[Air-L] Food updates

[Caroline Haythornthwaite]

If you haven't yet, you might want to look at the social networks and life course 
literature -- how social networks expand (from childhood to early adult) and 
then contract (from adult to seniors).   

/Caroline


---- Original message ----
>Date: Wed,  4 Nov 2009 10:38:10 -0500 (EST)
>From: Stephanie Laudone <laudone at fordham.edu>  
>Subject: Re: [Air-L] Food updates  
>To: <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
>
>
>Hi all, 
>
>I've really enjoyed this discussion and though I'm usually just a lurker, I felt 
compelled to contribute here particularly in regards to managing multiple 
identities on Facebook. I have actually just completed data collection for my 
dissertation which looks at the ways in which users create, present and manage 
online identities on FB. I conducted interviews with college students and adult 
community members (35+) to see the way age organizes FB experiences and 
management of identity. Though I'm still going through the data, much of what 
I've found so far is consistent with what has been posted here. 
>
>-College students experience FB and online identities in a much more modern 
way than do adults. College students create and manage their identities toward 
one general audience of friends and don't spend time actively managing 
multiple identities. College students seem to experience a much more singular 
aspect of identity on FB. They worry less about the convergence of different 
social groups and identities on their FB page, mostly because the basis of their 
identity (as they describe and experience it) is college and all things associated 
with college. 
>
>
>-Adults are much more likely (as mentioned) to spend a significant amount of 
time managing multiple identities, in a number of ways (privacy settings, group 
memberships, multiple accounts). One of the reasons for the difference in 
experiences is that adults 35+ claim membership and social identities in more 
than one group or community (high school friends, college friends, work 
friends, community friends), which come together on one FB profile. 
>
>
>I'm still in the process of analyzing the data, and also uncovering some 
interesting findings about gender and race, but haven't yet completely 
formalized my ideas on those themes. While this conversation certainly helps to 
inform some of my thinking, I have not yet seen much formal research on this 
topic (beyond theoretical lit on modern/postmodern identities). Any citations or 
sources would be greatly appreciated! 
>
>Best, 
>Stephanie 
>
>_______________________ 
>Stephanie Laudone, MA 
>Ph.D. Candidate 
>Dept. of Sociology 
>Fordham University 
>Laudone at fordham.edu
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--------------------------------------
Caroline Haythornthwaite

Leverhulme Visiting Professor, Institute of Education, University of London (2009-10)

Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 501 East Daniel St., Champaign IL 61820 (haythorn at illinois.edu)