Results of my summer grad school survey about Facebook

Earlier this summer I developed and conducted a research survey to assess the forms of contact and time invested by participants on Facebook with people they consider ‘weak ties’. Particular attention in the survey was dedicated to exploring whether or not participants share with or receive information from their ‘weak ties’ about relevant professional opportunities. I conducted this survey as my capstone project in the Masters of Communication and Information Studies program at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ.

The survey drew 80 participants. Survey participants hailed from 19 states and territories in the United States, representing a significant geographic dispersion. Nearly half of all participants reported residing in New Jersey, reflecting perhaps one of the limitations of the snowball sampling approach. The age distribution of participants was fairly widespread, with 28% in the 21-25 range, 19% in the 26-30 range, 16% in the 46-50 range, 11% in the 36-40 range, 10% in the 41-45 range, and less than 10% in the 31-35 and 51-55 ranges. Over 60% of respondents reported that they’ve been using Facebook for a year or longer, with another 23% reporting that they’ve used Facebook for seven months or longer.

For my first research question, I was seeking information about how much effort participants invest in maintaining friendships with weak-tie relationships. Survey respondents were asked how often they contact weak-tie associates on Facebook. Nearly 36% of respondents reported “a few times a year” with the next ranked response at 17% as “once or twice a year.” Another 13% responded “once a month.” Judging from these responses, it appears that despite the ease of contact that Facebook permits, a majority of survey respondents do not expend much effort frequently in maintaining contact with their weak-tie associates.

A separate question inquired as to how many weak-tie contacts respondents had ‘Friended’ on Facebook. This question was included in the survey in an effort to provide more information to inform Research question #1. The answers received, however, did not decisively fall at either end of the scale provided. The answer most frequently selected, “71 or more,” received only 27% of responses while another 12% of respondents indicated ‘Friending’ between 51-70 weak-tie associates. In contrast over 37% of respondents indicated ‘Friending’ 20 or less weak-tie associates and another 12% reported 21-30.

For my second research question, I sought to determine the forms of relationship maintenance used most commonly on Facebook with weak-tie associates. Survey respondents were asked to indicate which types of Facebook communication they used to contact their weak-ties and were presented with a list of the 15 most common types of contact on Facebook. Answers that received 50% or more responses were: “send or receive Facebook emails” (73%), “post a message on the contact’s wall” (68%), “send a birthday greeting” (64%), “leave a comment on the contact’s status” (65%), and “review contact’s Facebook page and leave a message on their Wall (53%). Nearly reaching the 50% threshold were the responses for “leave a comment on the contact’s photo(s) (45%).

It is interesting to note that none of the other nine types of Facebook communication received over a 40% response rate and seven received less than 20%. From these responses it may be inferred that despite the wide range of options available Facebook users often utilize a narrow set of communication types to stay in touch with weak-tie contacts. It is also notable that the most frequently selected responses all reflect a high degree of personalization of messages (as opposed to low ranking options such as “give them a Superpoke,” “invite them to events,” “recommend a new friend” and “invite the contact to participate in a Facebook game or respond to an invitation to do so.”). This trend in responses indicates that while respondents may not contact weak-tie associates frequently, when they do so they try to make their communications more personal and/or somewhat substantive.

For my third research question, I looked at whether or not participants exchange vocational information with their weak-tie contacts on Facebook. Survey respondents were asked if they received information from weak-tie contacts about job opportunities in or near their area and only 20% replied ‘yes.’ Of the 20% answering affirmatively, however, a resounding 87% responded that the information they received about job opportunities was both timely and relevant. A separate question asked respondents if they sent information to weak-tie associates about job opportunities and 22% responded that they had.

Considering the preponderance of responses to the question I used to investigate research question #1, in which over 66% indicated that they do not contact weak-tie associates frequently, it should not be a surprise that information about job opportunities is not a frequent subject of communication. Survey results indicate that Facebook is not used by a majority of respondents for sharing information about job opportunities. Yet for the 20% who did report such activity on Facebook, they appear to have found it quite useful.