Youth who do not participate in SNS

Demographics of Teens who do not Participate in New Media:

Danah Boyd finds two main categories of non-participants:


 * Disenfranchised Youth- This category includes those without Internet Access, those who's parents directly or indirectly limit their access, and those teens who primarily use the internet from public venues where SNS are usually banned.


 * Conscientious Objectors- Those in this category voluntary reject SNS for a variety of reason. Some are politically-minded and object to the corporate element that is becoming an increasingly important part of social networking sites, others respect or agree with their parents concerns and voluntary avoid these sites, and others simply feel the sites are uncool, a waste of time, or stupid. It is important to note that many within the category of conscientious objectors actually DO have accounts on social networking sites, they just use them sparingly.

Boyd also notes that:

Race and class play little role in usership beyond the question of accesibility. As she said, "poor urban black teens appear just as likely to join the site as white teens from wealthier backgrounds."

Gender does however appear to influence usership Younger boys are more likely to participate than younger girls, but older girls are far more likely to participate than older boys.

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