In the beginning … the dreamers envisioned a virtual realm of true equality to be ushered in by “the Internet.” But it seems people tend to naturally self-select themselves into groups and classes, or at least that’s what some recent writings are implying.

Danah Boyd suggested this online classism a while ago, noting the distinction between Facebook and MySpace, and caused quite a stir. Now, Newsweek is picking up on the argument in the article “Social Networking and Class Warfare,” and Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach writes an interesting post about that article.

As for me, I’ve often thought that Facebook is to MySpace as Target is to Wal-Mart. I’ve noticed this distinction in my students recently, too. I suspect the phenomenon exists at least in part because Facebook originally marketed itself as a sort of “online yearbook” for the college crowd, while MySpace was predominantly the network of high-school teens.

At any rate, it should be a playground for “digital” sociologists and anthropologists (like these guys).

Have your own reflections or experiences given you any insight on this issue?

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