The Italian way to SNSs
a comparison between Badoo and Facebook
Fabio [.] Giglietto [@uniurb.it]
http://www.nextmediaandsociety.org
IR 9.0: Rethinking Communities, Rethinking Place
IT University of Copenhagen
October 15 - 18, 2008

One global phenomenon many local
path of domestication

The Italian perspective

Brief sites introduction
Badoo Facebook

A new kind of space
Geographic space Networked space
danah boyd

Properties of communication
in networked space
• Permanence;
• Replicability;
• Serchability;
• Invisible audiences.
danah boyd

Modernity 2.0
persistence invisible audiences replicability searchability
few Writings Printing press, newspapers Digital media World Wide
(pc, video- Web + Google
cameras) (Google Book
Search)
many Writings Personal online publishing / Digital media World Wide
Web 2.0 (Blogs, Flickr, (pc, video- Web + Google
YouTube) cameras) (Google Blog
Search)

Networked mediated public

From “all public“ to SNSs

Research hypothesis
– Badoo and Facebook users belong to different
generations in terms of new media literacy
skills:
1. Badoo users appear to lack a clear understanding
of the invisible audience and can’t therefore use
the public/private distinction in a networked
space;
2. Badoo users appear to be mainly using the site to
bridge their social capital making new friends
than consolidating existing relationships.

Methodology
1. March: Telephonic survey with a
representative sample of Italian
population +18 (N=1600);
2. August: Analysis of users demographics;
3. September: Web survey with random
selected sample of Facebook and Badoo
users (N=228).

Online Italians with profile on SNSs
Si
45,0% 18%
42,6%
40,0%
35,0%
30,0%
25,0%
20,0% No
82%
15,0% 14,0%
10,0%
6,4%
4,8%
5,0% 3,7%
,0%
18-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60 e +
Source: CATI Survey 2008 LaRiCA Demetra Based on 18+ users of social networking sites [N=106] Margin of error is ±2% (March 2008)

Today: 571.680
600000
State of SNSs in Italy [16-19] 24,33%
source: http://jilltxt.net/?p=2163
500000 492275
431407
400000
300000
200000
Today: 138,520
5,88%
100000
23520
14920
0
facebook badoo [18-19]
italy [16-19] december 2007 italy [16-19] april 2008
source: Facebook, Badoo

100%
Online USA teens vs Italian 18-29
91%
90%
82% 81%
80% 77%
72%
70% 67%
60%
49%
50%
42%
40%
30%
21%
20% 17%
10%
0%
fare nuove conoscenze rimanere in contatto con rimanere in contatto con flirtare organizzarti con i tuoi amici
persone che si vede spesso persone che si vede di rado
usa online teens online italians 18-29
Source: Pew Internet & American Life Project Parents & Teens Survey, October-November 2006. Based on teens 12-17 who use social networking sites [N=493]
Margin of error is ±5%; Indagine CATI 2008commissionata dal LaRiCA Based on 18-29 users of social networking sites [N=106] Margin of error is ±2%

Websites users demographics
1,861,760 profiles 2.794.284 profiles

Facebook grow rate
1,861,760
Slide from a presentation by Vincenzo Consenza (vincos.it) delivered on 11/10/08 (1 week ago)

Age distribution

Perception of Privacy
Q7. How easy do you think it would be for someone to find out who you are from your
profile? Do you think…?
Facebook Users Badoo Users
Answer Options Response Percent Response Percent
It would be pretty easy 68,9% 57,1%
They would have to work at it but they could
17,9% 16,1%
figure it out eventually
It would be very difficult for someone to find out
6,8% 14,3%
who you are from your profile
Don't know 6,3% 12,5%
Profile visibility
Facebook Users Badoo Users
Question adapted from Pew Internet Parents & Teens 2006 Survey . only to my friends 47,0% 5,9
Source: Online Survey [N=228] , September 2008 visible to all 44,8% 70,6

Bridging/Bonding
Q8. What are the different ways you use social networking sites? Do you ever use those
sites to…?
Facebook Users Badoo Users
Answer Options Response Percent Response Percent
Make new friends 43,4% 67,9%
Stay in touch with friends you see a lot 70,9% 69,6%
Stay in touch with friends you rarely see in person 88,4% 80,4%
Flirt with someone 24,3% 39,3%
Make plans with your friends 55,6% 53,6%
Question adapted from Pew Internet Parents & Teens 2006 Survey .
Source: Online Survey [N=228] , September 2008

Bridging/Bonding
Facebook Users Badoo Users
Agreement Agreement
Answer Options Rating Average Rating Average
I use Facebook/Badoo to connect with offline contacts 3,425414 2,019608
I have used Facebook/Badoo to check out someone I met socially 3,674033 2,862745
I use Facebook/Badoo to learn more about my friends 2,685083 2,196079
I use Facebook/Badoo to learn more about other people living near me 2,60221 2,294118
I use Facebook/Badoo to keep in touch with my old friends 3,944751 2,372549
I use Facebook/Badoo to meet new people 2,469613 3,019608
Question adapted from Ellison, N. B., Steinfield, C., & Lampe, C. (2007). The benefits of Facebook \"friends:\" Social capital and college students' use of online
social network sites. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 12(4), article 1. http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.html
Source: Online Survey [N=228] , September 2008

Conclusions
The research hypothesis can be considered at last
partially confirmed:
• Observing the results of the survey it’s pretty clear that Badoo
users are mainly using the site to bridge their social capital
making new friends other than consolidating existing
relationships;
• Some data also confirm that Badoo users lack a clear
understanding of the invisible audience and underestimate the
exposure of their online published contents.

Future work
Is the acquisition of skills necessary to use the
distinction between public and private in the
networked space, driving the success of social
network sites like Facebook in other country?
Comparative study anyone?