Thesis Title: Subtitle

Conclusion

As a space, Facebook urges users to present the total sum of their self. As an object, Facebook wants users to include as much information about their selves as possible. The demand to present oneself in its entirety is in conflict with how users have constructed

Facebook as a social space. Instead, with Facebook as it is linked to a body that is locatable in place, time and in relation to other, users must juggle Facebook’s demand for self-presentation with considerations of reputational damage. The compromise is that participants present an edited version of themselves. This cannot be understood simply as an expressive act of self-presentation because participants choose to emphasise the instrumental functions of Facebook. Their use of Facebook is conceptualised as a means to an end; for example information sharing, making travel arrangements and posting things generally categorised as useful or information.

Even though participants were reluctant to understand their interaction on Facebook as an expressive act, instrumental posts still carry signifiers of the self. Congruent with this was participants’ emphasis on reserving or editing parts of their self-presentation, and choosing not to express them through Facebook. This is an important distinction as it speaks to the tensions that underlie self-presentation on Facebook. In addition to managing their self- presentation in Facebook, which contains diverse types of connections, they also need to account for questioning of authenticity and self-knowledge online.

Understanding self-presentation and authenticity through this lens is significant. This position recognises self-presentation online, not as a separate act distinct from the offline environment, but one that is intrinsically linked to an offline self. The blurring of online and offline spheres require participants to negotiate the demands of both environments. The particular way in which Facebook blurs online and offline experiences is unique and historically unprecedented.

Not only does Facebook’s architecture and composition as a social space make unique demands on self-presentation, it also allows participants to create ways to judge other’s self-presentation. Participants in this research indicated that they believe a real and authentic self was at least partially locatable on Facebook; as they believe that over time, one could begin to see patterns in other users’ behaviour that could be read for authenticity. As such, participants placed more emphasis on impressions that were ‘given off’ not ‘given’. Of particular importance were incongruent behaviours or impressions that did not fit with the broader self-presented. As I argue in this chapter, Facebook is unique amongst online environments as it links online self-presentation to a body that is locatable in time and space. The ability to link self-presentation to a body, a person and an offline

existence means that the self presented on Facebook can be falsified against offline patterns of behaviour.
Chapter 6

Agency and Architecture: Constituting Facebook as a Space