A phenominological study of young adults' experiences of facebook
- Authors: Prince, Inge
- Date: 2014
- Subjects: Teenagers -- Social networks , Online social networks , Internet -- Social aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:9979 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1021116
- Description: Social networking sites are a recent phenomenon and have experienced tremendous growth in popularity especially among young people. Social networking sites are changing the way individuals communicate with each other and the world. Social networking sites (SNS) provide users with a unique computer-mediated environment where individuals are able to disclose their thoughts, feelings, and experiences within their own social network. The present study aims to explore the experiences of young adults regarding Facebook. A transcendental phenomenological approach was used to elicit the essence of the experiences of the participants. Theoretical sampling ensured relevant participants were selected through haphazard sampling procedures. Data was collected through the use of biographical questionnaires and individual, semi-structured interviews. The data was processed according to the four phenomenological principles epoche, phenomenological reduction, imaginative variation and synthesis using Tesch’s eight steps. Lincoln and Guba’s model was used to assess the trustworthiness of the data obtained. The participants described their experiences of Facebook by highlighting how they use Facebook as a communication tool which assists them in their relationship maintenance with others. Participants use self-presentation on Facebook to manage how they are perceived. The participants experience Facebook as having many privacy risks. They indicated that Facebook has addictive qualities and facilitates cyber stalking behaviour.
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- Date Issued: 2014
Identity-related decision-making among multicultural adolescents
- Authors: Siwundla, Lundi
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Identity (Psychology) , Multiculturalism , Decision making , Teenagers -- Social networks , Social intelligence , Adolescence
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , M Soc Sc (C Psy)
- Identifier: vital:11855 , http://hdl.handle.net/10353/319 , Identity (Psychology) , Multiculturalism , Decision making , Teenagers -- Social networks , Social intelligence , Adolescence
- Description: This present study investigated South African Afrikaans-, English- and Xhosa-speaking male and female urban secondary school adolescents‟ (N = 1301) perception of the relative importance of identity-related domains by investigating the choices that they carried out in relation to meaningful identity-related areas of their lives. Consequently a structured questionnaire consisting of 14 domain particular areas was used. In Eriksonian terms, one could say that the South African society is in a psychosocial crisis. Almost all the domain-specific items were regarded as relevant “Very important” or “Fairly important” by a notable or significant majority of participants. All fourteen of the domains were regarded as “Very important” by at least 35 percent of the participants from two cultural groups, namely African and Coloured sub cultural groups; while twelve of the domains were regarded as “Very important” by at least 50 percent of the African subgroup and thirteen domains were regarded as “Very important” by 40 percent of the Coloured subgroup. “Leisure and recreational activities”, “Friendships with members of the same sex peer group”, “My political views and convictions” and “Friendships with members of the opposite sex peer group” were however, still regarded as “Fairly important” by 56 percent, 53 percent, 58 percent and 52 percent of the total research group respectively. It should also be noted that generally females in the sample were more inclined to evaluate domains that had a bearing on interpersonal relationships as significantly more important than the males namely: Friendship with members of the same-sex peer group, What kind of person I want a permanent relationship with, What kind of person I want to marry, and How I should act as husband or wife. The males tended to evaluate the domains, Sexual matters and Friendship with members of the opposite sex more significantly important than the females did.
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- Date Issued: 2011