From the class reading, a survey says that girls are more likely to use social networking sites to reinforce pre-existing friendships while boys use the networks for flirting and making new friends.
While this quantitative data is very informative, I think it has extreme potential for a deeper qualitative study regarding how gender ties into social networking. From a sociological perspective, I would love to see a study regarding how daily interactions influence each gender into using these types of networking devices. Especially for older girls (ages 15-17), could social pressures for females influence their likelihood to use sites like MySpace and Facebook?
On the other hand, gender roles play into how boys use the social networking sites as well. Could the data be assuming that boys are less capable of strengthening their current bonds through these types of methods?
I think part of it is the idea (outdated as it is) that girls don't do the 'chasing'/ asking out. That's for the men to do right? Also from what I've read, there's a greater fear of strangers by women than by men, therefore it makes sense for women to stay more within their comfortable and familiar circles than men.