A face(book) in the crowd: social Searching vs. social browsing

Large numbers of college students have become avid Facebook users in a short period of time. In this paper, we explore whether these students are using Facebook to find new people in their offline communities or to learn more about people they initially meet offline. Our data suggest that users are largely employing Facebook to learn more about people they meet offline, and are less likely to use the site to initiate new connections. Categories and Subject Descriptors H.5.3 Group and Organization Interfaces General Terms Human Factors Keywords Online communities, social networks, online interactions

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2006
• Where: CSCW
• Authors: Cliff Lampe, Nicole Ellison, Charles Steinfield
• Keywords: Avid Facebook Users, CSCW 2006, Facebook, Offline Communities, Social Sciences