1 Becoming more like friends: the significance of personal media in social networking processes Article is intended to be part of my thesis: Young people and the interplay of personal media. Identity, social networks and genre The object of my phd-project is to explore user patterns of personal media among young people. Devices such as messenger, mobile phones/sms/mms, blogs/diaries, home- pages and have greatly expanded the potential for mediated communication and social interaction. The use of these devices among young people may have significant consequences for their sense of self and, apparently, their social networks. Moreover, by using these tools, users contribute in developing genre conventions.

2 Research questions for the article 1.What network-building consequences does extensive use of mediated interaction have? 2.How does mediated interaction affect weak and strong ties? 3.And what can explain the different social consequences that are found? Empirical material: 15 interviews/20 informants. Age: year Users with complex patterns of personal media use

3 Structure of article The significance of social interaction for individuals in a post- traditional societal context Social networking through personal media use: first by analysing use of personal media for maintaining close social relationships, and second, by analysing how personal media may extend social networks. How online relationships are taken offline/into ”the real world”. Conclusion

4 Social networking - contextual factors Differences in the social functions of personal media can be related to: (1)Social competence and personality (2)Geographical and/or urban/rural location (3)Specific needs and patterns of using personal media

5 Online interactions as ’hyperpersonal’

6 Joseph B. Walther: due to lack of visual cues, communicants put more effort into their mediated presentations of self, and are more liable to idealize their communication partners. Participants control the quantity and quality of personal information available to others. Erving Goffman: presentations of self - according to company Sherry Turkle, Annette Markham, Lori Kendall and a whole lot of articles on computer-mediated communication.

7 Online interactions as ’hyperpersonal’ Hence: problem? I’m not exactly revolutionizing research on online communication with this part of the analysis - I’m rather confirming what appears to be obvious with certain types of mediated communication. Still these aspects are rather important for my research questions, and there are differences between types of personal media (which perhaps has not been very clear in previous research).

8 Types of friendships - types of media ’Friends only’ Live Journal users Live Journal users can restrict access to their journal or to specific entries to defined users only (like Enjoy Diary, Flickr). LJ-users may also create several custom friends groups, and choose which of their friends-groups will have access to read their entries. Their very closest friends may have access to the most private entries.

9 Types of friendships - types of media We use more media, and more intimate media, to communicate with close friends. ”Different personal media support interactions of different intimacy levels: chatting (especially IRC, but also IM) and blogging occasionally initiate new and originally weak ties. These ties may evolve into stronger ties, but in such cases communication has typically migrated to other media, with the telephone as emblematic for close relationships.”

10 Allure of strangers

11 Allure of strangers Like ”strangers on a train”: Strangers may be perceived as safe receivers for intimate self-disclosures, as there will be no real-life consequences Therefore: people who are added to friends-lists might be really good offline friends or people with no real-life relations at all. An interesting paradox I might elaborate?

12 Online and offline The interesting paradox, which is still so easy to understand: My informants often experience online interactions as more open and honest. Still: face-to-face interactions are considered to be of better quality: more authentic in-person: aspects of selves that are controlled in mediated interaction become visible.

13 Online and offline