Virtual social networks: A social network analysis of risk display among adolescent MySpace users

Background: Social Networking sites are extremely popular and research has shown that youth reveal much about themselves that can be construed as risky on their online profiles. We endeavored to understand if links through social networks influence the type of profile and influence each others' display and potential for sexual risk. Method: Cross sectional content analysis of MySpace profiles among 10 discrete MySpace social networks. Individuals aged 18 with My Space pages in a zip code linked to one of the top ten Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), with the highest rates of HIV, Gonorrhea and Syphilis were randomly selected as seeds. We identified “top friends” listed of each seed and the subsequent Top Friends of each top friend, continuing until we had 10 discrete virtual social networks consisting of five waves of friends. We screened and coded 5,215 MySpace profiles for risk. We examined associations between risk display, number of relationships and position in the network, network membership, and individual characteristics. Results suggest that persons with more connections within a network were more likely to have risk displays similar to others in their networks (OR's range from 1.03-1.39, p<.05). Conclusions: Virtual social networks have an influence on risk display. Social networks should be targeted for prevention interventions to improve health among youth.