Thesis Title: Subtitle

Overview of thesis

Chapter two provides further context for the study by examining related literature. This chapter examines previous contributions to the field and situates the present study amongst this literature. This chapter begins with an overview of literature regarding technology in the context of late modernity, which is characterised by its theoretical approach. It then moves on to more specific and empirically focused research regarding SNS in general, and Facebook in particular. From this I conclude that while research examining Facebook has covered significant empirical ground, there remains space in the literature for ongoing discussion and analysis regarding Facebook’s spatial properties and their dialectical relationship with Facebook’s users.
Chapter Three discusses the methodological approach taken by this research and how best to research the questions raised in this literature, which are quite wide ranging. This chapter outlines the ontological basis of the research, critical realism, and demonstrates how it relates to the research questions posed in the chapter – friendships, the self and
space. It then describes how this methodological approach was put into practice, and how the methods employed are consistent with this research’s ontological position. This chapter also explains how I delimited my focus and the analytical process for understanding and interpreting the data gathered.
Chapter Four examines the extent to which ideas about friendship, and the ways friendship is enacted, are altered by Facebook. Facebook uses the word ‘friend’ as a catchall for all connections contained on Facebook. Thus, it has entered every day expression to describe people as a ‘friend on Facebook’, which distinguishes the connection from other types of friendship. Colloquially describing someone as a ‘friend on Facebook’ generally refers to acquaintances of all types. In this chapter I argue that Facebook, while new in many ways, is not inherently more disruptive to friendship than other forms of mediation that have preceded it and should be understood as part of a continuum of changes that have shaped the expression of friendship. This chapter begins by offering a working definition of friendship. It then examines friendship over time, with emphasis on the socio-historical context in which friendship was conceptualised. Following this, the chapter discusses some of the current debates and sociological research surrounding friendship. In summary, this chapter focuses on connecting participants’ understanding of friendship and their use of Facebook to broaden discourses about friendship to highlight continuities and breaks in this discourse. To address this central thesis, the ideas that participants articulate about friendship will be contrasted and compared to historical and contemporary understandings of friendship and its function as a social relationship.