Friendship & Social Media

Krysten Faulkner

With advances in technology and media convergence, teens today are growing up in a much different world than their parents did. The Internet now serves many teenagers as a place to ‘hang out,’ without needing a ride to the nearest

mall.

Chapter 2 of Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out focuses on how young people “build, maintain and develop friendships” (Ito 114) through social media.

Staying socially connected

• Several teens surveyedthroughout the US admit that,“engaging with social media isimportant for developing and maintaining friendships with peers” (Ito 79).

• Teens use social media to “keep in touch with their friends, classmates, and peers when getting together is not possible” (Ito 79).

SNS(s)

Allow teens to extend interactions beyond physical boundaries – conversations don’t have to stop!

Encourages peers to socialize together vs. small groups or one-on-one interactions

Allow teens to have more privacy with their communication – through SNS but also with mobile phones and IM

Social networks also diminish many social and

cultural limitations, stigmas and boundaries that exist in society

Why youth network:

just a few of the many reasons!

Negotiate identity

Gossip

Support one another

Jokey for status

Collaborate

Share information

Flirt

Joke

Goof off

Hang out

Friendship-Driven MotiveFriendship plays a central role in SNS

useYouth turn to social media

to maintain friendships

This motive supports the kind of social relations that

center on:

Popularity, romantic relationships and status

How technology plays a role in friendships

onlineEstablishing

Reinforcing

Complicating

Damaging

Peers & Friendship

Making friendships is a key component of growing up

as a competent social being and young people need to

be immersed in peer cultures from an early age

“Teens flock to social media to play out means of status negotiations when they are away from the school yard”

(Ito 93).

Communication via SNS

Encourages a smaller, close knit group of friends – referred to “always on” type of communication. This

occurs through mobile phones and IM

Larger peer groups are connected via SNS

Online / offline are not separate worlds, just different settings essentially

Teens use social media “to do what they have been doing” (Ito 85).

Making Friends

“Social media theoretically allows

teens to move beyond geographic

restrictions and connect with new people” (Ito 88).

Can develop relations with people who are different from them

Most teens connect with people they already know or are already loosely connected with

Can turn acquaintances into friendships

Teens make friends by choice

Their choices are influenced by social, cultural and economic

conditions around them

“Homophily” is the likelihood that people connect to others that share their interests and identity, such as similar age /

shared interests / values

SNS can also be an outlet for teens who are ostracized or outcasts in their own social setting

These teens find a sense of comfort in developing friendships online. The anonymity of communicating without facing social consequences helps provide that comfort.

While many teens find comfort in communicating online, the act of meeting people online is stigmatized in society for a number of reasons. And the amount of friendships made online is much smaller than those made outside the online world.

Dangers and stigmas associated with online communication are:

• that it is dangers• risky

• stranger danger notion • teens may have issues getting along with peers at school or

socializing normally

Performing Friendships

• Friendships outside the online world are often never actually confirmed as real friendships, social media however reinforces the notion of friendships by putting a label on just about everything

• “Buddy Lists,” “Friends” on Facebook are all ways in which friendships are confirmed or made ‘official’ online

• These lists are also made public, again reinforcing the fact that they are real

• “Friends” label all articulated friendships, regardless of intensity or connection type

Friend lists also serve 3 major purposes:

1) An address book of contacts2) Privacy settings and control3) A way to display social identity and

status

SNS(s) allow users to determine their own boundaries concerning who they accept and who they reject as “friends”

Teens enjoy this option because it allows them to be private, have a deeper sense of connection with thepeople they do communicate with andto be safe

Friendship HierarchiesMySpace’s “Top 8” or “Top Friends” feature

allow users to pick a selected amount of ‘friends’ to be featured in their top spots

which appeared publically on their profiles

This feature proved to be very controversial for many users, especially youth. The

feature forced users to pick certain friends over others, often causing drama or fights

between friends

“Structural aspects of software canforce articulations that do not map well to how offline social behavior works” (Ito 103)

Status, Attention & DramaSNS and mediated forms of communication can be a great place for youth to develop and build friendships throughout their formative

years, but communicating online comes with the territory, especially for teens.

The Internet is home to the struggles that often occur as a natural part of the aging process.

Common problems that occur for teens online include:• the fact that friendships are made extremely visible which can extend or amplify drama beyond school

• gossip travels faster over the Internet – making it a catalyst for teen drama

• online “stalking”

• the ‘News Feed’ which allows users to constantly keep up with their friends at all times

• bullying or “cyberbullying”“The public, persistent, searchable and spreadable nature of mediated information affects the way rumors flow and how dramas play out” (Ito

112)