Danah Boyd recently published a paper entitled Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace. This paper has developed quite a following—it’s been covered by the BBC and has stimulated an expansive discussion across the blogosphere. If you read what I read, you’ve probably seen it mentioned somewhere. So what are the implications of this study for PR practice in social media?

Finding where the target audience hangs out is half the battle. Boyd’s gross simplification of the “jock” hang out and the “burnout” haunt, Facebook and Myspace respectively, could be helpful in targeting or connecting with those audiences. Right? Please say no. Do we really believe the audience is that easily defined?

The fact of the matter is that like in marketing, PR is all about knowing your audience–at a personal level. Demographics and generalizations are helpful to a certain point, but if you assume that one reporter or blogger is like all the others, you’re in for a very painful surprise.

Let’s veer away from saying “these are the good kids and those are the bad ones.” Let’s talk about behavior instead of income. Let’s talk about audience interest instead of assuming what the “outcasts” using MySpace link.

We can do better for our marketing efforts.

Technorati Tags: social+media, BBC, MySpace, Facebook, class, stereotypes