

On Facebook, Scholars Link Up With Data - robg
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/17/style/17facebook.html?ex=1355547600&en=8ea0f0038da97112&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

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edw519
"But some scholars point out that Facebook is not representative of the
ethnicity, educational background or income of the population at large, and
its membership is self-selecting, so there are limits to research using the
site."

They're all overlooking the elephant in the living room: that on-line
interaction is NOT the same as genuine human interaction. How much will that
simple co-factor skew the results of their research?

~~~
ALee
No it isn't exactly the same, in fact, it's better. It overcomes problems of
geography and time, allowing users to have multiple forms of communication. I
don't think any researcher thinks that it is an analysis on physical methods
of social relationship, but I think they do realize it is a way to understand
how fundamental human interactions occur.

