Facebook use by persons with disabilities

Abstract

Social network sites have a potential to empower persons with disabilities. However, this issue has received little attention in research. As a step toward addressing this need, we conducted an online survey about how persons with disabilities use Facebook. We used primarily descriptive statistics and also compared activities relating to nondisabled and disabled friends and groups. The findings indicated that the 172 persons with disabilities who responded to our survey use Facebook much as others do, meaning that they primarily connect with their nondisabled Facebook friends. They have not yet used the potential of Facebook to promote advocacy activities through groups. These findings, including how to mine the potential of social network sites for persons with disabilities, are discussed. © 2014 International Communication Association.