Content area
Abstract
This thesis examines self-presentation on Facebook using Erving Goffman's dramaturgical model, focusing on the conceptions of audience and context on Facebook of Facebook-using students at a large, urban, Canadian university. Ethnographically, I explore participants' perspectives in three focal areas: defining Facebook as a space and conceptual object; examining audience and relationships on and through Facebook; and interrogating self-presentation on Facebook. I examine the role(s) played by the composition and perception of audience(s), understandings of Facebook's function, structure and characteristics, and a related consideration of privacy, in participants' descriptions of usage and self-presentation practices and concerns. I find a situation that can be characterized as a multiplicity and intersection of audiences, relationships, anticipated access, and desired disclosure levels, and in relation to which participants highlight particular self-presentation and privacy considerations. Theoretically, I consider Goffman's model, reframing it in light of the findings and rebuilding the theatre metaphor for this technological context.
