A recent study shows that people who are unemployed, single and young will consider deactivating their Facebook account. The study also said that the social media giant may be perpetuating existing social inequalities.
According to research findings, people who had looked for work within the last four weeks were more likely to have deactivated their Facebook accounts, eliminating a potential resource in their job search. "Facebook, rather than acting as a democratizer, may be perpetuating existing social inequalities," said Eric Baumer, from the Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Older adults, males, from a lower income household, more socially conservative, or those who weigh less are most likely to have never had an account on the social media site. On the other hand, people who are younger, seeking employment, or unmarried are considering deactivation, while the current users include the middle-aged, females, higher-income earners, married and ideologically liberal.
"My analysis reveals that individuals from lower-income households are less likely ever to have had a Facebook account," Baumer said.
"Yet, social networks have been shown to play an important role in fostering 'social capital', which can be leveraged for accomplishing certain tasks, including securing employment," he added.
(With inputs from IANS)