Reference Pool

Last updated 12.31.07 @ 12:44 AM by Jeff Ginger

A couple of years ago researchers were hard pressed to find anything written, officially or formally, about Facebook.com in the world of academia. Now, looking around the web one quickly finds droves of reports and papers on the topic. Originally this reference pool was a wiki, but since uniform formatting and interest in organization became issues Jeff decided to move it over to a static page.

Everything is organized by subject and then by source type. Links are provided in many cases, and if you notice something is missing or want to suggest a new resource please do! Some areas may overlap and some articles may fall under multiple categories.

You might also consult the MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. There are many good sources here, some of which relate to Social-Networking Services.

Specifically on Facebook and SNS

Readings related to SNS


Growth, Size And Usage

Resources on the growth (change/dynamics), pervaisveness, and usage (frequency, duration, intensity) of SNS, usually Facebook | Back to Top

Publications

Conference Papers and Presentations

Masters Theses and School Papers

Websites, Blog Posts, and other Internet Resources

Identity and SNS

Resources related to digital identity, profiles and identity, and the online performance arena | Back to Top

Publications

Conference Papers

Theses and School Papers

Community and Social Capital

I sort of smooshed community and social capital (the definition varies) into one category because they're so often related | Back to Top

Publications

Conference Papers and Presentations

Theses and School Papers

Privacy, Safety and Trust

The most researched area on Facebook and SNS in general - privacy, trust, and exposure in the system | Back to Top

Publications

Conference Papers and Presentations

Masters Theses and School Papers

Websites, Blog Posts, and other Internet Resources

Race and Ethnicity, Class and Gender

A growing area, obviously there should be many subsets in the future | Back to Top

Publications

Conference Papers and Presentations

Theses and School Papers

Websites, Blog Posts, and other Internet Resources

Youth and Social Networking

Youth (teens, college students) and studies/papers related to their culture, interactions, and relationship with SNS | Back to Top

Publications

Conference Papers and Presentations

Theses and School Papers

Websites, Blog Posts, and other Internet Resources

Social Movements, Politics and Activism

Unfortunately these have been lumped together because too little research has been conducted on them... | Back to Top

Websites, Blog Posts, and other Internet Resources

Teaching and Education

Applications and impacts of SNS on teaching and educators | Back to Top

Publications

Conference Papers and Presentations

Other Stuff

I wasn't always sure where to put some of these, thus this section. This includes Facebook Press releases | Back to Top

Publications

Conference Papers

Theses and School Papers

News Articles on Deceased Students Related to Facebook

Facebook Press Releases

Helpful Websites


Identity

Identity theory and studies, with an emphasis (and yes there are so many missing) on digital identity | Back to Top

Science and Technology Studies

Related references from the STS realm of Sociology | Back to Top

New Media Studies

A massive category that relates to just about everything SNS, I wanted to make a sort of MISC bin | Back to Top

Social Capital

Social Capital and related studies | Back to Top

Privacy and Related

Research related to privacy and technology, but not exactly about Facebook or SNS | Back to Top

Digital Divide

Digital divide material with emphasis placed on race-related disparities | Back to Top

Human-Computer Interactions and Interface

Resources related to HCI and interface that could inform studies on Facebook or SNS | Back to Top

Education

Education and related works.

Cool

References that aren't exactly from the news publication or academic world but still very applicable to SNS research and fun to read! | Back to Top