Overall, the study was predictable as a regular Facebook user. The majority of people that use Facebook is college age adults (18 to 25) and the percentage users go down as the age goes up. Also, the majority of the study was done with Caucasians, which may bias the sample. The study also seemed to use college-educated people, this means the sample was most likely privileged, at least in class.
I was surprised at the average age of beginning Facebook, which was 22.69. Most of the people I knew started using Facebook during high school. So I thought it would be around 18. This was explained afterwards, saying that half of the people in the sample were introduced to Facebook at around high school age, but the other half were older. Another reasoning of this high age was the 'new' history of the website.
Another thing that was not surprising was the way genders used Facebook. Men were a lot more likely to list their political and religious views. Connecting to the real world, politics and religion are more likely lead by men. Does this reflect in women openly sharing of those beliefs? Men are also more likely to post information and links to news and political issues. Is this because gender roles are created for women to be more 'domestic based', and men to be leaders in the public sphere?
It seems that Gender roles spread out to online mediums. Women do more things that rely on social activities taking place, such as posting pictures, interacting with friends on Facebook. In gender roles, women are supposed to be in charge of planning parties, keeping up on gossip and so forth, which is connected to both of those activities they choose to do on Facebook. Also in gender roles, women are more likely to be held to a higher standard of having a 'good reputation.' This is seen in facebook at the differences I see in posting personal statuses. Men are more likely to get away with 'crude' or 'inappropriate' humor status, as in women statuses are usually related to family life and are more passive then men.
Facebook may seem like a way to express the right to free speech but it also reinforces the value of gender roles in our society. Although the study did not evaluate it, it seems obvious in the analysis they did do of gender differences. What men and what women are posting are different and also confined to what is acceptable in their gender roles.
For more info on the study: http://www.scribd.com/doc/46059952/Got-Facebook-Investigating-What-s-Social-About-Social-Media
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