What it Means to be a (Facebook) Friend: Navigating Friendship on Social Networking Sites

The development of social networks online and offline of college students were assessed for both quantity and quality . A survey ( n =234) was administered to Facebook users regarding the size and quality of offline networks, Facebook networks, and what they used Facebook for. Results indicated the number of close friends perceived by participants was significantly lower than the number of Facebook friends and that a variety of individuals , shy and popular , use the site as an additive to their every day maintenance of networks. Questions regarding Facebook use suggested that users find the anonymity of the site useful to “track” and “check- up ” on users of the site, as well as a place to go to distract/procrastinate from every day tasks.

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