Digital Media Dependency, Relational Orientation and Social Networking among College Students

INTRODUCTION Current college students, also known as, millennial learners, are digital natives, the first generation to come of age in a digital world (Ito, Horst, Bittanti, Boyd, Herr-Stephenson, Lange, Pascoe, & Robinson, 2008; Wolff, 2009). In general, this generation has grown up with video games and social networking, and prefer to be connected at all times to their friends and family through texting, instant messaging, mobile phones, and Facebook and/or MySpace (Ito et al., 2008). A national study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project determined that college students adopt, adapt, and heavily use the Internet (Jones, 2002). As the first generation to be considered "digital natives," will the construct of the "digital divide" have any bearing upon college students' usage of social networking sites? Dimensions of the digital divide have been identified as socioeconomic status (income and education), age, and race (Birnie & Horvath, 2002; Howard, Rainie, & Jones, 2001; Lenhart, 2000; Novak & Hoffman, 1998; Rios & Gaines, 1998; UCLA Center for Communication Policy, 2001; Wilhelm, 2000). The digital divide is the well-studied concept that suggests people with higher incomes and higher levels of education that are White, male, and younger are more likely to have access to the Internet (Jung, 2008). However, a more recent Pew Internet study notes that teen girls, beginning at age 15, are faster adopters of social networking than boys (Lenhart & Madden, 2007). In addition, nearly 73 percent of teens who use the Internet and an equal number of young adults use social network sites (Lenhart, Purcell, Smith, & Zickuhr, 2010). Does this pattern of social networking usage hold true for college students, as well? This study explores how the digital native generation of current college students interacts through social networking sites, and whether the "digital divide" plays a significant role in usage and participation. Research questions are predicated as follows: RQ1: Are there differences between male and female college students in the usage of social networking websites? RQ2: Is age related to the usage of social networking websites? While it may seem that the Internet has been around forever, it wasn't until 1994 when a nascent revolution in self-expression became possible online know as the web (http). Individuals began creating and uploading basic, static websites. In 1995, Classmates.com appeared on the Web, providing a way for people to find each other. Group-led chat rooms and discussion boards quickly followed. As technologies evolved to what is now known as Web 2.0, or the "writeable Web," new forms of interactive and integrative social networks opened the door to the establishment of online communities where members post their profiles and exchange information, share interests, and discuss common topics. The connections work through the "Invite-a-Friend" system (Gillin, 2009). Fast forward to today and estimates are that 75 percent of the U.S. population is now online and more than one billion people post information online through social media channels, such as blogs, Twitter; social networks (Facebook, MySpace); and photo/video sharing services (flickr, YouTube) (Phillips & Young, 2009). To illustrate the ubiquitous nature of the Internet's influence on digital natives, YouTube recently announced that Lady Gaga's number one hit, "Bad Romance" has been played 185.39 million times as of April 15, 2010 (Johnson, 2010). Beyond the pop culture motivations, social networking provides a way for students to establish interpersonal relationships quickly. The ability to upload photos and build profiles makes it easier for students to share personal information that might otherwise have to be "disclosed gradually and repeatedly in face-to-face context" (Kim, Klautke, & Serota, 2009, p. 3) Qualitative research has identified a duality of usage by college students as being both passive and active. …