The Real Virtual World: Connectivity and Techno-mediation in the Lives of College Students

212 Pages·2015·1.71 MB·English

Syracuse University
SURFACE
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public
Sociology - Dissertations
Affairs
5-2012
The Real Virtual World: Connectivity and Techno-mediation in the
Lives of College Students
Alecea Standlee
Syracuse University
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Standlee, Alecea, "The Real Virtual World: Connectivity and Techno-mediation in the Lives of College
Students" (2012). Sociology - Dissertations. 71.
https://surface.syr.edu/soc_etd/71
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ABSTRACT
This dissertation examines the way in which techno-mediated communication
technologies, such as social media, text messaging, and virtual communities are used to
negotiate, establish and maintain interpersonal relationships among college students. Using in-
depth interview and online participant observation, I explore the relationship between
technological communication and social behavior, interpersonal relationships and social
networks. I focus on three broad questions: how do developments and structures of technological
communication allow for the emergence of new social expectations and behaviors in the realm of
connectivity and social interaction? How do individuals experience social pressures for
connectivity and how do such pressures shape relationships? How is technology implicated in
the way in which participants experience intimacy, relationships and individual identity?
My findings suggest that there is a strong connection between the corporatizing discourse
of rational labor practice that defines speed and efficiency as inherently valuable and the
increased use of technology to provide a faster and more efficient form of interpersonal
communication among participants. One unexpected consequence of this development has been
the normalized hyper-connection between the students I studied. The incorporation of
technological devices, such as smartphones, in interpersonal relationships combined with the
high social value of speed is connected with the increased expectations about frequency of
contact within friendships and sexual relationships. This desire for immediate contact, as well as
increasing availability of information about potential relationship partners, contributes to a
transformation of the experience of intimacy among participants.
The Real Virtual World: Connectivity and Techno-mediation in the Lives
of College Students.

by

Alecea Standlee

B.A., University of Idaho, 2002
M.A., University of Cincinnati, 2006
M.A., Syracuse University, 2008

Dissertation

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
Sociology

Syracuse University
May 2012
Copyright © Alecea Standlee 2012
All Rights Reserved
For Jason
You have never let me down, and never let me fall.
iv

Acknowledgements

Thank you to my advisor, Dr. Jackie Orr, who guided me through the maze of
dissertation production. Your insight and passion for my project have made it better than I could
have imagined. I would also like to thank my committee for their support and feedback, Dr.
Marjorie DeVault, Dr. Prema Kurien, Dr. Margaret Usdansky and Dr. Murali Venkatesh. I also
want to extend my thanks to Janet Coria and Kathleen Kenny, who have provided me with so
much more than administrative support, who have answered frantic emails and always provide a
smile at just the right moment. I want to thank my students and all of the participants in this
study, who ignited my curiosity and allowed me into their lives.
I owe a special thanks to the staff at the Graduate School Programs office, who have
provided me with not only employment during my final two years of graduate study, but also
celebrated with me when things went well, and lent a sympathetic ear when I was in trouble. To
Glenn Wright, Peg De Furia, Dina Ioannidis, Lee Pomroy and Shawn Loaner, you have been the
best co-workers I could have had.
I have many colleagues and friends who have provided me with intellectual stimulation
and exciting conversations. I want to extend a special thanks to my cohort members, Jenny
Swanson and Tre Wentling, who have been encouraging and supportive since our very first year.
I also want to thank Karen Stewart, Fumi Showers, Chantell Frazier, Gokhan Savas, Don
Sawyer, Joy Fashu, Michelle Tarnow and all the other grad students in Sociology for your
conversations and feedback over the years.
My mother, Donna Standlee has inspired me to be a better woman and to go after my
dreams. Thank you for helping me to become the women I am today. I want to also thank my
sister Danielle who has cheered me on, and my brother, who reminds me every day how far
v

determination and hard work can take you. My dear friend Esther, has kept me grounded and
never let me forget where I come from. I also want to thank Jim and Linda Ritter, who welcomed
me into their hearts and their family and who encouraged me all along. I also want to thank Lisa
Ritter whose determination and character are an inspiration.
Most importantly, for Jason, who believed in me, who inspired me, who took care of me,
and who loved me. You are my dearest love and my greatest support. I am so incredibly grateful
to have you in my life that I cannot put it into words. I could not have done this without you.
Thank you.
vi

Table of Contents

Chapter One: Introduction: Finding a Place within the Real Virtual World 1
Introduction to the Project 2
Contributions to Scholarly Work 7
Theoretical Frames: Technology, Social Psychology and Communication 25
Chapter Overviews 31

Chapter Two: Techno-social Immersion: Understanding Methods in a Hybrid Social
35
Environment.
Qualitative Paradigms and “Getting It” 37
Bringing it Together: Multi-modal Data Collection and Analysis 39
Location: Online and Offline 45
Least Harm: Ethical Considerations and Respect for Persons 52
The Reflexive Researcher 56
Conclusions 60

Chapter Three: Discourse and Design: Technological Architectures and the
61
Corporatization of Connectivity
Architecture of Technology 64
Discourse in Transition 73
McDonaldization and the Rationality of Intimacy 81
Conclusions 91

Chapter Four: Context and Hyper-connection: Being Present in College
95
Relationships.
Presence and Absence: Connectivity and the Social 97
“Doing Homework”: Friendships, Connection and Information 113
“Facebook Official”: Technologies of Love and Romance 123
Conclusions 131
vii

Chapter Five: Intimacy, Privacy and Performance: Redefinitions in the Techno-
134
Social World
Beyond Public and Private: From Limitation to Management of Information 136
Personal and Intimate: Making Sense of Changing Meanings 146
Privacy and the Self: Attachment, Surveillance and Performance 154
Conclusions 162

Chapter Six: In Conclusion: Sociology of Connectivity and Technology
165

Rethinking Intimacy and Understanding Technology 167
Significance 172
Limitations and Future Research 173
Final Comments 177

Appendix A: Demographic Information 180
Appendix B: Project Documents 182
Appendix C: Sample Facebook Page 184
Appendix D: Image of an iPhone Facebook Application
Bibliography 188
Vita 200
1

Chapter One
Introduction: Finding a Place within the Real Virtual World

Alecea -What do I need to understand if I want to study college student culture?

Jake - When I look at history books, I see we are the technology generation. There
was the industrial revolution and we are the technology revolution right now.
Facebook completely changed my 4 years in college; I think those years are
completely different now from pre-Facebook. How they interacted. Total
differences. Or maybe not how we interact, but how we go about those
interactions.

Jake is a 20-year-old college student who suggests that the contemporary technological
revolution is comparable to the juggernaut of transformation we know as the industrial
revolution. Yet, the industrial revolution fundamentally reshaped the course of human history.
Virtually no aspect of human existence, from work to family, from birth to death, was
untouched. For some, it led to undreamed of wealth and for others unspeakable degradation
(Wyatt 2008). Are we indeed in the midst of such a time of transformation? Are we at a moment
in history which will be looked back on by future generations as a time of “total differences”
which will shape and reshape human interaction?
The question that Jake raises, of his generation’s place in history, of the long-term impact
of the technological revolution, may not be entirely answerable today, whatever meaning it
might have tomorrow. However, it is possible to consider what implications the increasing
prevalence of technology in social interaction might have in the present. What does the
technological revolution, if indeed that is what we are currently experiencing, mean both to the
course of history and to the individual? Jake also has some insight, reminding us that technology
is about interaction. Further, technology can be about something so fundamentally human as
social connectivity. In this project, I consider the contemporary role of technology in human
interaction and interconnection, in the self and the social, and in the details of day-to-day life.