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Friendship Over the Net:

The Social Construction of Friendship Among Israeli Youth in

Computer-Mediated-Communication (CMC)

Oren Golan, PhD Abstract

Abstract:

Advances in computer technology and computer-mediated communication (CMC)

have instigated and enabled significant change in economies, education, lifestyles and

social relationships worldwide. New information and communication technologies

(ICTs), including instant messaging, chatrooms, newsgroups and cellular phones, are

rapidly spreading and being integrated into everyday life. One of the most central

agents of these transformations are children and adolescents.

Among youth, mass media activities are dominant and include listening to popular

music, chatting on cellular phones, acquiring fashionable artifacts, viewing television,

playing computer/video games and surfing the Internet. Surveys indicate that North

American youth dedicate nearly half of their waking hours to media activities

(Mastronardi, 2003). These new venues of mass media activities, and particularly the

Internet, evoke social change and new forms of behavior and relationships for young

people.

Youths' friendship relations play a pivotal part in the lives of adolescents

(Corsaro,1997; Mannarino,1980; Eisenstadt, 1971 [c1956]); these are currently

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undergoing major shifts and they require re-examination. This study aims to

contribute to this field and discuss the connections between youth, the

computer/Internet and the construction of friendships in Israel. The study questions

how online relationships are modified among youth in computer-mediated

communication? How do the relationships constructed through the Internet affect the

modes of youth in Israel? To examine these questions, the research analyzed a group

of adolescents who are deeply immersed in the Internet and integrate it into their daily

lives.

I argue that within its unsupervised realm, properties of the Internet (i.e. anonymity,

interactivity and community-building) are linked with the characteristics of

contemporary youth culture (i.e. moratorium, liminality, youthful creativity and

modern forms of peer grouping). The convergence evokes the invention of a vibrant

symbolic language of youth (e.g. linguistic idioms, emoticons and humorous-iconic

representations; Chapter 3); entrepreneurial activities together with new forms of

exchange and gift-giving (Chapter 5); as well as the creation of online trust relations

that are the features of new adolescent culture (Chapter 4).

To explore the evasive and informal participation of youth in the virtual realm, a

specific research strategy needed to be explored (Chapter 2). The research utilized

several methods and resources. Its main source was in-depth interviews conducted

with 38 adolescents between the ages of 12-21, between 1998-2003. These youngsters

were identified as computer "virtuosos" (i.e. youngsters who had attained high levels

of expertise in the computer world and maintained an exclusive youth-computer

culture). This group served as a "critical case study" group, where by exploring the

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cultural patterns underlying their everyday practices and symbols I strove to uncover

the most salient features of contemporary youth’s technologically-oriented culture.

Most of the interviews were conducted face-to-face in the private environment of

adolescents’ homes1, while sitting together at their personal computers. These

interviews enabled me to investigate their activities and uncovered their preferred

chatrooms, newsgroups, game activities, and more.

Throughout this study, I describe and analyze three major points of youth cultural

transformation over the net: - creation of new symbolism, the construction of trust

relations and the emergence of youth entrepreneurship (chapters three, four and five,

respectively). The first transformation explores the symbolic aspect and the creation

of new forms of expression, such as: new patterns of iconography (e.g. avatars,

emoticons) or linguistic playfulness (e.g. slang, idioms, metaphors), derived from

fantasy science fiction, sports, etc. These symbolic means constitute a distinct meta

discourse code, which utilizes the rich resources of the multimedia interface, much in

the way that adolescents' dress and musical styles are meta codes that demonstrate

cross-clique variations.

The second theme is the construction of trust, and the ways it is redefined by youth's

online relationships (Chapter four). As trust may be defined as “confidence in the

reliability of a person or system” (Giddens, 1990)2, the new means of computer-

1 A few (5) were conducted in other venues including the army or “public areas” (e.g. coffee shop,

burger bar) 2 Among scholars in the social sciences, widespread social trust is viewed as a sign of social solidarity and cohesion and has also been linked to strong economic performance (Fukuyama,1995; Yamagishi and Yamagishi, 1994) and a source for supporting democratic ideals (Muller and Seligson, 1994). In theories of social capital, social trust is both an outcome

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mediated communication poses a challenge to the formation of trust. In contrast to

studies indicating the existence of trust over the net (e.g. the exchange of individual

goods, production of public goods, the existence of stable social networks,

communities, and effective social norms, see Baym, 2000; Kollock,1999; Parks and

Floyd,1996; Raymomd,2001), this study focuses on the ways in which trust is created

and maintained over the net. In this study, I aim to shed light on the Internet’s role

and potential for fostering social integration and collective ideals, as well as

uncovering the ways youth communicate and fraternize in today’s Information and

Communications Technology (ICT) society. Findings uncovered several tensions and

impediments, including: anonymity, the norms of cybernetic interaction, lies, masks

and un-credible behavior, discontinued relations, spontaneity and the Israeli public's

images of the Internet). The study reveals 5 strategies for the creation and

maintenance of online trust: control over anonymity, continuity and perseverance,

digital exchange (of experiences, advice and sentiments; "community knowledge" and

"digital goods"); the interplay of online lies and masking; 'technological choices for

maintaining trust' among youth.

The third theme is the creation of cultural entrepreneurship over the net (Chapter 5).

In the sociological tradition, the role of the entrepreneur and his/her interaction with

surrounding society has been compared to other roles in society such as the manager,

the gambler, the capitalist and even the professional (Peterson,1981; Schumpeter,1957

[c1943]) which emphasize traits, control, specialization, creativity and risk taking.

These traits concur with the rapid evolution of ICTs, yet apparently stand in

and a cause of high levels of civic involvement (Putnam, 2000) as well as a constraint on non-normative and "immoral" behavior.

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opposition to the structural condition of youth where youngsters are largely controlled

by adult culture and are encouraged to perform within institutional boundaries (e.g.

school, family, youth movement, army). The question is how are youth socialized (or

how do they socialize themselves) to perform in today's technological culture? The

study demonstrates how youth's unique social networks and friendship alignments

enable experimentation, trial and error, and foster an entrepreneurial culture. This is

performed in various activities where adolescents demonstrate high levels of social

exchange and management of personal resources, including: collecting, indexing and

the constant organization of digital goods such as music files, movies, games or

computer programs, as well as creating cultural productions, mobilizing human

resources and experiencing with various modes of interchangeable behavior, such as

morality (e.g. masking and lying or disclosure and truth telling), expressivity (e.g.

support or verbal abuse) or interactive relationships (personal/collective;

friendly/collegial).

The following three impact of ICT regarding contemporary youth and friendship

relations are discussed in the next section:

A. Youth Cultures and Risk Society

B. The Profile of Digital Youth

C. Virtual Friendships

A. Youth Cultures and Risk Society:

Literature dealing with the sociology of youth since the early 20th century has

focused on the rapid changes in the status of youth, their relations with modernity and

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their position in conditions of dramatic social change, in education, employment,

leisure consumption, etc. (Coleman,1961; Davis, 1999; Eisenstadt, 1971 [c1956];

Friedenberg, 1963; Furlong and Cartmel,1997; Kahane,1997; Miles,2000;

Milson,1972; ). In this framework, youth are described as being threatened by the

influence of postmodern fragmentation, risk, alienation and globalization. In light of

these social threats, “digital youth” may serve as a case study for uncovering the

impact of modernity and the technological society, while serving in what Milson

(1972:24) referred to as a “frontier society”, where they are constantly standing at the

frontier of social change and cultural innovation.

In light of the rapid social and cultural changes in the post modern era, I argue that

informal systems foster trust relations, especially by adapting to contemporary

technological innovations3. In spite of occasionally anti normative, or even what may

be viewed as deviant, expressions over the net (e.g. masking and fibbing, frequent

copyright infringements, spreading computer viruses and “spyware” and the various

activities of hackers), I maintain that the social system over the net fosters trust. Trust

is achieved through the creation of personalized social networks and a social concept

of “online friendship”. In opposition to institutionally-based friendship arenas (at the

3 By 'informality' I refer to the code of informality, developed by Kahane (1997) to describe a symbolic

and behavioral construct with which individuals or groups strive to maximize what they perceive to be

their genuine self-expression. In his model, Kahane describes informality as an ideal-type order (or

organization) and points to eight basic structural components: voluntarism (constraint-free choice);

multiplexity (wide range of activities equivalent in social value); symmetry (exchange based on equal

distribution of power and therefore on mutually accommodated expectations); dualism (coexistence of

contrasting orientations); moratorium (provision of opportunities for experimentation or trial and error

with a variety of rules and roles); modularity (interchangeable clusters of activities); expressive-

instrumentalism (coexistence of immediate and delayed rewards); and pragmatic symbolism

(conversion of symbols into deeds and vice versa). This code relates to other structural codes (formal-

bureaucratic, professional or primal; see Kahane, 1988). Accordingly, uncovering the underlying code

or codes of behavior among various social venues on the Internet may yield a sociological explanation

of its meaning and impact. As stated above, I argue that youth’s digital spaces can be characterized by

a dominant code of informality which is more salient than that of most of the well-studied adolescent

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workplace or school, for example), these associations reinforce the net surfers’ sense

of personal freedom of choice.

The “Net Society” (also regarded as “the information society” or “the digital age”)

poses new forms of risks for surfers in general, and “digital youth” in particular.

Popular notions of the Internet often stress online deviance (e.g paedophilia, “cyber-

crime”, hackers, “crackers” or “phreakers”) as sources of risk. This may be explained

in terms of moral panic relating to the position of the Internet in society. However,

this can be explained by exploring the structural characteristics of net society as

demonstrated in the table below.

Structural Characteristic of “Net

Society”

Social Risk

1. Extensive encounter with Technology

2. Innovation and Rapid Technological

Change

3. Enhanced (online) accessibility

Anachronism, social anomie, alienation

towards technology (“technophobia”),

disorientation

4. Self Determined activity

(Individualism)

Atomization, social isolation and

alienation

The study demonstrates how groups of adolescents created new strategies to control

and eventually foster social trust, as well as a sense of meaning, personalization and

interpersonal friendliness. This can be viewed in various practices reviewed

throughout the study, including digital exchange, personal control of

activities including schools, boarding schools or even youth movements, summer camps or

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anonymity/disclosure, the creation of digital texts, jokes and playful activities.

Through these practices, adolescents transform their computer-based activities into a

personalized and humanized social experience. This is achieved by inserting animated

elements into the cybernetic realm. The study demonstrates how youngsters transmit

meanings from their on- and offline experiences towards the creation of a cultural

environment that includes a distinct symbolic array of youth’s most commonly-used

metaphors, language and iconography. These means shape the nature of the net and

serve to transmit humanistic and communal meanings over cyberspace. For example,

the study discusses various ways in which online signs and discourse were interpreted

by youngsters as producing humoristic gestures (e.g usage of “absurd” nicknames,

avatars depicting monsters or playful idiomatic texts). These symbolic acts foster a

sense of unconditional receptiveness of the youthful venues towards their participants

and a sense of freedom to participate in this new and vital culture.

B. The Profile of Digital Youth

In light of (post) modern risk society, I ask what the nature and orientation of "digital

youth" is. Findings in this study point to a new form of youthfulness4 that can be

summed up in six distinct characterizations:

1. Extended youthfulness

2. Fluid youthfulness

3. Individuality and the concept of freedom

backpacking.

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4. Active Youth

5. The Institutionalization of Virtuosity among Youth

6. Pluralistic youthfulness

1. Extended Youthfulness -

Postman (1986 [c1982]) viewed changes in technology and mass communication as

consuming the concept of childhood and transforming the child into a "little man".

Accordingly, the Internet can be viewed as an agent for eroding the concept of

youthfulness and integrating adolescents into adult culture. In contrast to this

assumption, the findings of this study demonstrate an augmentation of youth culture.

The study points to the ways youngsters have created a culture of entrepreneurship,

characterized by cultural productivity, exchange and practices of collecting digital

goods. Even properties that could be identified with the worlds of adults (e.g work

ethic, rationality, utilization of scientific-technological principles and practices) are

amalgamated with youthful meanings (e.g. humor, playfulness).

2. Diffuse Youthfulness

On the net, one we can point to a change from a homogenic and integrative grouping

of youth to a more diverse diffuse, low-density social organization of adolescents.

This can be demonstrated in two aspects: online peer groups and online identities.

(a) Online Peer Groups - In modern society, most venues for youth are controlled by

adults via members of the family or the community (e.g. schools or religious agents).

In contrast, over the net, adult supervision is low. As a result, and due to the

4 The question of "youthfulness", as originally developed by Berger (1963), refers to the cultural

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anonymity the Internet facilitates, peer groups are to a large extent not defined by

class, gender, SES or geographical location. In this new realm, the individual's status

is defined by its social virtuosity within the group, degrees of acquaintance and levels

of knowledge in the technology and social codes of specific groups. The study

demonstrates the ways that participants in observed newsgroups reacted with

sympathy, suspicion or rejection towards other participants in accord with these new

sets of norms and social criteria. In addition, the size and significance of the peer

group varies in net culture. The group itself changes through spontaneous efforts of

recruitment, voluntary engagement and disengagement as well as fashion or the

dynamics of software production5.

(b) Online Identities: Playing with identity has been a central theme in the early stages

of CMC research (see Bechar-Israeli, 1995; Danet, 1996; Turkle, 1995). However,

literature has focused little attention on its place in the lives of youth. Recently,

studies incorporated the celebration of youth culture in their virtual identities,

particularly in the study of online textual and graphical representation blogging, or the

creation of homepages (Abbot, 1998; Chandler & Roberts-Young. 1999; Huffaker and

Calvert, 2003;Webb, 2001). Moreover, studies indicate that teenagers stay closer to

their offline identities in their online expressions of self than has previously been

suggested (Huffaker and Calvert, 2003; for a similar finding among adults in informal

virtual settings see Kendall, 2002); however, these studies did little to explain the

characteristics of youth, rather then a universal-biological attribute. 5For example, the computer game "Diablo" was very popular among gamers in the 1990s and the turn

of the century, and generated various groups of fans and online discourse. However, a few years later,

as new games became popular; many of the original players changed their interests (or position in life

as college students, soldiers or participants in the labor force, for example). Hence, the dynamics of

gaming culture and industry bears a direct effect of the structure and character of various social groups

as well as the content of youth's discourse (in their choice of avatars, nicknames, idioms, etc. in their

blogs, newsgroups and websites).

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structural changes in the position of youth and youthfulness in light of their interplay

between their online/offline experience.

In this study, I demonstrate how the concept of identity is challenged in cyberspace.

In his studies on youth, Erikson (1968) viewed adolescence as a transitional stage

towards a stable and integrative formation of identity. In contrast to Erikson's

observations, digital youth has created and negotiated a new and distinct identity that

deviates from offline identities. Accordingly, collective identities that characterized

adolescents offline become vague and irrelevant in cyberspace. Collective adolescent

identities in Israel, such as "Shas youth" or "Leftist Socialist youth" ('Young Guard')

are hardly recognizable in cyberspace. Rather then being defined as a collective,

adolescents in cyberspace are seen according to their individual talents, online

achievements and self-adapted representation (e.g. choice of nicknames, avatars).

Youngsters often relieve themselves from pressures and expectations of collective

identities and expand their social liminality (in Victor Turner's terms see Turner,

1969)-. The creation of personal homepages, blogs and stable representations and

identities in newsgroups and games point to a revolution in the form and meanings of

youthful identity created by the individual while adhering to the peer group, rather

than the collective or primordial culture.

In addition, while research of online identities over the net often emphasized the rich

and vivid representations of net surfers, the analysis of adolescents' perspectives of

the “other” (in terms of reciprocal exchange or social trust) may contribute to our

understanding of youth’s concept of their self-identity in the virtual realm. The study

demonstrated how youths' identity was constructed not only by their ability to

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playfully make over their own virtual representations (as a monster, magician, movie

star, etc.) but it also demonstrated how they experienced various kinds of exchange

and (as mentioned above) different types of knowledge (e.g. popular culture,

scientific-technological or personal-expressive sentiments). The case of digital youth

may prove useful for exploring the formation of diffuse, flexible and changeable

identities. As the study demonstrates, these identities reflect a search for originality,

ingenuity, and innovation.

3. Individuality and the Concept of Freedom

Kahane (1975) points to an inherent conflict between youths and adults with regard to

control/autonomy in socializing organizations. Whereas an increase in youth

autonomy may lead to delinquent and anti-social behavior, an abundance of adult

intervention may jeopardize organizations as an attractive and meaningful socializing

agent (Kahane,1975:23-24). Analyzing the Internet as an agent of socialization bears

a similar dilemma. In their online activities, adolescents are free, to a large extent,

from the parental control and supervision that characterize other socialization

institutions. In the Internet one could expect an uncontrollable behavior, sometimes

even deviant, as youth are often vilified for mass infringements of intellectual

property rights, rises in hacker activity, a major expanse in the distribution and

consumption of pornography etc. The rise of a new form of youthful freedom and

peer organization comes alongside the risk of deviant social boundaries and taboos.

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This study points to the expansion of youth and freedom in online activities6. As web

savvy technological virtuosos, youngsters select their degree of freedom and manage

to avoid their on- and offline gatekeepers. In addition, participants choose periods of

their lives when they are active or inactive in various online activities. Accordingly,

teens have reported occasional periods of extensive use of a certain online activity

(e.g. chat, multiplayer gaming [MMOG or MMO], participating in newsgroups), as

well as lengthy intervals of little social activity over the net. This serves as a means

for managing their various social relationships online where surfers may expand,

terminate, strengthen or weaken their social connections and friendships. These

relatively manageable relations stand in opposition to youth's everyday obligations

and associations (e.g. the family, school, extra-curricular activities, youth

movements).

In addition, activities of freedom have been translated into pragmatic meaning. As

observed and analyzed in the chapter dedicated to digital entrepreneurship, youth seek

opportunities over the net to experience dialogue, music, narrative writing or gaming

while integrating these fields of knowledge into their everyday lives. In this context,

youth socialize themselves on the net. This process offers them a way to re-constitute

their selves as well as to reconstruct their affiliated virtual groups.

6Within the Israeli context, since the 1980s, studies have pointed to a change in the orientation of

youth's activities and values, moving from a collective orientation to an individualistic one, which

emphasizes personal achievement and self fulfillment (Rapoport et. al. 1995; Shapiro and Herzog,

1984; Lumpsky-Feder, 1985). This bears significance on the concept of free expression and

motivations of social action by contemporary youngsters.

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4. Active Youth

Popular notions, echoed by the social sciences, tend to regard youth as being

rebellious by nature, and accuse them of forging a hedonistic culture (Brake,1980;

Cohen, 1987; Griffin, 1993; Keniston, 1971). Theoretical studies of youth in society

are haunted by images of passivity and utter dependence, controlled by adults in

general and the various forces that drive society (e.g. economic, political,

technological, etc.) (Eisenstadt, 1971 [c1956]; Keniston, 1971; Mannheim, 1964;

Postman, 1985). In this study, I claim that over the net youth are active in cultivating

creative activity to the degree that the culture of digital youth may be perceived as

that of cultural innovators and entrepreneurs. While social trust and friendship serve

as a precondition for this development, the study demonstrate how adolescents create

tools for social interaction. In the discussion of the symbolic tools of interaction, the

study illustrates how youth create virtual resources, systematically collect these assets

and are active in the exchange of digital resources (of digital products, professional

knowledge, personal experience or semi-monetary exchange7). In this manner, youth

respond to the dynamic nature of the Internet and develop skills that are suitable to the

contingent situations on the net.

5. The Institutionalization of Virtuosity among Youth

In the past, much of the literature suggested that individuals generated changes in

technological in general and in the worlds of computers, high-tech and cyberspace in

7 This refers to an exchange (either barter or monetary exchange) which is controlled by a unique

balance between online norms found among youth (dictating the price range and mode of exchange)

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particular (Hafner, 1996; Kaplan,1999; Reid, 1997; Rogers & Larson, 1984; Segaller,

1998). These individuals were often portrayed as young people in informal settings,

which often stood in opposition to their contemporary means and norms of training.

Classical examples can be seen in the biographies of Galileo, Copernicus,

Michelangelo, Benjamin Franklin and others. Weber described how the process of

rationality institutionalized science within the confines of universities and

bureaucratic control, and eroded the place of the sole “inventor”, transferring these

innovations to academic, economic or military settings. The rise of computers and

computer-mediated communication has contributed to a change in the process of the

“bureaucratization of science”. In this study, I focus on a sphere that is free from

bureaucratic control. In contrast to views that centered upon viewing innovation as

being cultivated by individuals or a bureaucratic culture, youth’s net culture

demonstrates the rise of a culture of technological virtuosity. These youngsters

employ their creative and productive efforts and divert them towards today’s most

advanced technological developments. In this sense, hacker activity is most salient as

that of technological virtuosos who mark a break with contemporary computer

software and even challenge the social and moral order (Nissan,1998; Taylor, 1999).

Hacker activity may serve as a case study in this sense, demonstrating a much larger

phenomena of youth’s entrepreneurial activism on the net. Youth who are busy

collecting, exchanging and the creation of cultural “artifacts” over the net (such as

blogs, homepages, movies, animation, prose or pictures) and software (e.g. game

“patches” and “cracks” enabling them to reproduce a copy of a desired commercial

program, and save money, or to be able to manipulate a computer game).

and the exterior ("offline") market, as elaborated in the chapter dedicated to cultural entrepreneurship

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This new category of youthfulness is unique in several respects: First, from the

perspective of the sociology of youth, a change can be observed where the marginal

and dependent group (legally, economically and normatively) of adolescents are

transformed into a meaningful agent of technology and innovation. Second, in the

study of social entrepreneurship, we can view a unique case study where a social

category embraces a mode of creation, invention and innovation within the informal

setting of the Internet. This is to say, as opposed to the classical modernistic concept

which views inventions with extended periods of external training instructed by

experts within rigid arrangements (including a structured curriculum and directed by

socially acknowledged professionals), we see how an informal system cultivates a

culture of creativity.

Rather than viewing the Internet as a chaotic social sphere, it may be viewed as an

environment which fosters virtuosity and institutionalization. In this reality, youth

engage in the construction of ties and communities, collect virtual artifacts and

knowledge, and organize fellowships of learning and debating. In this manner the

activity over the net is transformed from a chaotic experience to an organize units of

collaboration of meanings.

6. Pluralistic Youthfulness

Anthropological studies of youth adopted Victor Turner’s view of liminality, where

youngsters dwell in a threshold state of ambiguity, openness and indeterminacy.

According to this view, only after undergoing this process may one enter into new

of adolescents over the net.

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forms of identity and relationships, and rejoin the everyday life of the culture.

Accordingly, during childhood and adolescence commitment to primordial identities

(e.g. religions, ethnicity, status, etc.) is partial and moratorium is salient. Cyberspace,

as a relatively new social environment, enables experimentation and failures. Online,

the tension between commitment towards one’s primordial ties and intercultural

encounters (harmonious/antagonistic) has diminished and new tensions or forms of

communications are established. In this study, we learn how youth’s activities over

the net serve as an integrative and bridging platform between different groups. In this

reality, youngsters instill a sense of trust between members of different (offline)

identities and cultures, while on the individual level, the net opens new mean of self-

expression, achievement and empowerment of the self. Let me explain three

expressions of the pluralistic youthfulness:

i) Symbols and Language – The cybernetic experience invites a new mode for

language and communication among net surfers. This new language consists of a

unique symbolic system with new ways for creating symbols, iconographic

representation and verbal articulation. Paradoxically speaking, this new way of

expression, distanced from traditional modes of communication, creates a

common frame for participants of diverse backgrounds (e.g. different ethnicities,

diverse age groups, gender).

ii) Masks and Anonymity - As demonstrated throughout the study, net surfers are

free to reinvent their identities, self-representation and self-disclosure. Youth are

free to express and play on forms of racial and historical tension (such as using

provocative Nazi symbols for self-representation) or use dispassionate or "neutral"

representations that are not identified with any group (including the use of

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gibberish and nonsense portrayal in their pseudonyms). These masks enhance an

environment of moratorium where youths may experience and experiment with a

large array of intercultural encounters (e.g. girls/boys, Israeli/foreigner,

adolescent/adult), rules and roles with minimal risks or sanctions and without

threatening the social system.

iii) Technological Meritocracy - This study demonstrates how youth, as an

important part of online society, fostered an alternative set of criteria for the

formation of social status, which is not defined by ascriptive standards. This new

system is based on knowledge of specific subject matters (as demonstrated in the

case of Israeli basketball fans within the observed newsgroup of "Tsahevet"), and

on subjects related to Internet technology, computer software and hardware. For

example, the study demonstrates how teen surfers became operators ("ops") and

frequent responders in a newsgroup were perceived as its informal leaders. These

new forms of linguistic and symbolic expression, the technological meritocracy,

masks, anonymity and lies dispersed on the net all demonstrate how youth

recreated new standards for prestige within the online peer group. The abundance

of situations, activities and means of expression over cyberspace enable

youngsters to express their interests and talents, acquire power and prestige and

foster a sense of self worth. Under these conditions, youth cultivated a culture

based on an initial sense of equal footing and symmetry as well as a pluralistic

encounter that tends to accept rather that reject or ostracize the "other".

In spite of the pluralistic nature of the net, little is known of the effects of this

pluralism upon offline settings. For example, are the attitudes of surfers with regard to

interracial/ethnic/gender/generational tensions more likely to change due to online

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experiences and experimentation with alternative roles and identities? This question

pertains not only to the online/offline relations, but to the very meaning and impact of

informal agencies, beyond the situations and perimeters of their own social

frameworks (such as outside a dance club or several years after participating in a

youth movement). As stated, the study pointed to a profile of online youthfulness with

six distinct characteristics.

C. Virtual Friendship

Social scientists have long criticized modernity, linking it with expressions of social

anomie and alienation (Durkheim, 1949; Kasperson, 2000; Tourain, 1995). New

technologies, identified with modernity, were often viewed as stimulators of

alienation and agents of the ever-growing gap between the individual and society8.

This is apparent in psychological and psychiatric reasoning (Kraut et. al. 1998;

Kuntze et.al, 2002) regarding the Internet. In this discourse participation and virtual

activities are often viewed as fostering an impoverishment of various aspects of life

that are essential to social development, including interpersonal relations and

emotional growth. This research points to a different direction, and analyzes the

deconstruction of the meanings of friendship over the Internet.

In cyberspace, meanings of friendship are reinterpreted and deconstructed; for

example, categories such as "anonymous strangers" or "many" are incorporated into

8 From the literature in the past 70 years, and the “great dystopias”, well demonstrated in literary

accounts such as George Orwell’s “1984”, or Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World”, but also in earlier

texts by Thoreau, Hawthorne and others, technological development was perceived as a non human

factor by which alienation, and discontent increased and threatened the very existence of the individual

and society (Jacoby, 1987) resulting in meaningless life and mechanical relationship. The recent rise of

CMC accentuates this threat. In this context, it should be asked to what extent does communication via

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the realm of friendship. This transformation bears alternative meanings for surfers,

including an expression of the self, socially experimenting with new acquaintances or

sharing online experiences (e.g. social exchange, sharing sentiments, gaming). In this

sense, online friendships have become innovative social phenomena for observing

current culture as well as a new normative pattern of behavior.

This reconstruction of online friendship over the net can be seen through

concepts such as the "virtual gift", the new symbolic representation in cyberspace, the

creation of a diffuse and spontaneous form of friendship, the transference of

friendship to the public realm and signified friendship.

Friendship and the Virtual Gift

Since the classical publication of Marcel Mauss, ethnographic studies have discussed

the centrality of the gift and personal exchange relations as playing a central role in

the social organization of societies. Social exchange is based on the premise of mutual

benefits and the assumption that each participant has relative advantages over the

others in one or more resources. In comparison, online gifts are different in the nature

of the virtual "objects", the modes of exchange and scarcity of the exchanged objects.

Exchange consists a symbolic world of information, rather than physical attributes,

where it is possible to produce an infinite number of perfect copies of a piece of

information such as song files, computer software or animation (Kollock, 1999:221).

In this sense, conventions of evaluating the social prices of goods are reexamined and

social behavior regarding gift giving, altruism, and hostility are restructured.

Furthermore, as the main commodity over the web is information, an item for which

CMC foster a modular mind "a specific communication mechanism" (Fodor, 1981:37) or proxy

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there is no general scarcity or shortage9. Under these conditions an alternative and

complementary mode of friendship has emerged where adolescents are able to create

and maintain their social connections through conveying information and gift giving,

without exhausting their own resources. In this sense, gift-giving practices have been

expanded over the net and has become a common gesture in youth culture. In this

study, four types of exchange were discerned: (1) experiences and sentiments, (2)

professional knowledge, (3) digital goods (e.g. songs, pictures, software), (4) “money

value”10. Youth discard a materialistic view of friendship or assumptions which tie

exchange with a generalized value (such as money, according to Simmel). Rather than

reducing their virtual activities to its mere utilitarian value, youths’ engagement with

social exchange demonstrates a broad conception of the Internet and points to their

prominence in its emerging culture.

Signified Friendship

Self-representation over the net differs from that of face-to-face relations. Over the

net, the individual is anonymous, which enables social moratorium. By discussing the

symbolic and iconographic culture forged by surfers, I demonstrate how nicknames

(“nicks”), avatars and linguistic idioms have formed new ways for social

representation over the net. The study shows how youth employed the medium to

create for themselves the means for expressing their abilities, riginality and initiatives.

simulation with which a human being copes with the complexity of the post modern world. 9 This characteristic is central as the basis for the new economy, see OECD report, Hedberg,2000. 10 This pertains to the exchange of goods which bear an “offline value” (e.g. guitar lessons, used

computer hardware). Among youth, the value of these exchanged items are derived from negotiation

between the offline value of these goods and a semi-barter system among online peers which is based

on the virtual community’s resources of trust and fraternity, rather then institutional trust formed by e-

commerce.

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Adolescents used humoristic, fantastic or macabre means to control social

representation and to create a playful-public performance.

Offline, a change in personal appearance in considered dramatic and may challenge

cultural norms and taboos. Therefore, changes in conventional signals of identity such

as intonation and voice pitch, facial features, body image, non-verbal cues, dress and

demeanor may induce negative responses (Danet, 1996). In contrast, on the Internet

youngsters experiment with new identities, acquaintances and social experiences with

minimal social sanctions. They form meaningful relations with new and old friends,

improve their social skills on the net and engage in various personality traits and

conflicting social roles (e.g. young/old, popular/marginal, layman/professional,

man/woman).

Spontaneous and Diffuse Friendship

In the age of the Internet, new concepts of "virtual friendship" have emerged which

can be characterized by diffusion and spontaneity. In contrast to face-to-face

relationships and institutional relations (schools, boarding schools and other

traditional organizations), over the net friendship alliances do not require affiliation to

a defined and ascribed social group, but rather to the initiatives and virtuosity of the

individual (linguistic-rhetorical, technological and/or iconographical). This enables

another channel to expand the circles of friendship for adolescents.

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Friendship in the Public Sphere

Studies of friendship relations from a socio-historic perspective described a modern

separation between the public sphere, which has been perceived as a rationalized and

impersonal space, and the private sphere which fosters personal relationships

including friendship (Giddens, 1992; Silver, 1990). This study demonstrates how

adolescent surfers exchange sentiments and personal expressions and gradually

transfer them from the private to the public sphere (and vice versa). Moreover, it has

been observed how youth turn to the public sphere to obtain advice, ideas, profess

their feelings and experiences, apologize, support others and apply various forms of

exchange. Accordingly, intimate communications become a widespread practice

among surfers in public environments of the net. Sheltered by anonymity, strangers

reveal personal secrets, sentiments and ideas which in the past were reserved for close

friends and loved ones. In this sense, the meanings of “friendship” and “the stranger”

are often blurred in cyberspace. Often, adolescent interviewees did not know how to

define their interlocutors on the Internet and to refer to them as “friend” or

“companion” (in Hebrew “Yadid” or “Haver”). Nevertheless, they could account in

great detail personal characteristics and anecdotes of people they were in contact with

(in newsgroups, on the instant messengers and such). In this sense, we can discern a

gap between the concept and consciousness of friendship on the one hand, and

adolescents friendship practices on the other.

New friendship relations forged on the net encounters and acquaintance with the

“other”, while enabling an expansion of interpersonal relationships to include the

public sphere. In this way, online friendships coincide with other developments that

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have occurred in contemporary society on television and the electronic media11 and

appropriate sentiments from the private and interpersonal to the public sphere.

* * *

The Internet can be viewed as innovative and has changed the face of relationships,

behaviors and youth culture. This rapidly-changing technology has introduced youth

to new stimulations, tests and possibilities. This encounter has led to creativity and a

vibrant social dynamic among adolescents. In the past, a significant part of social

research pointed to the damaging effects of modernity. These studies discussed the

alienation between the individual and society and used terms such as “risk society”

“social fragmentation” or “globalization” to describe these effects (Beck,1992; Miles,

2000; Wolin,1984).

In this context, two targets were identified to magnify these perceived effect: youth

and the new technology. Adolescents were often described as dependent, hedonistic

and rebellious (see for example Griffin,1993; Springhall,1986); while the new

technology was often depicted as vague, morally ”depraved”, inciting antagonistic

relations and distorted relations (Beninger, 1986; Kraut et. al. 1998; Lea et. al. 1992;

Young, 1998).

An analysis of the Israeli case of youth’s net culture and their social meanings

challenges these assumptions. Young people are born into advanced technology,

navigate within its technical abilities and create elaborate systems of meaning which

can be transformed to cultural, social and economic resources. In this context, new

11 This refers to radio and television programs that broadcase interviewees that openly profess their

personal feelings and anecdotes (see Illouz, 2003).In this sense, the transference to the public sphere

demonstrates the deconstruction of the meanings of friendship in contemporary society.

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research which focuses upon “open source software”, “wiki communities”, social

movements and cults which are established over the net or even attempts at launching

democratic systems in cyberspace, all demonstrate how activity over the net enables

an expansion of social reality and cooperation between “strangers” and unexpected

participants to create new digital products. Future research should address the

potential of youthful activity over the net, and investigate the implications of self

socialization on the new cultural developments of youth, the creation of new modes of

authority among adolescents which control these futuristic mediums ahead of other

social groups.