The Facebook Project

Conclusion

            The rational and expected sequitur response to the theoretical framework proposed here is to examine the intersectionality and impressions between the numerous social actors and forces.  With consideration given to the cyborging of the mind and the permanently beta ideologies operating in the minds of the internet generation participants in CMC and SNS systems, we can unearth the applications to social capital, personal, cultural, and social identity, social movements, and even education. 

            Once I have results I’d like to discuss them as they relate to the race section of my paper.  I have an experiential exploration of race on Facebook featured above and I hope to reinforce this discourse with data.  Beyond this I fully expect to release another report pertaining to social capital and other variables related to Facebook’s influence on the student population.

            I had a couple of mundane mechanical limitations in my survey design. Most notably the survey builder tool does not allow for skip logic of any sort and so respondents can go through every section whether they should or not. I did my best to account for this by building in instructions and javascript skip links.  In addition, my survey is 10 pages and 77 questions long – a sizable asking for a random undergraduate not offered incentive.
My theoretical discourse here of course is burdened by a swarm of limitations, most notably my lack of dense support by Facebook specific sources and research as well as a complex (heterogeneous!) and contingent theoretical model.  I hope to further reinforce my theory with additional sources and clarification in the future because at this time their expanse is broad and built upon a few, but powerful studies.  The ethnographic resembling observations of the University of Illinois student population require more statistical and otherwise empirical backing.  Other yet to be identified parts of this paper’s analysis are surely lacking are well.

            The Facebook Project intentionally leaves a great deal of room for future research.  As mentioned in my methods section, the next phase will be a case study and possible focus groups.  I believe it to be imperative I augment my numeric findings with substantive qualitative ones.  In addition, more observation could be conducted on student usage of walls and events in regards to the Chief as well as other effects of race and SNS systems.  As younger generations access the Facebook and older generations bring it with them into the work place new waves of influence will merit further studies.  Network analysis holds many possibly inquiries – I would love to analyze social capital more specifically with the Kevin Bacon effect: how many steps it takes to get from the average user to another, and if connectors (Gladwell 2002), or people who seem to know and connect everyone, really do exist on Facebook too.  I hope my research becomes the grounds for informing others’ studies.  And finally, Facebook represents a largely untapped resource for positive social change and routes of dismantling disparity.  The educational opportunities are still being recognized – and since we as researchers can exert a powerful influence on the system activist research awaits just around the corner.  To this end, may we be the change… on Facebook.