Audience Profile: Myspace & Facebook

The niche audience for both Myspace and Facebook would fit under the same category of “young adults.” I would say the majority of users to these sites are between the ages of 18 and 25; however, when it comes to Facebook the audience is generally going to be slightly narrower: both males and females who are college students (since this was the website’s initial intent). The Myspace community seems to be more generally used by a wider age group with a non-collegiate background. It is somewhat complicated to narrow certain audience traits for these sites because they have such a large networking community, however, I will stick with the “young adult” label.

The pros of these sites are the ability to network with a wide range of other users. Furthermore, one is able to utilize another form of communication which makes it easier to get in contact with someone. In addition, one can incorporate their self-interests (such as music) and use these sites as a way to promote their work. The cons would be the availability (and somewhat vulnerability) that a user is subject to because of their personal information they are providing to the public. As a result, a user of these sites may be placed in a situation where they have no control over inappropriate and personal material that is posted on these sites for the public to view.

One should only consume a rather fair amount of this material on a weekly basis; perhaps a total of an hour for the week for recreational purposes. If one’s business is dependent for such purposes then it may be longer (but still detrimental). If this is exceeded then there may be a possibility of dependence or “living” online.