Thesis Title: Subtitle

Limitations and Future Research

This research, while guided by previous scholarship, has been largely exploratory in nature. As such it has several limitations which also present directions for future research. This research in inherently limited by its sample size. In order to be able to generalise more broadly, a larger sample, perhaps concentrating on a diversity of networks with an SNS, may be needed. Due to the nature of my network, this study has primarily capture Western attitudes towards Facebook. However, Facebook now has a global spread and is increasingly used in the developing world. For example the most avid users of Facebook in the world are Indonesians. Developing a broader model of Facebook use should include these perspectives as well, which may be substantially different to the understandings discussed in this research. Additionally, this study was not focused on following participants longitudinally. A longitudinal study enable investigation of how significant life events impact Facebook use. Presently little is known about how the usage of SNS like Facebook might vary across time. Hypothetically, it would be logical that a steady level of Facebook use is not consistent over time; but that there are peaks and troughs of engagement that are influence by other forces that are yet unidentified. Using a broader sample across time would help answer some of these questions.

The exploration of online phenomena is often a methodologically complex task. Even though this study has used multiple methods to add depth and scope to the data presented, it is, like most online research, unable to fully explore the distinction between online and offline behaviour. Like most research this study has relied on participants’ accounts to inform the theory presented here. Participants’ accounts can only ever afford us a partial view of the differences between what happens online and offline for any one individual; indeed if any such distinction is consciously made. This is and will remain an issue for future research, and is perhaps a limitation that might be addressed by rigorous ethnographic accounts through which we might unravel some taken for granted behaviours that we might not be able to otherwise access.

In a similar vein, Facebook only represents a portion of the spaces we inhabit online. Comparisons between other online spaces and Facebook are beyond the scope of this research. But, as Beer (2008) urges, constructing typologies through which we might critically analyses these spaces represents an interesting area of future research.

As the field of internet studies and particularly SNS, is relatively new, there are many directions for future research. The emergence of new cooperative technologies such as Bitcoin indicates other ways in which we can examine the relationship between generative mechanisms and events. On a less abstract level there are still many things we do not know regarding how large segments of the population beyond the West are using technologies such as Facebook in their day to day lives. Additionally, the data suggests that Facebook use may be declining among young people (Neal 2014) with 3.3 million American users ages 13 to 17 years old leaving Facebook since 2011 in addition to another 3.4 million people ages 18 to 24. In comparison growth among older demographics is still strong, in the same time period10.8 million adults ages 25 to 34 joined Facebook of 32.6 percent (Neal 2014). Users ages 35 to 54-year-old grew by 16.4 million users an increase of 41.4 percent (Neal 2014). The biggest increase was in adult over the age of 55, with 12.4 million new users joining Facebook, which is an 80.4 percent growth from previous numbers (Neal 2014). These numbers suggests that there are important structural and cultural forces that shape who engages with Facebook. The growth of Facebook use in those over 55 is still relatively unexplored in the academic literature and raises questions about skill acquisition, and access. These factors exist outside the scope of this project but could be explored through further research.
To date, Facebook has remained remarkably persistent and managed to diversify its presence over a variety of platforms. However, as yet Facebook may be replaced by
another emergent technology. Although Facebook may yet become obsolete, creating theoretical tools by which we might understand how these spaces are created is a useful exercise regardless of the specific technology. The theoretical understanding gleaned from studying the production and use of Facebook could be usefully applied to other technologies outside of this research that are yet to be created.