Thesis Title: Subtitle

Conclusion

Friendship has always been practiced according to its socio-historical context. In some epochs this has meant that friendship has been heavily influenced by religious ideals of companionship. In other epochs it would appear that friendship has been more utilitarian and political in nature. What is clear is that friendship is a dynamic and adaptable form of human sociality, simultaneously capable of affect and practicality. It appears that technology is the driving force behind the present incarnation of friendship and is also central in many concerns about the quality of these relationships. Mobile and web based technologies allow us to sustain friendships across space and time, reducing the cost and work associated with maintaining relationships. Such technologies have the ability to enrich our lives, allowing individuals to sustain friendships beyond temporal or geographical constraints. However, others argue that the effortless and abbreviated nature of mediated communication means that friendships are not as intimate and meaningful as they used to be. This position refers to an imagined ‘golden era’ of friendship that is somehow superior to what is experienced today. But the relationship between friendship and technology is not a zero sum game; we do not necessarily receive less from our friendships as they become multi-modal, enacted across various communication technologies. In this chapter participants seem to believe that the mediated communication that Facebook facilitates, allows friendships to be better than they would otherwise be considering the pressures of late modernity. This is particularly apparent in accounts such as from Andrea and Madeline who explain that Facebook helps them ‘hold on’ to friendships that might otherwise be lost.

As theorists such as Lash (2002) have noted, the world and to a certain extent, lived experiences, are speeding up. This means that social relationships are increasingly mediated, disconnected in space (or place), but connected through time. Via technology we are able to connect with absent others beyond face-to-face interaction. The process of mediation in friendship is not new. As highlighted in this chapter, the use of mediated communication to sustain friendships has been present across various historical epochs. Mediation allayed some of the anxieties associated with mobility. That is, when friends moved, that connection with them would be lost. This drive to connection led early letter writers to stress the importance of their friendships in letters that emphasised the importance of their affective and instrumental bonds.

Thus Facebook represents, in some ways, a continuation of this practice. As levels of mobility over the life course are higher now than ever before (Urry 2003), the anxieties about sustaining friendships over time and place have grown. Facebook, and its predecessors: phone, mobile and email communication can be understood as attempts to manage and mitigate the effects of separation. Despite recurrent concerns about the effect of technology on our social relationships, friendship in particular has remained remarkably resilient. The ideals expressed by participants about friendship echo in many ways writing from the classical period concerning friendship. Thus, the argument that we are unable to distinguish, or do not know, what real friendship is in a world full of communication and connection is not supported by participants’ accounts. Instead, participants articulate what seem to be ‘core’ values of friendship, affection, emotional support and the ability to be yourself even if that means revealing the less flattering aspects of your personality.
It appears then, that Facebook has not substantially changed the ideals that participants hold about friendship. Instead, it shows that people continue to value and prioritise strong affective bonds and are able to distinguish these bonds from other connections. From this perspective, Facebook is arguably a continuation of patterns of mediated interaction that has sustained and nourished friendship throughout history. While it may change some of the work associated with friendship, and make previously invisible connections visible, it does not appear to have changed the quality of friendships itself.
Chapter 5
Facebook: An Edited Self?