Accessed 23rd March 2008
22

http://www.rootly.com/topics/technology/web2_0/Should_Employers_Use_Social_Network_Profiles_in_the_Hiring_Pr
ocess/ Date Accessed 23rd March 2008
23
http://www.rootly.com/topics/technology/web2_0/Should_Employers_Use_Social_Network_Profiles_in_the_Hiring_
Process/ Date Accessed 23rd March 2008
24
http://education-portal.com/articles/Employers_are_Viewing_Your_Profile_on_Social_Networking_Sites.html Date
Accessed 23rd March 2008

24
 Figure 25 – Censoring SNS profile
Although the warning signs are there
and have been discussed relating to
work life and personal life being
separate, the warnings are not being
heeded by the very large majority of
all respondents questioned. In
Question 29 (Figure 25) this is
evident. 81.8% of respondents
chose to put information up online
freely accessible to employers with only 18.2% actively censoring their profiles.

The effects advertisements visible on SNS’s have on the questionnaire respondents

was an area of interest in Questions 30 and 31 (Figures 26 & 27) Again, another way
of Facebook for example monetising the site is through banner advertising and the
like. These advertisements are not cheap and as you can see from my findings, a
resounding 90.8% do not click on ads seen. Similarly, 70.4% actually ignore ads
completely, as if they are invisible, certainly not a great use of a companys adspend
from my findings. 23.1% go as far as to say ads are intruding on their lives, which is
a damning verdict for companies up and down the country. Fresh approaches to
marketing need to be formed to be more successful with the social networking site
general user. Sponsored groups (see Appendices), is a new way of interacting with
users by breaking down the boundaries between the company marketing product X
and the social user.

Figure 26 – SNS Ads

25
 Figure 27 – SNS Ads (2)

One of the final questions of the questionnaire was centred around what other
technology the average user of a SNS makes use of. This was interesting because it
showed the user to be tech savvy and at the forefront of technology consumption.

Figure 28 – Technology Usage

What was maybe an obvious choice which out of all the options came choice, it was
still a positive outcome to reinforce the phenomenon that is YouTube. Regardless of
age, there will be something on there that will make you laugh and possibly even
make you cry. Additional observations were made in Figures 28 and 29.

26
 Figure 29 – Top 5 Tech Usage
Youtube predictably came out on top
by all users with a huge 87.7% share.
BBC iPlayer which only launched at
the end of December 2007 already
commands 38.5% of all users
questioned. Firefox interestingly is
used by more than Internet Explorer
7. This would have been unexpected
in years gone by with the dominance
of Microsoft and Firefox only
garnering a minute market share. Hotmail still remains the most popular web-based
email with 76% of votes.

27
 Chapter 5: Conclusion
When seeking students to complete my questionnaire the writer sent out an email to
all students of the Business School and this can be seen in Appendix 10. This was
overly long, wordy and not direct enough. After researching how students read
messages, it instructed the writer to keep the email short and simple with one link
only. Previous research has shown that people don’t read extensive instructions.
After this, the email was refined and cut down to the basics which can be seen in
Appendix 11.

Referring back to the Research Questions;

RQ1: What are social networking sites used for?

RQ2: Who are the leaders in terms of members and return visits?
RQ3: Are users aware that 62% of recruiters use social networking sites as a further
screening measure for recruitment? Does this change how an individual acts online?

These were answered in Questions 2, 10 and 21 of the Questionnaire and the writer
is pleased with the results that were obtained from these questions. In summary;

(RQ1) From these questions it can be deducted, the top 5 reasons that SNS’s are
used for are;

1) Staying in contact with friends (86.6%)

2) Sharing Photo and Video (59.7%)
3) Arranging Social Activities (55.2%)
4) Killing Time (45.8%)
5) Doing Quizzes (12.9%)

(RQ2)

Facebook is by far and away the leading social networking site of choice by all
respondents and through my own research. In Question 2 when asked which SNS
the individual uses, 88% of users chose Facebook. Its closest competition was
MySpace with 20.4%, a healthy lead. In terms of return visits, Facebook is too a
considerable distance ahead. Half of all Facebook users login daily, a huge number.

28
This corresponds with my findings as can be seen in Fig 9 where the largest
percentage of users (39.5%) were said to log in ‘Daily’. 31.8% of users login
frequently throughout the day also. This shows the huge ‘stickyness’ of Facebook as
a site that is visited on a very frequent basis by the majority of its users.

(RQ3)

This question was addressed in Section 7 of the Questionnaire. In Chapter 4 I

compiled 10 responses from Question 27 which aimed to see the question from
varying perspectives. In Question 28, 53.3% believed that ‘What I do in my own time
should not affect my chances of recruitment’ Referring back to the research question
‘Does this change how you act online?’ It appears not. Only 17.8% actively censor
their online profile. As mentioned previously, the warning signs are there that an
individual’s chance of employment can be affected by the content of their online
profile. The writer believes the remaining 82.2% will now take action on what
incriminating evidence may be available on social networking sites.

29
 Appendices
Appendix 1 – Timeline

30
 Appendix 2 – A random sample of respondents answers to
Question 27 of Questionnaire.

Permission was sought from each individual before publishing their answers.

1. I think it’s a great idea and have done so myself. looking at someone’s profile
can give you a true impression of what someone is like rather than just what
they want you to see on an interview
2. It scares me, seeing as other people associate pictures with your profile on
Facebook etc. it makes me want to cancel my account.
3. A little invasive, as personally, I am two entirely different people in and out of
work.
4. I understand why they do it but I don’t think its right. Personally, I wouldn’t
want a recruiter to see all the drunken pics of me on Facebook
5. I have no problem with them finding information that's been publicly posted on
the Internet. In fact, I applaud the idea because what's out there reflects well
on me.
6. It's a bit sneaky, but if you're putting information in a publicly accessible
place, you shouldn't be surprised that anyone might be able to look at it.
Better awareness of privacy controls should be encouraged to reduce privacy
issues.
7. It's interesting. I'm a trainee teacher so I'm aware that my profile pages
probably shouldn't be too "exciting" in case potential employers see and are
put off.
8. Actions have consequences. If people choose to forgo the anonymity the
internet provides and put personal information in the public domain they
should be prepared for those consequences.
9. I think this is a fair method of screening - they're investing their money in you
so they should have the right to look at things about you that you are happy to
publicise
10. One of the main reasons I longer use any of them!

31
Examples of Company Branded Facebook Pages
Appendix 3 – Screenshot of H&M Branded Group. (45,591 Members)

Appendix 4 – Microsoft Branded Student Group (19,341 Members)

32
Appendix 5 – Primark Branded Group (94,639 Members)

Appendix 6 – Apple Branded Group (424,667 Members)

33
Appendix 7 – Product RED Branded Group (47,292 Members)

Appendix 8 – Top 5 Products Pages on Facebook

34
Appendix 9 – Marketing Week Cover 15th Nov 2007

35
 Appendix 10 - 1st Email sent out to Business School students.

Hi All,

From the results provided by you lovely, people, I will provide an in depth analysis
around an individuals usage of social networking sites. Because I don't expect
everyone is going to do it out of the goodness of their hearts, I'm going to try and
bribe you instead and hopefully that will help? One recipient drawn entirely at random
will win a £20 gift voucher from a choice of splendid retail establishments (previously
for Waterstones only!) for their time and troubles. The winner will be contacted via
email at the address provided in Question 1. Here is the link, it won't take too long.. If
you could spare a few minutes, obviously would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ZeYxBX4cLWU2oo9G12xp_2bg_3d_3d

If you wish to receive a copy of my findings upon completion please drop me a line.

Many thanks and much love. Michael Litman.

Appendix 11 – Refined email sent out to students

Hi All,
Can you spare a few minutes please to complete my questionnaire on social
networking usage? One recipient chosen at random will win a £20 gift voucher for
their troubles.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=ZeYxBX4cLWU2oo9G12xp_2bg
_3d_3d

Thanks, Mike.

36
Appendix 12 - Relevant Mentions in Mainstream Press

37
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39
40
41
42
43
44
45
 Appendix 13 - Facebook Advertising Rates

From: Name Removed

Sent: 23 November 2007 11:39
Subject: RE: Facebook available as of 1st Dec from MSN
Hi,

Below are details on the pricing for facebook as well as some answers to FAQs.

If you’re thinking of booking a campaign in Dec can you please let me know? Also
please feel free to ask questions.

Thanks

Outlined below are the rates

Imps (in millions) CPM for Min Booking CPM for Min Booking
per month 120*600 at level 728*90 at level
£ £ £ £
1 to 5 1.00 1,000 1.30 1,300
£ £ £ £
More than 5 0.90 4,500 1.15 5,750
£ £ £ £
More than 10 0.80 8,000 1.05 10,500
£ £ £ £
More than 25 0.65 16,250 0.85 21,125
£ £ £ £
More than 50 0.50 25,000 0.65 32,500
£ No
1 level of targeting 0.15 targeting
£
2 levels of targeting 0.30

Notes!
· Age & Gender targeting available on 120*600 only – NO targeting on
728*90 yet
· Premium of £0.15 per target applies
· NO Occupation or Geo targeting available yet

FAQs

1. Geographic – can we target on this? - Technically yes but not at launch.

This will come later and I will keep you updated of progress.

2. Groups – what are the rules / control mechanisms around these e/g. ads
displayed with inappropriate groups like Banks on Nazi pages? – We are
not running in groups so this should not be an issue.

46
 3. Are Credit card companies excluded? – An answer on this will come on
Monday, (currently in the US, CCs can’t advertise on facebook).

4. Gambling – can we take it –- likely to be OK as long as targeted to 18+ but

again confirmation on Monday owing to complex gambling legislation
needing to be resolved.

5. Can we take third party served ads? - An answer on this will come on
Monday.

From: Name Removed

Sent: 20 November 2007 09:37
Subject: Facebook available as of 1st Dec from MSN

Hi all,

I know a lot of you have been eagerly awaiting news on this so you’ll be pleased to
hear that as of 1st Dec we will start selling Facebook display inventory J

We’ll be the ‘exclusive 3rd party banner sales partner’ for Facebook selling the
120x600 and 728x90 banner ads on a RON basis. Pricing will become available
later today so I'll keep you posted.

The type of ad you can post is a little restricted as Facebook is built in i-frame.
Therefore we can’t have rich media ads or expandables.

In terms of exclusions we can’t advertise other social networking sites, alcohol,

tobacco or firearms. I'll keep you posted on the gambling clients as this is a grey
area owing to gambling legislation.

E-mail me if you have questions as I’m in back to back meetings again.

I'll be in touch later with pricing info and feel free to communicate this news to clients
if they’re interested in booking in Dec onwards.

Thanks

47
Appendix 14 - MySpace Internal Company Slides

48
49
50
51
Appendix 15 - Copy of Questionnaire

52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
 Appendix 16 - Gantt Chart
Week Beginning (Monday)

Task November November November November February February February March

th th th th th th
2007 5 2007 12 2007 26 2007 4 2008 18 25 10th
2008 2008 2008
Review
Assignment Title
Research Possible
Proposal Topics
Choose Particular
Topic
Gain Knowledge
on Topic Area
Find Literature On
Research Topic
Choose Data
Collection Tool
Pilot Study
Arrange Meetings
Conduct
Questionnaire
Analyse
Questionnaire
Data
Assess Limitations
and Further
Recommendations
Write Report

62
 References

Books

Acquisti, A., & Gross, R. (2006). Imagined communities: Awareness, information

sharing, and privacy on Facebook, Cambridge Press.

Backstrom, L., Huttenlocher, D., Kleinberg, J., & Lan, X. (2006). Group formation in
large social networks: Membership, growth, and evolution. New York: ACM Press.

Baloun K., (2007) Inside Facebook: Life, Work and Visions of Greatness, Trafford
Publishing
Cassidy, J. (2006). Me media: How hanging out on the Internet became big
business, New York Press.
Cotterell, J. (2007) Social Networks in Youth & Adolescence, Routledge
Degenne A., & Forse M. (1999) Introducing Social Networks, Sage Publications
Liebowitz J. (2007) Social Networking – The Essence of Innovation,Scarecrow Press
Philli C., (2004) Social Networks & Social Exclusion, Ashgate Publishing
Shooman J., (2007) Whose Space Is It Anyway? IMP Publishing
Watts D., (2004) Six Degrees – The New Science of Networks, Vintage Publishing

Journals

“Is Facebook Overrated?” TIME Magazine, Nov 24th, 2007. Vol 170, Iss 23; pg48

“Facebook: A Great Way to Connect” Furniture Today, Nov 12th 2007. Vol 32, Iss 10.;
Pg2

“Facebook in pursuit of fan-sumers,” Financial Times, Nov 12th 2007; pg18.

Online Websites

Adamic, L. A., Büyükkökten, O., & Adar, E. (2003). A social network caught in the
Web. First Monday, 8 (6). Retrieved March 30th, 2008 from
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue8_6/adamic/index.html

63
Bahney, A. (2006, March 9). Don't talk to invisible strangers. New York Times.
Retrieved March 30th, 2008 from
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/09/fashion/thursdaystyles/09parents.html

Barnes, S. (2006). A privacy paradox: Social networking in the United States. First
Monday, 11 (9). , 2007 from
http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_9/barnes/index.html

Lenhart, A., & Madden, M. (2007, April 18). Teens, privacy, & online social networks.
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http://www.usask.ca Date Accessed 18th March

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/is-myspace-good-for-society-a-freakonomics-quorum/ Date
Accessed 20th March 2008

http://www.research.plymouth.ac.uk/ methodologicalinnovations/Methods07/Presentations/poade.pps Date Accessed

20th March 2008

http://www.bized.co.uk/timeweb/digging/dig_source_expl.htm Date Accessed 20th March 2008

http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol10/issue3/wright.html Date Accessed 20th March 2008

www.research.plymouth.ac.uk/ methodologicalinnovations/Methods07/Presentations/poade.pps Date Accessed 20th

March 2008 Date Accessed 20th March 2008

www.crt.dk/uk/staff/chm/wap/survey/response.pdf Date Accessed 21st March 2008

http://www.virtuescience.com/stickysite.html Date Accessed 21st March 2008

http://500hats.typepad.com/500blogs/2007/02/facebook_big_st.html Date Accessed 21st March 2008

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=379226&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source
=&ct=5 Date Accessed 21st March 2008

http://robincamille.livejournal.com/ Date Accessed March 21st 2008

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2006/tc20060530_170086.htm?chan=technology_technology
+index+page_more+of+today's+top+stories Date Accessed 22nd March 2008

http://telecom.tekrati.com/research/10124/ Date Accessed 22nd March 2008

http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/06959143452991985401/bebo-michael-birch.html Date Accessed 23rd March

64
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/mar/02/newmedia.guardianweeklytechnologysection Date Accessed 23rd
March 2008.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119518271549595364.html Date Accessed 23rd March 2008

http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article3300531.ece Date Accessed 23rd March

2008

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/should_employers_use_social_netowrking_when_hiring.php Date Accessed

23rd March 2008

http://education-portal.com/articles/Employers_are_Viewing_Your_Profile_on_Social_Networking_Sites.html Date
Accessed 23rd March 2008

http://www.rootly.com/topics/technology/web2_0/Should_Employers_Use_Social_Network_Profiles_in_the_Hiring_Pr
ocess/ Date Accessed 23rd March 2008

65