How Does Facebook Retain Segregated Friendship? An Agent-Based Model Approach

TL;DR

This study uses agent-based modeling to explore why Facebook maintains segregated friendships despite its potential to foster diversity, highlighting that it enhances tie capacity but not outreachability.

Contribution

It introduces an agent-based simulation framework to analyze the factors behind friendship segregation on Facebook, emphasizing the platform's limited role in promoting diversity.

Findings

Facebook increases users' tie capacity

Facebook does little to improve tie outreachability

Segregation persists despite platform's diversity potential

Abstract

Facebook, the largest social networking site in the world, has overcome the structural barriers that historically constrain individuals to reach out to different others. Through the platform, people from all walks of life and virtually any location can develop diverse friendships online. However, friendships on Facebook have been as segregated as friendships in real life. This research sought to understand why the leading social networking site intended to 'bring the world closer together' retains segregated friendship. In doing so, we employed a series of agent-based simulations based on the Framework for Intergroup Relations and Multiple Affiliations Networks (FIRMAN). As demonstrated, Facebook has primarily enhanced users' capacity to maintain a larger number of friendships (tie capacity), while has done little to empower users' ability to accept diversity and befriend different others (tie outreachability). Facebook must focus on the latter should they truly wish to contribute to the development of a more inclusive society. While in this study we focus on ethnically segregated friendship on Facebook, we argue that the same explanation may also hold for racially and ideologically segregated friendships on other bi-directional social networking sites.