It seems the homeless youth in the United States use social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, just as much as college students, according to a new University of Alabama study led by Rosanna Guadagno.
The study, titled “The homeless use Facebook?! Similarities of social network use between college students and homeless young adults,” was performed surveying 237 college kids and 86 homeless youth that were averaged at 19 years old.
The research concluded that 90 percent of college students used social media outlets at least one hour per day, while 75 percent of homeless kids used the social networking websites to keep in touch with others and to solve daily issues.
University participants were given the chance to participate filling in an online survey, while the homeless individuals were chosen at two multi-service agencies in Los Angeles and New York where paper copies of the surveys were handed out.
After the study was completed, Guadagno explained that the “digital divide” between homeless youth and university undergraduate students is the type of Internet usage and not access to the Internet, which “is relatively minor.”
“Since it is clear that the proportions of undergraduates and homeless young adults accessing social networking sites are similar, we assert that the term digital divide is not descriptive of the young adult population,” the report stated.
Guadagno’s research was published in the “Computers in Human Behavior” scientific journal.
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