Abstract

The social networking site Facebook has shown impressive growth and increasing influence on the ways in which we communicate over the last decade. Specifically, Millennials are highly dependent and devoted to Facebook. My study examines how Millennial students’ use of Facebook impacts their self-presentations and perceptions of others. Additionally, this study reveals the implications of deactivating one’s account for a brief period of time. To conduct a qualitative analysis, I employ the methods of ethnography and autoethnography, with narratives of four liberal arts students as well as myself. My research reveals common themes among my participants, such as the preoccupation with self-presentation, the importance of self-concept, and negative feelings resulting from Facebook use. Overall, I found that our perspectives towards Facebook are highly dependent on our own individual experiences and identities, and most importantly, directly related to how we value the site.

Advisor

Atay, Ahmet

Department

Communication Studies

Keywords

social networking site, facebook, identity, self-presentation, perception, millennial

Publication Date

2014

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2014 Rachel J. Lewis