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Don't want to let a misconception grow. Greater Toronto only has 3
universities: Toronto, York and Ryerson. Although the first 2 are large,
and Ryerson is growing, I believe.

Why Toronto and Facebook?

First, I wonder about the data. Is 10% of the Greater Toronto area really
in Facebook? We are a city of many recent immigrants who are not prone to
use social software (altho they are extensive email, etc users). And
Facebook, like MySpace, appeals to teens and twenties mostly.

Second, my students tend to use Facebook and not MySpace, Orkut, etc. This
is clearly a social norm, rather than an individual decision: you use what
your friends use, otherwise why bother. My guess is that each Metro area
(or each social category) will strongly prefer one brand (e.g., Facebook)
over the others.

Finally, a hiring note. We are interviewing 3 candidates for a computer
assistant job today. Checked them all out on Facebook. Revealing.

 Barry Wellman
 _____________________________________________________________________

  Barry Wellman S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology NetLab Director
  Centre for Urban & Community Studies University of Toronto
  455 Spadina Avenue Toronto Canada M5S 2G8 fax:+1-416-978-7162
  wellman at chass.utoronto.ca http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman
        for fun: http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
 _____________________________________________________________________

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