Friendship and FacebookA Qualitative Study of Social

Networking Sites and the Notion of Friendship

Research Question

•RQ: Has ‘Friendship’ taken on new dimensions with the introduction of Facebook and other SNS?▫Popularity of new media▫Changes in communication▫Definition of ‘friend’

Offline friends/online friends/new friendships•H1: Friendship has taken on new

dimensions with the introduction of Facebook and other SNS

Methodology

•Online Focus Group▫Participants▫Data Collection▫Moderation

Participants

•Conducted on Facebook •8 Participants•Addressed as Participant 1, Participant 2,

etc.•Incentive: Participation marks in class

•Screening questions

Screening Question Information•Distributed via hyperlink to

SurveyMonkey

•Balanced gender ratio•Age: 20-22•They all used SNS•Daily usage•Majority accessed via phone

Data Collection

•7 day discussion period•1-3 Questions per day•Questions posed by noon or earlier daily;

responses required by 7:30pm

Moderation

•Moderator: Krystle Valliere

•Process: Discussion management and question explanations

Results

•Question Themes:▫Blurring of SNS Relationships▫Synthetic Friendships and Identity▫Interaction and Communication▫Geography and Maintenance

1.0 Blurring of SNS Relationships•Definition of Friendship

▫1.2 With your definition of “friend” in mind, do you feel that SNS such as Facebook have modified the meaning of the term?

• “I believe a friend...you have fun with, and friendship is something you have to build, so to speak. More than that though, they're someone you trust to a degree, who you share a mutual respect with…And I feel like you have to learn about a lot about who they are…before developing that necessary respect and trust. As such that isn’t compatible with social networking friends. I think while it is harder to develop trust online, and certainly mutual respect, but…online friends shouldn’t be discredited entirely.”

2.O Synthetic Friendships and Identity

• Misrepresentation/ Fake identities▫ 2.3 Do you feel that friendships on SNS are more

beneficial (you feel like there is more of a relationship) than real offline friendships? Why or Why not?

▫ 2.4 What is your opinion on people including your friends misrepresenting themselves on SNS by creating fake identities?

• Face-to-face contact essential to friendships

• Catfish (Joost & Schulman, 2010)

3.0 Interaction and Communication

• Nature of online relationships▫ 3.1 Do you feel that communicating with friends you

have met online is easier than talking with friends you talk to face to face? Why or Why not?

▫ 3.3 Are online relationships less personal than traditional relationships, due to the nature of the communication medium?

Personally, I feel that a lot of conversations on SNS inparticular can be pretty dull. Writing "Hi," or, "How'reyou doing?" on someone's wall seems to act as some sort of a life-support machine for a relationship and, in turn,kind of trivializes it.

4.0 Geography and Maintenance•Friends Near and Far

▫ 4.2 How do you think SNS contributes to the strengthening and weakening of both online and offline friendships?

▫ 4.3 Would you say that your geographical location has an effect on how you create and maintain online friendships?

“SNS definitely makes it easier to get in contact with old friends, but what

happens from there is really up to the individuals. A "hello" or two may be

sent but communication may eventually taper off since it's very possible

that the individuals have 'moved on.' But yes, in general, it's easier tocommunicate with friends that live in different locations via SNS.”

Group Dynamics

•Confident participants

•Early posts seemed to influence discussion

MondayTuesday

WednesdayThursday

FridaySaturday

Sunday

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5

10

15

20

25

3027

13

21

17

15

11

9

Daily Discussion Activity

Day of the Week

Num

ber

of

Resp

onse

s

10%

15%

14%

10%8%15%

15%

13%

Group Participation

Participant 1

Participant 2

Participant 3

Participant 4

Participant 5

Participant 6

Participant 7

Participant 8

Limitations

•Posting time

•Word Choice

•Question 2.1

•Response Format

Further Research

•Skype/Online Gaming ▫Features several prominent similarities to

SNS such as Facebook (ability to chat, view profiles and interact with “friends” or “contacts”)

▫Viewed in an entirely different light by participants

▫Lends to interesting discussion about what is a social networking tool

▫Differences in mediums (Skype)

Conclusions

•After examination, hypothesis was confirmed

•The internet is a tool which can be used to aid or hinder in the maintenance of a relationship

•The use of SNS as a tool for interaction has changed the nature of “friendship”