Grimley, Breda (2011) Understanding Friendship: Individuals' Experiential Understandings of Friendships as Evolved Through Online Social Networking Sites. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Since the inception of an open and public Internet in the mid 1990s the use of the Internet for the access of information and communication has seen rapid growth in recent years, with Internet usage proliferating in Australia. Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has become commonplace within contemporary society, with the Internet providing a virtual environment where individuals can create and maintain friendships. In particular, social networking sites (SNSs), such as Facebook, have proved to be very popular for this purpose. Six individual interviews were conducted to explore the understandings of friendships as evolved through online social networking sites. Young adults and middleaged adults responded to global questions about face-to-face friendships and Facebook friendships to examine gender and generational similarities and differences in respect to these friendships. Interviews and subsequent analysis were conducted using the protocols prescribed for Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The results showed that young adults rely on friends for physical aspects of support and assistance, and middle-aged adults’ friendships did not. The results further showed that men and women value friendships equally, although how they conceptualise friendships somewhat differently. Men focus on the sharing of physical relational interactions and women focus on emotional relational interactions. Across gender and generation Facebook has been integrated into everyday life, and is used primarily as an interactional communication tool. It provides a platform for friends to touch base with one another, but is also a means of obtaining social support. It provides a unique opportunity for people to reestablish former friendships that otherwise would be difficult to do, and enables the maintenance of friendships that are separated by distance. These findings confirm previously reported on gender and generational differences and the benefits of Facebook in the fostering of friendships. These findings have theoretical implications for future research in the domains of social networking sites (SNSs) and friendship studies. As individuals acquire broadband connectivity in geographically isolated parts of Australia it is important to understand how this may impact on these people. Future research in this area is important to gain an understanding of how these people’s social networks will be affected by this technology. These findings also have implications for people whose personal circumstances prohibit or limit their capacity to interact socially with others, and should be considered as a new area of investigation and exploration by the research community. These findings may also benefit therapeutic practice for psychologists. An understanding of the effects of SNSs can be used to assist people to achieve optimal subjective well-being.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Charlotte Brownlow |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Nov 2025 00:56 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Nov 2025 00:56 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52367 |
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