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Wednesday 9 February 2011

Two Facebook stories that caught my eye and then a small diversion

Haifa University research reports their findings that:
'The more time adolescent girls spend in front of Facebook, the more their chances of developing a negative body image and various eating disorders, such as anorexia, bulimia and exaggerated dieting.'
Wired.com  report under the heading of 'Where the action is' re a study of prostitutes in New York that:
'Of the women I talked to, 61 percent said they’ve used craigslist, mostly for advertising. But even before the crackdown on the site’s adult-services section, sex workers were turning to Facebook: 83 percent have a Facebook page, and I estimate that by the end of 2011, Facebook will be the leading on-line recruitment space.'

Are we nearing the point where any sociological analysis will have to involve Facebook?


The Wired.com article also contains this fascinating analysis of smartphone usage amongst 'sex workers: 70% use a BlackBerry, 19% an iPhone and 11% some other smartphone. This shows that either there isn't yet 'an app for that' or that Blackberry Messenger is the key app. Or as Wired report 'BlackBerrys. To clients, this symbol of professional life suggests the worker is drug- and disease-free.'

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