[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Mylesdn1.jpg” caption=”Undergraduate Commerce student Myles Yaksich on his Facebook page. Photo by Sabrina Jeria. “]Myles Yaksich might just have the best summer job around: he gets paid to spend time on Facebook.

While the job does not entail posting on friends' walls or commenting on photographs, he does get to explore the website's extensive range of applications.

Yaksich, a third year Commerce student at the DeGroote School of Business, was recently awarded a 2009 Undergraduate Student Research Award by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. With the grant money, Yaksich is working with DeGroote's associate dean, Milena Head on a specialized research project that stems from her work on human-computer interaction and social networking.

“We are developing a new and innovative model that will help to explain how and why people use social networking sites,” he says. “We are looking specifically at Facebook, and how the different applications create feelings of warmth and social presence for the user.”

Yaksich is looking to discover the particular elements of Facebook's interface, which include design and social connection features such as wall posts, status updates, notes and groups, that create warm feelings of satisfaction and contentment. Further, he aims to investigate whether user experiences and interactions differ by gender and culture.

“In the broadest sense, this work will help us understand human behaviour and perceptions in the context of online social networks. Understanding how satisfaction arises with the use of social networking sites, as well as the similarities and differences in use between genders and cultures can be helpful in developing systems that will be utilized across diverse user groups,” says Yaksich.

Although the study focuses on Facebook, Yaksich is confident the results can also be utilized as a base for professional and organizational social networking site design.

“Understanding the interface design elements and applications for a variety of users may help create an effective intranet networking system that could connect employees within and across organizations,” he states.

The study is set to be completed by summer's end. Part of the study includes a short survey about Facebook. It only takes a few minutes to complete and you will be entered in a draw to win one of two $100 gift cards from Chapters.

If you use Facebook and would like to participate, please click here to complete the survey. The information you provide will be kept entirely confidential.