Age and Social Networking Use Angelica Craig EDTC 5103 March 2011

Information about the study: The study was conducted for EDTC 5103: Advanced Applications in Computer Technology The focus of this study was the correlation between a person’s age and their use of social networking sites There were a total of 8 questions, including demographic information The survey had 21 respondents, ranging from ages The study was geared toward computer users, rather than the general populace.

Hypothesis Younger people (under age 35) will be much more comfortable using social networking tools than older respondents.

Methods An online survey was conducted to gather information about the respondents’ usage of and comfort with various social networking tools. 5 questions asked respondents to rate their use on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely comfortable). The survey respondents could choose to remain anonymous and offer additional comments if desired. Each question was given a value and a raw score was assigned to each respondent. The survey was given using SurveyMonkey.com

Question foci: 1: Use of Facebook 2: Use of Twitter 3: Use of Myspace 4. Use of Blogger 5: Preferred method of contact

Results

Conclusions Though there does seem to be a correlation between age and use of social networking, the results of the survey were inconclusive. To be more accurate a much larger sample would need to be surveyed. Ideally, the age range would have been much wider, to include more respondents in their 30s and 40s.