Social but Divided: Elites and Nonelites’ Social Networking Use Site in Armenia

• In Event: ICA Plenary Interactive Paper/Poster Session and Reception
  In Interactive Paper Session: Communication and Technology Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

As Internet use grows globally, the question of the haves and have-nots has shifted beyond access or no access to more sophisticated questions of skill and usage. Opportunities for capital enhancement afforded those online are also divided. Social networking sites are, arguably, the most important online space, and can be tools for capital enhancement. Of the 31% of Armenian adults on social networking sites (70% of Internet users), there are demographic divides between two sites: Facebook and Odnoklassniki. Our regression results show that Facebook users are more urban, better educated, and have superior foreign language skills than Odnoklassniki users. Facebook users are more likely to get information, while Odnoklassniki users are more likely to game. The implications of this are that more elite users exist in a different information environment than non-elites and are thus replicating the divide between the haves and have-nots in a society that already faces inequality.

Authors

• Katy Elizabeth Pearce, U of Washington

• Ronald E. Rice, U of California - Santa Barbara