SULLIVAN, BRENDAN D. — EMERGING ADULT FACEBOOK USE: A PSYCHOANALYTIC CASE STUDY

Institute for Clinical Social Work

Emerging Adult Facebook Use: A Psychoanalytic Case Study

A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Institute for Clinical Social Work in Partial Fulfillment for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

By Brendan D. Sullivan

Chicago, Illinois 2017

Copyright © 2017 by Brendan D. Sullivan All rights reserved

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Abstract

This study set out to explore the subjective experiences of five emerging adult Facebook users through a hermeneutic case study methodology with an interpretive psychoanalytic theoretical framework valuing the co-construction of meaning. The lack of previous research regarding emerging adulthood and technology, especially within psychoanalytic discourse, was a significant motivation for this study.

This research examined the psychoanalytic meanings of emerging adult Facebook use, contextualized within a life-stage, object-relational construct relevant to the processes of self, development, and idiom. Each emerging adult participant was interviewed multiple times. In addition to narrative data, a visual analysis was conducted in order to supplement overall thematic patterns, providing a holistic embodiment of the case. Within-case analyses were developed into individual case reports.

These findings suggest that all of the participants used Facebook as an object for multiple purposes of developmental progression and formation of self, including the positive elaboration of self through their relationship with Facebook, as well as barriers to self-growth experienced by a collapse of potential space within Facebook. Furthermore, all participants used this social media platform as a type of developmental intermediate space for adult-related play and transitional progression. An unexpected, yet notable finding was the level and nature of unconscious communication that was experienced and facilitated through Facebook use.

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For Emily, Charlotte, and Teague.

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Acknowledgements

To the participants: I would like to thank you for your time, effort, and willingness to share your inner experiences sincerely. Your experiences provided the true essence of this project, constituting the imperative feature of the human spirit in this endeavor.

To the committee: I would like to thank my readers, Jim Grabowski and Judith Aronson, for your editorial eyes, wisdom, and genuine interest in the topic. I am grateful for Joan Servatius and Michael Casali, who contributed much, not only in terms of this research but also as mentors, teachers, and models of grace, tact, and clinical excellence.

Special thanks to thank Jennifer Tolleson, my teacher, advisor, and dissertation chair, for steadfast commitment to this project, faith in its pursuits and other intangible, yet exceedingly beneficial contributions to my growth as a student and person.

To all the faculty, consultants, staff, and classmates at ICSW: My gratitude goes out to each of you who contributed to an overall transformational experience in your own way, the gains of which extend far beyond the realms of academia.

BDS

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Table of Contents Page Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………..ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………….…...v List of Tables…………………………………………………………………………..ix Chapter I. Introduction……………………………………………………………….…...1 General Statement of Purpose Significance of the Study for Clinical Social Work Statement of the Problem and Research Objectives Research Questions Theoretical and Operational Definitions Statement of Assumptions Epistemological Foundation II. Literature Review……………………………………………………..……21 Meta-Psychoanalytic Developmental Theories Structures and Forms of Self: True Self, False Self, & Idiom Conceptualizations of Post-Adolescent Development Review of Psychoanalytic Literature on Computer-Mediated Communication

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Table of Contents—Continued

III. Methodology………………………………………………………………...67 Reintroduction of Major Approach Rationale for Qualitative Research Design Restatement of Epistemology Psychoanalytic Case Study Rationale Research Sample Research Design Data Collection Data Analysis Ethical Considerations

IV. Results.............................................................................................................82 Introduction Study Sample Case One: Sloane Case Two: Shooter Case Three: Ted Case Four: Bea Case Five: Stephanie

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Table of Contents—Continued

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V. Discussion and Conclusions………………………............…………………..…..178 Introduction Across-Case Categories of Meaning Implications

Appendices A. Recruitment Flyer………………………………………………………….237 B. Brief Screening Interview………………………….……………………....240 C. Informed Consent Script…………………………………………………..242 D. Informed Consent………………………………………………………….245 E. Demographic Questionnaire……………………………………………….249 F. Interview Questions………………………………………………...............251 References……………………………………………………………………...254

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List of Tables

Table

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1. Sample Demographics and Facebook Statistics………………………..……..80

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Chapter 1 Introduction

Problem Formulation The purpose of this study was to explore how emerging adults use Facebook.

Using an interpretive hermeneutic psychoanalytic case study methodology, this study examined the experiences of (n=5) five emerging adult participants in order to explore and construct the meaning of such use concerning idiomatic communications and developmental strivings.

As an exploratory case study, this research employed idiographic methods, specifically in order to co-create meanings between participant and researcher regarding emerging adult Facebook use as well as to delve into the particularly unique subjective experiences therein. Five individual case studies were created and analyzed within-case for categories of meaning, followed by an across-case analysis conducted by abstracting meta-categories of meaning from the sample as a whole, aggregate unit with relevance to emerging adult Facebook use. Psychoanalytic theory was used as a conceptual framework with which to interpret and construct themes as they emerged from the data.

Furthermore, a hermeneutic epistemology grounded the interpretive data analysis by 1) defining the role of the researcher as embedded in his own subjectivity when interpreting/co-constructing meaning, and by 2) providing an overall guiding ideal for

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ethical analysis that valued individual human experience (Gadamer, 1975; Hoffman, 2007; Stolorow & Atwood, 2013).

Hermeneutic validity criteria are robust and include various dimensions of the work, including aesthetic quality, coherence, and cohesiveness. Runyan (1984) offers other useful criteria for assessing the quality of this work, including: deepening our sympathy or empathy for the subject, helping us to understand the inner subjective world of the person; how they think about their own experience problems and life; being vivid, evocative, and emotionally compelling to read…effectively portraying the social and historical world that the person is living in and providing a feel for the person….(p. 152) Together, these values guided the creation of meaning, writing style, and other characteristics that led to the completion of the cases. Essentially, these criteria provide benchmarks for the reader to use when coming to their own conclusions regarding the validity and quality of the identified meanings.

Psychoanalytic Interpretive Theoretical Framework The data analysis used psychoanalytic theory as an interpretive framework, noting a value of “theoretical pluralism” similar to that used by Tolleson (1996). Psychoanalytic theory was a quintessential feature of this study. As a theoretical base, psychoanalytic theory provided breadth of diverse ideas and depth of phenomenological value, which this study sought as a tool to construct meaning.

The eclectic use of psychoanalytic theory had two overall functions. First, it assured the interpretation was not the result of a particular theoretical dogmatism or

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preconceived preference thereof. Prioritizing the visual and narrative data allowed for the use of theoretical concepts only if they most precisely reflected essential meanings.

This is not to say, however, that I did not value certain theoretical models and concepts. As a hermeneutic study, my aim is not to repress my particular subjective point of view, but rather to explicate it as thoroughly as possible. This foregrounding includes a clear elucidation of my own values, beliefs, and assumptions as they relate to the formation of meanings and conclusions.

Second, the commonly understood tenets of psychoanalytic theory, despite its many internal divisions, possess certain defining values irrespective of particular theoretical orientation or dogmatic line of thought, including authenticity, ideal of intimacy, acceptance of limitations, presence of private core, and an overall negotiation of self in environments and spaces (Seligman, 2011). Specifically, this discourse provided a wide array of intrapsychic and interpersonal concepts that allowed the developed themes to emerge primarily from the participant experiences. Essentially, the researcher was not restricted to one particular theoretical model with which to interpret participant experiences.

It should also be noted that the use of psychoanalytic theory assumes the presence of un/non/preconscious material, forces, and processes within and across individuals. The commonality that unites these three forms of the phenomena is their particular relation to conscious awareness. As there is little to no precedent with which to work from regarding psychoanalytic literature on emerging adult Facebook use, a very wide and diverse theoretical net was cast in order to accommodate the participant data that emerged, so that the unique idiosyncratic meanings were preserved, rather than overridden by theory.

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Conceptualizing the theoretical context of the individual within a digital environment was clearly a valued dimension of this study. In order to allow for a large and diverse pool of concepts, this research largely positioned the theoretical context in terms of objects versus space over the axis of time and self within a developmental construct. A brief overview of the most foundational concepts used in this study is provided here.

The term “object environment” is a concept referring to the people, places, and things (and spaces) with which an individual surrounds themselves, or is surrounded by, that does not include the self (Bollas, 1987, 1989, 1992). Object environments range from the physical/concrete to the more elaborate and abstract. For example, the mother’s breast is popularly cited (Bion, 1955; Fairbairn, 1952; Freud, 1917; Klein, 1975; Winnicott, 1968) as the first significant object in the infant’s life; her maternal field provides the first object environment.

This object, as well as parental objects and subsequent objects provided and encountered until certain ages, is, of course, not predominantly selected by the individual.

The individual is empowered to self-select objects only after a sense of will and agency has developed, at whatever time that may be (usually a result of both constitutional factors and environmental provisions). For the purposes of this study, I assume agency and will develop after the formation of the super-ego, and thus hallmark an everincreasing self-determination in terms of object selection and use.

The particular environment/spaces we inhabit, including the objects therein1 and how they are “used,” communicate psychologically relevant and meaningful information

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Unconsciously selected

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about ourselves, a term Bollas (1987, 1989, 1992) refers to as one’s personal “idiom.”

Bollas defines idiom as follows (1989): If idiom is, then, the it with which we are born, and if its pleasure is to elaborate itself through the choice of objects, one that is an intelligence of form rather than an expression of inner content, its work collides with the structure of objects that transform it, through which it gains its precise inner contents. (p. 59) Idiom, then, is both an experience and an innate potential, brought to life by interaction with evocative objects that give it its form. For example, it can be both an experience of peak vitality and yet also an aspect of the psychic structure. The individual seeks out and uses objects in order to experience and develop.

Optimally, the individual “uses”2 objects in his/her own environment that not only nurture but also stimulate their individual potential, leading to transformation, growth, and resonance with one’s true self and idiom of being (Bollas, 1989; Winnicott, 1971).

Bollas claims that object selection and use reveal aspects of one’s personal aesthetic or idiom.3 This research assumed that emerging adulthood is a crucial stage for objectrelational processes, which ultimately form aspects of the self. In no stage in life (arguably) is the process of decision making more thematically central and experientially immediate than that of emerging adulthood (Shulman, Blatt, & Feldman, 2006). This is the contemporarily defined stage (Cote, 2008, as cited in Arnett & Tanner, 2008) for

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“Inevitably the decision as to an object’s use rests with the unconscious aims of a person…we have before us an infinite number of things, which we may use in our own unique way to meet and to express the self that we are. Object selection is expression.” (Bollas, 1992, p. 34)

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young adults to explore ways of being, pursue various environments, and experiment with diverse objects, all in order to elaborate aspects of self.

The significance of object environments in the 21st century is that they exist increasingly on the internet, as more and more emerging adults use this medium4 (Facebook, 2017). In fact, Facebook use has become so popular that it is assumed a normative aspect of emerging adulthood, hardly a wild assumption when learning of the level of saturation among this demographic. The transfer5 of discourse from offline life to online life is significant because of the power the internet gives the individual, especially in terms of constructing his or her own identities (Turkle, 1994; Dye, 2007).

Jane D. Brown, (2008) a notable author and researcher on emerging adults and media at the University of North Carolina Chapel-Hill, reports: This new media environment is dramatically different from the one in which their parents grew up because it is more accessible, more interactive, and more under control than ever before. One might wonder if such unprecedented access to and use of media has affected who these young people are now and in the future…relatively little thought has been given to how emerging adults might use media in a way peculiar to this life stage. (p. 279) Brown recognizes the awe-inspiring implications of this technological development, both historically and within the context of the individual. Fifty years ago, the television

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As of January 2017, there were 53 million Facebook users between the ages of 18-35. This is the largest demographic of Facebook users to date. After Google, Facebook is the most visited website in the entire world. Currently (2017), 1.23 billion people visit Facebook on a daily basis (Facebook, 2017). Compare this number to 12 million in 2006 (Facebook, 2007), and one gets a scaled impression of this phenomenon.

Of a population totaling 73 million people (young adults/emerging adults), 54 million emerging adults in the US use Facebook (American Community Survey: 2009-2013; Facebook, 2017). Considering Facebook did not exist more than 12 years ago, its rapid saturation of roughly 75% of this entire American demographic is a testament to its significance as an object environment.

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Or “addition,” etc.

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represented a historical parallel in terms of the relative effect on sociocultural life.

However, the effect of the television on a societal level seems minor in comparison to the recent proliferation of advanced technologies in the social realm. In other words, there is no historical precedent with which to compare this societal phenomenon, thus necessitating the exploratory feature of this study.

Ultimately, this research is premised on the assumption that Facebook6 is in and of itself an object/space, similar (in terms of significance) to the more traditionally conceived objects with which individuals relate, such as parents, family, friends, peers, personal artifacts, and cultural relics7 (Blumenthal, 2015; Erikson, 1959; Jacobson, 1964; Winnicott, 1971). If Facebook is considered an object in its own right, then the way emerging adults relate to it must contain meaning (Tolleson, personal communication, 2017).8 In sum, it is clear that on a broad level, emerging adults have elected Facebook as an object/space with which to interact for various purposes. However, on an individual level, the particular psychoanalytic meanings of these uses, most notably in regard to the development of psychological maturation and development, are surprisingly absent in the current literature. A major objective of this exploratory study was to provide an introductory investigation into the meaningful effects of social media on emerging adulthood, using a psychoanalytic framework valuing dimensions of authenticity,

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Graham (2013) defines Facebook as a particularly significant “digital object” to which many young people relate, and yet little to nothing is understood of its use in this way.

7 This research will not attempt to personify Facebook, but rather conceive of it as an abstract object.

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transitional phenomena, psychic space, intimacy, isolation, and idiomatic or true selfalignment.

Personal subjective framework.

My own subjective position undoubtedly influenced the ways I interpreted and communicated the data in this research. Specifically, as a young adult, parent, millennial, and Facebook user, I can identify with many of the participants’ experiences and am both shaped and possibly limited by this situatedness. The proximity of my own subjectivity and age in relation to the population of inquiry may prove valuable as a source of empathy, identification, and insight. However, it is also possible that I am limited by this perspective. I know no aspect of adulthood without the presence of social media, and thus have no reference point for comparison.

Furthermore, I felt compelled to explore the depths of this generation’s media use, as I presume depth of meaning can exist anywhere given the intent to look for it.

Although I admit I have no particular loyalties to Facebook and have only been a minimal user at best, this website represented what I believe to be a symbol of the ethos of my generation, thus presenting the ultimate opportunity with which to pursue further inquiry.

In this regard, I desired to use a psychoanalytic theoretical model in order to integrate what is considered “old” with something like Facebook that is considered “new” so that what is old is not lost and what is new is not overly cherished. This marriage of discourses represented a desire to fuse seemingly incompatible bedfellows in the spirit of creating a new meaningful perspective aimed at achieving a depth of meaning. The

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ultimate goal was not to arrive at certain qualitative judgments about Facebook being “good” or “bad,” nor to vindicate millennials, but rather to explore the vicissitudes of meaning for the individual within a psychoanalytic spatial construct of self in a mezzo environment.

Upon reflection, I believe that the individual, at the very core, has a unique core self, and that this “nucleus” seeks expression, elaboration, meaning, and ultimately resonance with the environment. I do not rule out the possibility that what I am interested in flirts with aspects of the soul or spirituality; however, I acknowledge that it is at this point where a further discussion of this matter potentially exceeds the scope of this inquiry. This assumption about human nature is a personal belief that has undoubtedly shaped the formation of meaning herein. The participant data surely echoed this sentiment by celebrating the depths, wonders, and uniqueness of human idiom.

Ultimately, this research represents an attempt to fuse the background of my identifications, assumptions, values, and beliefs with the foreground of the participants’ experiences in order to create a product that represents a synthesis of distant temporal, historical, subjective, and intra-subjective variables, that are, ultimately, reflective of a new horizon of meaning.

Significance for clinical social work.

One potential benefit of this study is the development of theory regarding the function of Facebook, especially concerning the complex interplay between individual and society. This research is significant for the field of clinical social work as it may increase the capacity to understand patient uses of digital environments in regard to

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identity formation and development. In addition, it may offer another source of information (social media use) whereby clinicians can better empathize and deepen treatment processes. As an unquestionable object with which emerging adults invest considerable relational time, energy, and meaning, the fact that Facebook use has remained unstudied in psychoanalytic literature is quite astonishing. One would think that an object of this importance has significant meaning in the lives of emerging adult patients, a meaning perhaps as relevant to their lives as relationships have traditionally been understood to be in the context of therapy.

Finally, recent research indicates that emerging adults, at present, represent a population that experiences higher-than-average levels of mental illness and substance abuse. Mental health practitioners will benefit from an increased understanding of the way young adults use Facebook as a tool for healthy psychological development and idiomatic expression, or conversely, as a way to preserve conservative states of being and forestall growth and wellness. Processes of healthy individuation have become more complex with the advent and proliferation of digital environments like Facebook, which challenge traditional notions of identity construction (Brown, 2006).

In addition, research in this area may help clinicians by acting as another way to both empathize and deepen therapeutic processes and knowledge. Graham (2013) supports the need for further research on digital platforms like Facebook, specifically for clinicians. He posits: It is my view, in our current work, a growing understanding of Internet Psychology and the digital world will be necessary if we are to support the wellbeing and development of those accessing our services‌Tentative phantasies,

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curiosity or pre-conceptions can easily find solid confirmation online, and the risk is that a vulnerable person feels unable to question what is discovered, either good or bad. The impact of digital content or objects appears greatest when an individual feels alone in their navigation of the digital world…we must learn to think with our patients about these experiences; indeed someone’s online life may be a royal road to unconscious phantasies, mated with a vast sea of potential confirmations. (p. 278) This research may expand the current literature on emerging adults to include their relationship(s) with technology as an object in its own right. Facebook is psychologically significant because of its ability to condense mostly disparate (infinitely varied) relationships in one’s life into one unified representational object or “digital object” (Graham, 2013). Furthermore, as a new “space,” it offers opportunities for various formations of self, including those transitional and development in nature.

Ultimately, the emerging adult’s relationship with this new object and space will deepen clinicians’ understanding of the experience of emerging adults as they come to further empathize with emerging adult experiences, as well as aid researchers as they explore the nature of life and identity within a digital cultural milieu. Specifically, clinicians may benefit from the findings of this study by learning about the Facebook use of these specific participants as they progress through this significant developmental stage in which aspects of identity are both experienced and perhaps, to a certain extent, crystalized.

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Research Objectives There were two general objectives for this study: 1.

To explore the relationship and idiomatic meanings of Facebook use among emerging adults.

2. To fill a gap in the psychological literature pertaining to subjective experiences of emerging adults and technology.

These two objectives are mutually reinforcing as the gap in research motivates the exploration, and the exploration of idiom ultimately helps fill the gap in research. These objectives were clearly related to the research’s significance for clinical social work as well as the statement of the problem detailed below.

Statement of the Problem Methodological problem.

As previously stated, the existing research on emerging adults is limited, and its most notable authors urgently plead for further qualitative research into the relationship between emerging adults and media (Brown, 2006, 2008). Although specific research on emerging adults and social media use has recently been published (Vannucci, Flannery, & Ohannessian, 2016) and is useful for understanding the relationship between use and anxiety, it is quantitatively focused and does not explore the subjective experiences of emerging adults.

This small example reflects a pattern of the literature field at large, that is, a prioritizing of generalizability and objectification at the cost of understanding in-depth processes and meanings on the individual level—a true methodological concern. Atwood

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and Stolorow (2013) provide a cogent summary of the methodological trend seen in contemporary academic psychological literature and reflected in the paucity of research on in-depth individual meanings: The essence of this tradition (the personological tradition) is found in its central methodology—the intensive, in-depth case study. Personology rests on the assumption that meaningful questions about human personality must be framed and answered in terms of individual lives and personal worlds, understood in all their idiosyncrasy and complexity. This is in contrast to the long-standing practice of the academic psychology of personality, which has concerned itself with the quantifying investigation of so-called personality variables that are studied across populations of different individuals. (p. 285) This quotation captures precisely the motivation and perhaps necessity of case study research, not only as an endangered species of inquiry and method but also because it explores the unique aspects of the individual, something that has essentially been replaced by academic psychology’s perceived value of empirical variables and big data.

Presently, there are only sparse amounts of research that explore the psychoanalytic meanings of social media use (Graham, 2013; Hartman, 2011, 2012; Muchnick & Buirski, 2016, Lingiardi, 2008, 2011; Seligman, 2011; Turkle, 2011).

Furthermore, no research exists that explores the intersection of psychoanalytic theory, social media use, and emerging adulthood. Perhaps exploratory research in this area may help illuminate risks, issues, and meanings of use not currently provided in the literature field to date regarding the intersection of these three unstudied variables.

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Societal problems.

In addition to its methodological issues, recent research indicates that the current cohort of emerging adults experiences higher levels of mental illness than any other adult cohort (Viner & Tanner, 2009). In their 2009 study, Viner and Tanner found that 40% of the participants met the diagnostic criteria for a psychiatric illness, whether it was depression, anxiety, or substance abuse. In addition, recent demographic trends indicate that this group has more difficulty navigating the transition into adulthood and tend to fall to one side or the other of the identity dialectic (Shulman, Blatt, & Feldman, 2006). This understanding has amplified the need for further research into this age group, specifically concerning the ways that media and technology are used for psychological purposes relevant to developmental progression.

Research Questions The superordinate question framing this research was: “How do emerging adults use Facebook?” A psychoanalytic theoretical framework was employed in order to concentrate this general aim into specific areas of inquiry. Specifically, theories regarding emerging adult developmental tasks, ego capacities, and object-relational phenomena helped contextualize this inquiry, further shaping it as a truly pluralistic endeavor.

Subsequent questions that guided this research: 1. How do emerging adults relate to Facebook as an object/space?

2. What are the psychoanalytic meanings associated with this object relationship?

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3. How is Facebook used as an object/space for the potential articulation, expression, and development of personal idiom?

4. How is Facebook used as an object/space for transformation and growth and/or for foreclosure and developmental arrest?

Definitions of Major Concepts The following are general definitions of the most commonly used and theoretically significant terms in this study.

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Young Adult. A term noted to represent those who are chronologically between the ages of 18-35 years and/or reflect a level of development and maturity associated with this age of being and its milestones. Primary tasks include separation and individuation from a family of origin, identity development, and explorations of beliefs. There is considerable variance in the literature regarding the definition of young adulthood, both chronologically and conceptually. For the sake of simplicity, this researcher will use the term “young adult” to refer to a developmental epoch ranging from post-adolescence until adulthood proper, encompassing the span of emerging adulthood.

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Emerging Adult(hood). This particular subset of the young adult developmental period, ranging in age from 22-29 years, is considered the “…age of identity explorations, especially in the areas of love and work” (Arnett, 2006).

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Facebook. This website is the largest and most used social networking website in the world (Facebook, 2017).

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Object Usage. This term denotes a capacity to recognize other subjects as separate, external beings beyond the domain of illusion or omnipotent control (Winnicott, 1968). In addition, it is used in this study to reflect functions in service of self-development.

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Object Relating. In this form of relating, there is a lack of capacity to recognize other(s) as distinct/separate center(s) of independent initiative.

This implies that the subject perceives of others as within the realm of omnipotent control, failing to see the externality of the other beyond that realm of control (Winnicott, 1968).9

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Idiom. An idiom is an individual’s ultimately nameless “intelligence of form” (Bollas, 1992), which expresses itself through selection and use of objects in the environment that make the individual feel alive, real, and ultimately enhance psychological self-awareness (or resonance with the true self).

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Transitional space. Considered the area of experience, this space is neither external nor internal within which object-usage phenomena take place.

Winnicott defines this space as “the intermediate area of experiencing, to which inner reality and external life both contribute….the intermediate area between the subjective and that which is objectively perceived” (Winnicott, 1971, pp. 231-232). It is also referred to as a “third area of communication”

This should be distinguished from this researcher’s colloquial use of the term “object relationship” several times in this study. Object relationship has no particular valence and is used to communicate general interactions between someone and something.

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defined as an “area of shared symbols, where the most intimate negotiations occur in the overlap between the subjective worlds of self and other, where two people may engage in the creative exchange of gestures, or squiggles, and construct mutually useful metaphors” (Pizer, 1992).

Statement of Assumptions

The following are general assumptions made by the researcher in order to explore

the study questions. These assumptions represent logical premises upon which the further exploration of this topic are based.

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Emerging adulthood is a distinct developmental period. One of the most influential life-stages for object choice, use, and relating is emerging adulthood. Historically, ego psychologists considered adolescence (Erikson, 1950, 1959) to be the most significant stage of identity development. However, in the past 50 years, various social, economic, and cultural factors have contributed to a major shift in the definition and conceptualization of adolescence/adulthood (Côté, 2008, as cited in Arnett & Tanner, 2008).

The product of these changes is the reconceptualization of adolescence and the addition of emerging adulthood into the developmental life-stage lexicon. This research moves forward with the assumption that emerging adulthood, rather than adolescence, is the primary stage of identity development (Arnett, 2008, as cited in Arnett & Tanner, 2008).

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2.

Emerging adults use Facebook in a regular way. Eighty-eight percent (55 million) of the total population of 18-29-year-olds in the United States use Facebook, reflecting the highest proportion of users among any age range (Pewinternet.org). No existing institution, whether cyber or physical, has anywhere near the relationship that Facebook does with the emerging adult aggregate psyche.

There is no doubt that there is a relationship between emerging adults and Facebook or that the relationship is significant, albeit poorly understood. Furthermore, this research moves forward with the assumption that Facebook use is a normative feature of the emerging adult experience.

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Facebook use is a form of object relationship. Ultimately, this research is premised on the assumption that Facebook is in and of itself an object10, not dissimilar to the more traditionally conceived objects with which individuals relate, such as family, friends, peers, personal artifacts, and cultural relics.11 (Blumenthal, 2015; Erikson, 1959; Jacobson, 1964; Winnicott, 1968). Furthermore, if Facebook is considered an object in its own right, then the way emerging adults relate to it contains meaning (Tolleson, Personal Communication 2017). The purpose of this study is to explore this meaning, whatever it may be. In addition, this object relationship may facilitate the use of “spaces” for transitional phenomena,

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“Object” as understood by Bollas (1987, 1989, 1992) This research will not attempt to personify Facebook, but rather conceive of it as an abstract object

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development, psychological experience, and or intimacy/avoidance in derivative relationships.

Epistemological Foundation This study employed a hermeneutic epistemology to ground the exploration and interpretation of emerging adult Facebook use. This philosophical framework was specifically used to orient the researcher regarding claims to truth, methods of analysis and validity of findings.

Hermeneutics is a branch of epistemology defined largely by its divergence from empiricism. Empiricism was founded for the study of the “natural sciences” and therefore holds several fundamental assumptions about the nature of truth and reality. Specifically, empiricism argues that knowledge is built cumulatively over time and that there is a known and objective reality, which one can perceive by striving for objectivity.

Presumably, the observer is capable of having a neutral and bias-free perception of externality. Empirical knowledge is appraised relative to the extent it can be repeated, replaced, and generalized (Creswell, 2013; Hoffman, 2007).

In contrast, hermeneutics proposes that objectivity is neither possible nor desirable due to the researcher’s own inescapable subjectivity. It is this subjectivity, however, that adds richness, depth, and uniqueness to the co-constructed interpretations of meaning. This value placed on inherent individual uniqueness is a major distinction between hermeneutics and other branches of epistemology, namely empiricism.

Following this general understanding is a more specific and practical application of hermeneutics (Gadamer, 1975), especially regarding the methods of interpretation.

When interpreting text, the researcher attempts to become aware of his own biases,

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prejudices, and fore-meanings so that “the text can present itself in all its otherness and thus assert its own truth against one's own fore-meanings” (pp. 271-272).

Here, Gadamer posits a more practical grasp on processes of understanding.

Specifically, one must project oneself onto/into the other’s (language, text) position. A potential hazard of this technique involves the researcher/interpreter’s ability to understand. Rather than encountering the text in its “alterity,” in this case, the interpreter projects his own meaning onto it (Gadamer, 2004). A method used to increase validity in this manner is member checking, a valuable tool used in this study whereby participants review interpretations and provide feedback as needed.

The significance of this epistemological stance can be found in the conditions it places on claims made by the researcher, both historically and temporally. Furthermore, the findings do not represent claims to the truth regarding emerging adult Facebook use in universal terms, but are rather the result of interpretations grounded in this specific time, place, culture, and subjectivity. These findings are the interpretations of meaning derived from an intersubjective field, which is neither repeatable nor replaceable (Gadamer, 2004).

This research is presented in such a fashion as to empower the reader to evaluate the evidence and reach their own conclusions. In this way, the research findings may be applicable to clinicians, mental health professionals, theorists, teachers, and students as they see fit. Furthermore, by foregrounding my own values, beliefs, and assumptions, the reader can observe the particular effects of my subjectivity on the formation of the conclusions and results.

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Chapter II

Literature Review Meta-Psychological Developmental Theories Foundational metapsychological concepts and historical development.

Distinguishing between internal and external, as well as between individual and collective, has been the subject of much controversy within psychoanalytic research.

Although these differences in opinion span varying dimensions of meta-psychological discourse, one of the most contentious topics involves the nature of human motivational systems. Those in the Freudian tradition believe internal life and death forces,12 more commonly referred to as the aggressive and libidinal drives, are the foundational source of human behavior, meaning, and psychology. Others believe that the human need for connection is the ultimate organizer of psychological meaning, even capable of shaping the very quality of the drives themselves (Mitchell, 1988). Although not all psychoanalytic work can be understood solely through this construct, it provides a necessary metapsychological premise, sufficient for the exploration of human motivation inclusive of both internal and external stimuli.

For the purposes of this chapter, we will use the works of a few notable scholars (Sigmund Freud, Erik Erikson, Melanie Klein, Donald Winnicott, Christopher Bollas, Thomas Ogden, Jessica Benjamin) to outline various approaches to the understanding of human motivational nature as it applies to the formation of psychic structure or identity.

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“Eros and Thanatos”

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The function of this argument with regards to this literature review is not to reach an ultimate conclusion, but rather to a) maintain the spirit of theoretical pluralism by including diverse, even theoretically contradictory positions; b) provide a broad theoretical spectrum to use to interpret varied facets of emerging adult behavior and meaning; and c) to contextualize the broad range of conceptual ideas with regards to the formation of psychic structure.

Instincts, drives, and life/death force.

As mentioned previously, Freud’s metapsychological conceptions were organized around the idea of drives: a positive life force, termed the “libidinal drive,”13 and a negative death instinct, or “aggressive drive” (Freud, 1917, p.249). Freud considered the source, aim and object of the libidinal drive, but the concept of object-relations was elaborated by others.

Thus, psychopathology is the result of an inner conflict of energies, representing psychic “build up” of varying ranges and infinite manifestations, meaningfully attached to “fixation” points during which development was stunted.

This energy is cathected through external objects that subsequently reduce the previously built-up charge. As maturation proceeds, inner structures presumably evolve to channel these energies into mature, realistic, and age-appropriate manners. Translated into psychic structure, these mechanisms equate to the id, ego, and superego, abstractions denoting dynamic organizations with agentic qualities (Ogden, 1990).

13

The life-force or libidinal drive evolves into the narcissistic line of development.

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Social considerations of identity formation.

As mentioned previously, although Freud considered objects in so far as they are the source and aim of libidinal energies (Freud, 1917, p. 249), subsequent theorists changed the focus from the drives to objects in the environment. Moving forward, each psychoanalytic theorist can be understood in terms of his or her particular deviations from and/or additions to the drive model.

Eric Erikson is most commonly recognized for his contributions expanding the psychoanalytic concept of “ego” to “ego-identity,” creating a synthesis between the individual ego and social reality (Erikson, 1959). Erikson defines the varying levels of identity when he writes: By letting the term identity speak for itself on a number of connotations, at one time…it will appear to refer to a conscious sense of individual identity; at another to an unconscious striving for a continuity of personal character; at a third, as a criterion for the silent doings of ego synthesis; and finally, as maintenance of an inner solidarity with a group’s ideals and identity. (1959, p. 102) Erikson’s epigenetic model of development marked a departure from Freud’s purely biological model of drives (Mitchell & Black, 1995) as it stressed the influence of societal cultural identity formation. Mitchell and Black (1995, p. 148) distinguish the core differences between these two models thusly: In his integration of Freud’s maturational timetable of biological instincts with the structure of social institutions, Erikson transformed the psychoanalytic understanding of both drives and the social world. For Freud, social reality is the realm in which the drives are gratified or frustrated; for Erikson, social reality is a

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realm that shapes the drives in a culturally distinct fashion. In Freud’s framework, the individual is pushed by the drives; in Erikson’s framework, the individual is pushed by the drives and pulled by social institutions.

Freud’s model of identity formation was based largely on the idea that identificatory processes were largely complete following resolution of the Oedipus complex. The sum total of the parental introjects gave way to a burgeoning super-ego, which provided the child’s self-concept and self-definition through these identifications.

The super-ego development of social sentiment, according to Freud, represented not a new or genuine social concern, but rather a defense against aggressive and destructive drive impulses (Mitchell, 1988, p. 51).

Specifically, it is the loss of an object (parents) in the external world (or a function, characteristic) that inspires identification, not in an effort to maintain connectedness, but rather in an effort to find a substitute for a “lost gratification (Mitchell, 1988, p. 51).” Thus, for Freud, the “object” has little significance on the establishment of identity beyond its use as a means to satisfy drives.

In comparison, Erikson believed that these parental identifications marked not an end to identificatory processes, but rather a beginning whereby the individual becomes disinterested “in merely adopting the roles and personality attributes of parents” (Sokol, 2009). As Erikson wrote, “Identity formation begins when the usefulness of identification ends” (1968).

Furthermore, Erikson’s epigenetic model marked a re-conceptualization of the processes upon which identity was formed, extending the boundaries both longitudinally (lifespan) and environmentally (cultural negotiation) in order to include the later stages of

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life, as well as the cultural milieu. For Erikson, the drives existed but were undoubtedly apt to be formed by the social/relational/cultural environment in which they existed. His model of epigenetics favored a sequential unfolding of potentials, brought to life by the resolution of one of the eight maturational stages (Palombo et al., 2009, p. 207). Freud’s concept essentially dismissed the individual’s capacity and willingness to seek and construct differentiated and extra-parental identifications.

The major difference between the developmental theories of Erikson and postFreudian theorists, such as Klein and Winnicott, is the broad scope of Erikson’s theory.

His theory extends across the entire lifespan and reflects an iterative process of identity formation. Upon each stage, the individual is forced to make decisions regarding various psychosocial tasks, “forced” only in the sense that there exist points in time when the potential for growth is highest and self-awareness has exponential value.

In Erikson’s model, as previously mentioned, the individual plays an active role in the selection of identifications (beyond childhood), even so far as being able to internalize aspects of certain identifications or objects while shedding others. His eight stages then function as time-respective catalysts for decisions to be made regarding the qualities of internalizations/identifications. The goal of this process, according to Erikson, is an ego synthesis characterized by a sense of continuity with the present as well as an anticipated future (Erikson, 1968).

Unlike Erikson, Klein and Winnicott did not explicate their models into the stages of life beyond early childhood and infancy, nor did they account for complex environmental synthesis as Erikson did. Winnicott, who will be discussed at length later in this work, focused mostly on maternal facilitation. Furthermore, although there is some

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similarity between Klein’s paranoid/schizoid-depressive position and Erikson’s first stage of trust versus mistrust, Klein’s concept is generally considered an intra-psychic model dealing with inner conflicts and the regulation of internal drives, with little relation to the actual caregiver/environment (Borden, 2009).

Both Klein and Winnicott’s models hold certain assumptions about the formation of identity. Specifically, these object-relational theorists assume that identity is predominantly formed during early years of life over which the infant has little conscious control. Furthermore, all three theorists pivot from Freud’s conception of drives in their own particular ways, retaining some ideas and discarding others. For example, Klein thought aggression to be an intentional and formidable aspect of development. Winnicott believed aggression’s purpose was two-fold: a source of energy to spur development along and a reaction to frustration.

Internal objects.

Melanie Klein was an integral founder of the object-relational movement. Her ideas, namely her theory of development in object relations, bear considerable theoretical significance for this study. Klein’s conception of the paranoid/schizoid-depressive position provides a formative view of developmental processes on one’s later identity.

Klein introduced the concept of the paranoid/schizoid-depressive position in 1946 when she presented “notes on some schizoid mechanisms” (Klein, 1946). Here, Klein outlines concepts significant for object-relational thought, including projection, introjection, identification, and splitting. Klein (1946) argues:

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I have often expressed my view that object-relations exist from the beginning of life, the first object being the mother’s breast which to the child becomes split into a good (gratifying) and bad (frustrating) breast; this splitting results in a severance of love and hate. I have further suggested that the relation to the first object (the breast) implies its introjection and projection, and thus from the beginning objectrelations are moulded by an interaction between introjection and projection, between internal and external objects and situation. (pp. 1-2) Klein uses the mother’s breast as a representation of the first object relation. The infant, in an effort to contain what is “good,” separates it from the “bad” so as not to risk contamination. This creates a spectrum of emotional states, bookended by idealization on one extreme and paranoia on the other. Klein claims these experiences, both good and bad, are hallucinations. The cumulative effects and characteristics of this stage are what Klein refers to as the “paranoid-schizoid position.”

Ideally, as Klein argues, the mother helps the child integrate the good with the bad over the course of months of interactions. Successful accomplishment of this task hallmarks arrival at the “depressive position.” Klein describes this process when she reports: The loved and hated aspects of the mother are no longer felt to be so widely separated, and the result is an increased fear of loss, states akin to mourning and a strong feeling of guilt because the aggressive impulses are felt to be directed against the loved object. The depressive position has come to the fore. The very experience of depressive feelings, in turn, has the effect of further integrating the ego, because it makes for an increased understanding of psychic reality and better

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perception of the external world, as well as for a greater synthesis between inner and external situations (1946, p. 14) Klein defines the depressive position as one in which a more realistic perception of external reality takes place. However, Klein is clear that this process occurs gradually over the course of a few years during which “anxieties lose in strength; objects become both less idealized and less terrifying, and the ego becomes more unified. All this is interconnected with the growing perception of reality and adaptation to it” (p.15). In this way, the previously split objects containing love and hate are fused, and thus perceived as whole and as subjects in their own right.

Simply achieving the depressive position is not, however, the ultimate task. The child must work through the depressive position by internalizing the good and bad representations, resulting in an increased capacity for reality testing as well as a capacity for spontaneity and realistic happiness, as opposed to manic idealization (Klein, 1946, pp.

16-20).

In sum, Klein warns against interpreting these stages as discrete, clearly demarcated phases. Rather, she characterizes the phases as “intermingled and interacting” (p. 16) across linear development. In fact, Klein elaborates on the non-linear nature of these phases, reporting that one may always be inclined towards particular regressions, be they paranoid, schizoid, or manic-depressive. These manifestations in adults, Klein argues, reflect disruptions of integration in early life.

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Object relating and object usage.

Another researcher who is largely credited with the development of objectrelations metapsychology is D.W. Winnicott. Like Klein, Winnicott helped extend psychoanalytic discourse to include a two-person meta-psychology. For the purposes of this research, Winnicott’s definition of the concepts of object relating, object usage and transitional space will be discussed.

First, it is necessary to clarify Winnicott’s definition of the term object relating, which differs considerably from the manner in which it was used by Klein. According to Winnicott, object relating is not a way to describe healthy interactions. Rather, he uses the term to convey a lack of capacities for healthy relationships. In other words, object relating is presumed to signify qualities more similar to narcissistic interaction. This type of interaction is characterized by a refusal or inability to recognize the object as its own independent center of initiative and agency (Ogden, 1990: Winnicott, 1968).

Per Winnicott, object relating is a pathological outgrowth of the early primary caretaker-child relationship in which the small child was unable (or unwilling) to recognize the distinct and separate nature of the caretaker. According to this theory, the pain and fear associated with the recognition of utter dependence may result in the refusal of allowing such a realization to occur. Extrapolated to later life, the child, and now the adult, may view others as extensions of themselves or their projections, rather than discrete and separate entities (Ogden, 1990; Winnicott, 1968).

Object usage, then, is the developed capacity to perceive external objects as subjects in their own right and as an experience. It is captured as an “objective sense where one encounters the object’s quality of being fundamentally itself, outside of the

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sphere of projective mechanisms, what Bollas calls the integrity of the object” (Jemstedt, p. 124).

This process reflects an example of object usage, where the individual joyfully discovers the authentic realness of the object beyond the individual realm of omnipotence, illusion, and control (Winnicott, 1969; Jemstedt, 1997). This process indicates a level of developmental maturity whereby relationships become enlivening, stimulating, and formative.

Winnicott goes on to argue that reaching this milestone, although necessary, is in no way a permanent resolution. In fact, maintaining this achievement requires constant effort as healthy individuals will always experience the “tension” of mediating inner and external reality. He argues: It is assumed here that the task of reality-acceptance is never completed, that no human being is free from the strain of relating inner and outer reality, and that relief from this strain is provided by an intermediate area of experience (cf. Riviere, 1936) which is not challenged (arts, religion, etc.). This intermediate area is in direct continuity with the play area of the small child who is ‘lost’ in play. (Winnicott, 1971, p. 13) Object usage, although strenuous, reflects capacities for flexibility, accommodation, and genuine love for that which is diverse (not-me; McWilliams, 1994; Winnicott, 1969). Furthermore, object usage is a necessary accomplishment in order to transform, develop, and articulate one’s personal idiom (Bollas, 1987, 1989). Logically, one must develop the ability to recognize the difference in others prior to the use of this difference in developing/transforming the self.

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Transitional objects and transitional space.

Winnicott expands the discussion of the nature of internal and external phenomena by including the concepts of transitional space and transitional phenomenon as a “third” kind of space beyond/within the distinct realms of subject and object (Winnicott, 1951, 1971).

The transitional object becomes the first “not me” possession for the infant.

Common prototypical examples of this object include blankets, pacifiers, and teddy bears employed by infants and small children for a variety of purposes ranging from comfort and soothing to reassuring and sorting (Winnicott, 1951, p. 237). Winnicott stresses that this transitional object is neither internal (as Klein argues), nor external, but rather a possession lying in an intermediate space between the two. He says, “The transitional object is never under magical control like the internal object, nor is it outside control as the real mother is” (Winnicott, 1951, p. 238).

Winnicott provides defining characteristics of the transitional object here (Winnicott, 1951): 1. The transitional object stands for the breast, or the object of the first relationship.

2. The transitional object antedates established reality testing.

3. In relation to the transitional object, the infant passes from (magical) omnipotent control to control by manipulation.

4. The transitional object may eventually develop into a fetish object and so persist as a characteristic of the adult sexual life.

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5. The transitional object may, because of anal erotic organization, stand for feces (but it is not for this reason that it may become smelly or unwashed). (p. 238) Transitional space is considered the area of experience, neither external nor internal, within which this object-usage phenomenon takes place. Winnicott defines this space as “the intermediate area of experiencing, to which inner reality and external life both contribute … the intermediate area between the subjective and that which is objectively perceived” (Winnicott, 1951, pp. 231-232).

The significance of this transitional space is that it is largely unchallenged in terms of it being illusory or real. Throughout one’s life, transitional objects and spaces are used in order to facilitate play, creative enterprise, and suspension of judgment.

Essentially, transitional space is necessary to allow illusory experiences to occur, experiences free from the tension inherent in reality testing. Moving on in development, the individual “de-cathects” energetic investment into the particular object and, ideally, gains awareness of “larger cultural fields.” This process provides a gradual titration of reality acceptance for the infant/child. Transitional space and transitional objects are used throughout the lifespan in order to facilitate the growing recognition of reality (Winnicott, 1951).

Jessica Benjamin (1990, 1995, 2004) expands upon this concept and succinctly conceptualizes the placement of pathology on a continuum including both intra-psychic and interpersonal (or intersubjective) phenomena. Servatius (2010) paraphrases the implications of Benjamin’s work in her dissertation, writing, “She (Benjamin) underscores the ongoing movement between self-assertion that negates the other

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(intrapsychic fantasy) and the recognition of the persisting other (external reality, Intersubjectivity) in human relationships….” (pp. 42-43).

The concepts of intersubjectivity and intrapsychic fantasy are useful tools for interpreting emerging adult Facebook use and its meaning. These concepts span varying degrees of object relating and object usage and provide a useful context with which to understand meaning within emerging adult Facebook use. Specifically, it is possible that individual Facebook use contains meaning on both intrapsychic and interpersonal levels.

Furthermore, the concept of a transitional space may be valuable for interpreting emerging adult behavior, as emerging adults may use Facebook as a kind of transitional space for developmental tasks.

Intermediate space.

Christopher Bollas elaborates Winnicott’s ideas, particularly those about the facilitating environment and the true self (Bollas, 1987, 1989, 1992). Psychoanalytic objects, Bollas states, are the things in our environments that we “use” and experience for the ultimate purpose of self-realization or psychic realization (1992).

Bollas (1987, 1989) has also written extensively on the topic of transformational objects and the transformational environment, especially regarding the processes by which people use objects in their environments in order to transform the self. He is primarily concerned with the individual’s use of objects in the environment for a further development of their own inherent/unique subjectivity that “in an intermediate space-give reality to our lives” (Bollas, 1992).

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As Bollas sees it, the objects one surrounds themselves with are the very things that give one’s true self, or idiom, its “inner contents,” or psychic structure. He says (1992): A person’s idiom is itself an implicate logic of form-partly inherited, partly acquired-which generates visions of self and object. The unconscious skill involved in selecting objects that will release this form to its realization derives from the infant’s innate ability to fashion a psychic reality from lived experience.

The sense of vision that most people possess is energized by the destiny drive, the very particular urge to develop the form of one’s private idiom through the articulating and elaborating experiences of object usage. (pp. 59-62)

In Being a Character, Bollas (1992, pp. 31-32) outlines six categories of potential

object use. He suggests these objects both evoke and contain self-states, ultimately stimulating us in ways he organizes into categories of use: a) sensationally, b) structurally, c) conceptually, d) symbolically, e) mnemically, and f) projectively. These categories of object-stimulation offer a generally broad base from which to interpret the meaning of emerging adult Facebook use. As an example, one emerging adult may use Facebook in order to contain a certain self-state (projective), while another may prefer to use Facebook as a repository of significant visual memories (mnemic).

The particular uses of intermediate space can also indicate whether an individual is using the environment to further development, or, conversely, to foreclose growth.

Space is necessary for the reception of new object experiences and for ultimate transformation. For example, Gergen (1992), a scholar who studies effects of modernculture on identity, reports that many tend to project their internal space into material

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objects, possessions, or other man-made items replete in a hyper-advertised consumerist society. Unfortunately, this environmental object experience crowds the individual’s ability to hold space for the reception of others, (intersubjective space) but also for reception of themselves as objects (intrasubjective space; Bollas, 1989).

As one example of a misuse of psychic space, Bollas frequently mentions the existence and prevalence of a “normotic illness” in which the individual treats him or herself as an object, losing touch with this subjective idiom of being, crucial to feeling alive. Bollas describes the normotic illness as “a particular drive to be normal…typified by the numbing and eventual erasure of subjectivity in favor of a self that is conceived as a material object among other man-made products of the object world” (p. 135).

There are many other ways that space within the self and other are misused or unused. A common example of pathological object relating is referred to as the “schizoid” pathology. The term “schizoid” means, etymologically, “split” (McWilliams, 1994, p. 191). This split represents the separation between the self and the outside world and between “the experienced self and desire” (p. 192). Schizoid phenomena ultimately represent a withdrawal from active and realistic engagement with the world, despite an intense longing for closeness. Although individuals may seek distance to feel safe, they simultaneously feel alienated and lonely because of this distance, thus representing a most tragic inherent conflict in which needs are never satisfied (p. 193).

Bollas (1987, 1989) describes the clinical appearance of the schizoid as one “whom although talented and skilled in many areas, is often “sad and bereft, without being clinically depressed” (Bollas, 1987). According to him, many people with this personality structure are inherently split, creating an internal distance between their

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awareness and true self-knowing. This pathology appears to be one particular type of defensive, maladaptive use of objects, which only conserves, thus failing to promote identity formation.

Another particular pathology in transformational object relating has characteristics similar to the schizoid experience (McWilliams, 1994, p. 193) characterized by a conservation of rituals, routines and defenses aimed at preventing investment in objects and stunting necessary transformations in development. By keeping this space open for the reception of a fantasied yet improbable experience, valuable psychic space is sealed off from realistic use. This space is therefore unavailable for the reception of new, potentially transformative, objects which—unlike the wished for fantasies—-exist in reality and are rich with transformative potential.

Another example of a pathological object relation is referred to as the “conservative process.” Here, the individual conserves past objects, moods, and selfstates in the hope that they will be returned to and amended, or provided for. However, by retaining an empty space for the reception of the “other” (in this example, the caretaker) this individual is foreclosing on any opportunity to receive not only other object experiences but many true-self experiences as well. The conservative object is, according to Bollas (1987), a “being state preserved intact within a person’s inner world.

It is not intended to change; it is un-transformable into symbolic order” (Bollas, 1987, pp.

110-111). Furthermore, the elaboration of these self-states by reflection or symbolic processes, is highly resisted (Bollas, 1987, 1989).

Gabriella Mann (2000) poignantly elucidates Bollas’s original concept of the “terminal object” (Bollas, 1987). According to Mann, the terminal object represents an

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extreme form of the conservative object or process because it “ends the self’s disseminative movement. It ends the natural forward movement of those departing trains of thought that are the elaboration of any person’s ‘idiomatic experience of life’” (Bollas, 1992, p. 75). The terminal object is a manifestation of the conservative object, although more extreme, because it intends to completely annihilate subjective experiences in an effort to maintain a deadened atmosphere. The process of the terminal object consists of attacks on free-association, elaboration of thought, and articulation of the true-self experience (Bollas, 1987; Mann, 2000).

These concepts may be useful when interpreting the transformational aspects of emerging adult Facebook use and/or the conservative aspects of this use. Due to the understanding that emerging adulthood is a period of feeling “in-between” (Arnett, 2008) this researcher assumes that many, if not all, emerging adults will have experiences across the entire spectrum (transformative to conservative processes) as they are processing both the identifications they wish to retain, as well as those they no longer need.

Structure & Forms of Self: True Self, False Self, and Idiom There are several theoretical schools within the psychoanalytic community, which, although they may disagree on technical terms, support the existence of a type of character or personality that experiences estrangement from their own sense of being and sense of self. Stern (1992) argues that scholars of different affiliations are all discussing the same phenomenon using different terms. He posits:

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Sullivan's implicit theory of character pathology here has much in common with, and was probably the precursor of, such contemporary ideas as Winnicott's (1965) "false self" organization, Kohut's (1971) ; (1977) "vertical split," and Stolorow, Brandschaft, and Atwood's (1987) "fundamental psychic conflict" (Bacal & Newman, 1990). The common thread is the identification of two dissociated motivational systems existing side-by-side: one organized around the requirements of pathological others (Winnicott's false self, Kohut's pathological self-selfobject bond, Sullivan's illusionary me-you relationship); the other representing the hidden true self—containing disavowed affects, needs, and developmental aims that have not been acceptable (or at least have not been empathically responded to) by these same significant others. (p. 596) As one can see from the quotation above, the concept of an “authentic self” is not entirely new, nor unprecedented in literature. Winnicott remains the foremost authority on this concept, applying it to realms of identity, psychopathology, and development.

Winnicott provided the foundation from which later researchers could elaborate his ideas.

One such figure, Bollas, expanded upon these seminal concepts of true and false self.

Both author’s works will be discussed and compared in this section.

True-self phenomena.

Winnicott’s theory of the false-self/true-self (Winnicott, 1960a) is based on the assumption that there is a core, unique individual personality, which unfolds upon proper facilitation with the environment. Aspects of the individual’s identity and health are formed partially by the quality of these interactions.

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According to his theory, if the mother or caregiver is “good enough” at achieving this ambiguous balance between frustration and gratification, then the child may feel secure to reveal true spontaneous gestures. Additionally, successful development in this phase also supports a continuity of self, referred to as “going on being.” When development allows young persons to trust in object-usage, they develop the capacity to use others in a capacity that recognizes them as separate subjects. This is all part of a normative developmental process (Winnicott, 1960a).

The process of true self-development can be arrested when there are barriers to self-expression. This occurs when the caregiver intrudes on this unfolding of the personality, which Winnicott refers to as an “impingement.” Impingements are most generally understood within the matrix of the caregiver-child relationship, where caregivers—for whatever defensive purposes—-deny the spontaneous personality or emotional expression of the child, replacing it with a need of their own (Winnicott, 1960a).

When this event occurs repeatedly in interactions through time, the process of true self-development has stopped, and a false-self structure, created in order to protect the true self from destruction, is formed (Winnicott, 1960a). Subsequently, the infant may feel the need to defend against these intrusions by developing a reactive personality organization (false self) that functions to keep the true self hidden and therefore protected from annihilation. This false self “vigilantly monitors and adapts to the conscious and unconscious needs of the mother and in so doing provides a protective exterior behind which the True Self is afforded the privacy that it requires to maintain its integrity” (Ogden, 1990, p. 143).

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As Ogden summarizes, the true self must stay hidden, destined to remain unconscious to both the individual and the caregiver. An example of such an experience may be a caregiver whose own anxieties regarding separation lead to a refusal of a child’s attempts to explore. In this case, the child may unconsciously develop behavior that actively compliments this parental style, yet also motivates the inner true self to remain hidden. To say that this is unconscious indicates that the child is not even entirely aware of this process and structure. The child may disavow any needs for exploration, fearing this exposure will result in shame and humiliation. Furthermore, the child will actively “manage” the false self, so as not to allow for contact with the true self, as such contact would evoke the feelings of annihilation anxiety attached to “excessive pressure to develop according to the internal logic of another person” (Ogden, 1990, p. 143).

Winnicott articulates that when caregiving proceeds optimally, the infant is free to express the true self. In this situation, the child has trust that spontaneous gestures, communications, and meanings are respected and afforded the time and space to properly unfold. This would characterize a healthy “true self.”

In order to understand Winnicott’s concept more clearly, his exact language is presented for reference. He defines the true self here: The True Self has a spontaneity, and this has been joined up with the world's events. The infant can now begin to enjoy the illusion of omnipotent creating and controlling, and then can gradually come to recognize the illusory element, the fact of playing and imagining. Here is the basis for the symbol, which at first is both the infant's spontaneity or hallucination, and also the external object created and ultimately cathected. (p. 141)

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As one can see from the quotation, Winnicott characterizes the true self by its freedom to express spontaneous gestures, which leads to a “coming-to” with an external world. This “coming-to” is then the recognition of the self, through the other, in the space that is co-created.

False-self phenomena.

Ultimately, adults with pathological false-self structures created by traumatic amounts and experiences of intrusion suffer from adulthood symptoms of loneliness, boredom, isolation, and detachment. These symptoms are the result of a self who feels compelled to imitate and accommodate rather than genuinely exist (Winnicott, 1965, p.

141).

These symptoms manifest despite the presence of “academic, vocational and social success” (Ogden, 1990). Many people who have a primary false-self experience are quite successful by society’s standards. They may have wealth, prestige, power, and social capital, yet may feel deeply un-alive on the interior. Winnicott stated that this pervasive feeling of “un-aliveness” was prevalent among the patients he treated, possibly even more so in the ones who had achieved some degree of success (Winnicott, 1960a).

Winnicott’s concept of the true/false self is not the only theory that attempts to explain the symptoms of this common experience. For example, Bromberg (1983) describes the experience of the false self, without giving it that name. He says, It is a quality of unrelatedness, which represents the failure in development of a spontaneous, stable, taken-for-granted self experience. The individual tends not to feel himself at the center of his

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own life. He is prevented from full involvement in living because he is developmentally stuck between "the mirror and the mask"—a reflected appraisal of himself, or a disguised search for one, through which the self finds or seeks affirmation of its own significance. Living becomes a process of controlling the environment and other people from behind a mask. When successful it is exhilarating; when unsuccessful there is boredom, anxiety, resentment, and emptiness. However, the critical fact is that an ongoing sense of full involvement in life is missing, often without awareness. (p. 360) However, despite the attempts to describe this phenomenon, most theorists fall short of capturing the full essence of this manifestation, both clinically and developmentally. Bollas remains the only other psychoanalytic scholar to pursue the elusive and mysterious qualities associated with comprehending our truest forms of being. The only major difference between the two scholars is in regards to a theory of the false self, a concept Bollas does not specifically elucidate. Instead, Bollas focuses on aspects of the true self and a concept of “idiom” that he adds to the psychoanalytic lexicon.

Idiom.

Rather than understanding the individual as a set of predispositions waiting to be activated, although he does endorse this, he adds that there is a mysterious quality to the individual, which is not so easily defined or understood. Bollas refers to this mysterious

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quality as the “idiom.” Despite its almost indescribable quality, it remains very real, detected only by the trail of objects it leaves in its wake (Bollas, 1992).

As Bollas states, the selection and use of these objects indicate one’s life course direction. Ultimately, the purpose of such actions and decisions is the articulation, expression, and experiencing of one’s own personal idiom. Bollas defines “idiom” as: The unique nucleus of each individual, a figuration of being that is like a kernel that can, under favourable circumstances, evolve and articulate. Human idiom is the defining essence of each subject, and, although all of us have some acute sense of the other’s idiom, this knowledge is virtually unthinkable. (p. 212) The crucial characteristic of an idiom is its essential uniqueness, non-linear nature, inherent subjectivity, and un-generalizability with universal prescriptions. Bollas states: The true self cannot be fully described…Each individual is unique and the true self is an idiom of organization that seeks its personal world through the use of an object…the fashioning of life is something like an aesthetic: a form revealed through one’s way of being. (pp. 109-110)

Ultimately, one’s personal idiom is the guiding, organizing theme of an

individual’s experience of being, reflected by the choice and use of objects. The true self, then, is regarded as the product of experience(s) with these objects. Bollas (1992) posits: The true self is a highly complex idiom of personality preconceptions that come into realization through experiences in life that resonate with the preconception.

As such, certain experiences in life feel incredibly valid or important to the person as they seem to register the essence of the true self…when an experience arrives

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to express the true self, the individual is able to be spontaneous, to be tru(er) in that moment. The ordinary joy, found by linking a true self preconception with the object world, is a very special form of pleasure. (p. 19) Bollas also discusses the concept of “destiny” and its relation to the true self and the personal idiom. The true self, according to Bollas, is a set of potentials within an individual, which rely on being met by an activating agent in reality in the future. Destiny is characterized as a sense of possessing certain future representations of the self who will ultimately produce these latent potentials. He argues that “a sense of destiny then would be a feeling that the person is fulfilling some of the terms of his inner idiom through familial, social, cultural and intellectual objects” (p. 34).

It seems that destiny functions as a feedback mechanism, both confirming past decisions and encouraging further direction. The individual experiences this as a sense of purpose, authenticity, and potential significance. Bollas (1992) reports: The person who lives from this inner sense of destiny will have an intuitive knowledge of object choice based on the need to express the idiom of the true self, and will in turn have imaginary objects (futures) that are visions of potential use. Such objects, yet to be met, nonetheless collect interest, as the subject will explore objects related to this future object, and perhaps acquire a skill that is meanwhile quite useful and eventually of further use in the time to come. (p. 42) The objects used are chosen for the elaboration of a future that is intuitively felt, albeit not consciously realized. Either way, destiny is a driving force for emerging adults as they make decisions regarding their identity.

The opposite of destiny, Bollas argues, is the concept of “fate.” He says:

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A person who feels fated may imagine futures that carry the weight of despair.

Instead of feeling the energy of a destiny drive and of ‘possessing’ certain futures which nourish the person in the present and creatively serve to explore pathways for potential travel (through object use), the fated person only projects the oracular…A sense of fate, the projection of the present terms into the future, will prevail, and the drive to fulfill one’s destiny, to drive the true self into being and relating, will not be accomplished. (1992, p. 43) The young person who is “fated” has no belief that the next experience or object will result in an outcome divergent from that which prior experiences of the world have provided. In fact, only futures that recreate previously experienced conflicts can be envisioned. This concept of fate represents the collapse of the drive to articulate the true self (Bollas, 1992, p. 44).

Fate represents a submission of the self in relation to the object of time. Emerging adults may experience fate when in a developmental arrest of sorts. Rather than actively possessing their futures, they may become passively resigned to it. Destiny and fate represent two endpoints of an infinite spectrum of potential experiences concerning emerging adult development.

Multiplicity of self and role performance.

In the previous section, the literature provided an overview of theories that espoused a belief in a true, authentic core of being within the individual, one that remains more or less consistent across various platforms, relationships, and times. However, there are other theories that eschew the concept of a unitary self, finding more resonance of

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truth in the notion of self as multiple, or as a combination of performances, inspired by either the relationship or the culture at large.

This philosophical issue has been grappled with by several theorists, who posit a culturally located identity. For example, Erving Goffman (1959) and Judith Butler (1988), respectively offer their opinions regarding the social construction of identity.

Implied in this argument is that something like the normotic illness may not be an illness at all, but the consequence of a necessary adaptation to environmental pressures. Butler, whose interest lies in the performance of gender identity, reveals a similar opinion. She argues that, prior to our ability to comprehend our psychic agency, we are indoctrinated with a bombardment of messages about gender that ultimately shape the extent of our self-image. These authors provide a view of psychic agency that departs radically from historically understood frames of reference, thereby serving as a counter-point to the theories and ideas discussed in the previous section.

It is worth reiterating that the purpose of this review, and the inclusion of these contradictory concepts, is not to arrive at an ultimate judgment regarding the validity of the arguments. Rather, they are included as an attempt to provide as wide and deep a theoretical platform as possible, so that readers may come to their own conclusions regarding the accuracy of these claims, especially in relation to the objectives of this study and the interpretations of meaning. Â

Conceptualizations of Post-Adolescent Development The changing nature of society in the 21st century, especially with regard to technological developments and economic challenges, has impacted the conceptualization of life-stages as we have traditionally understood them (Cote, 2008). Â

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What emerges from the reevaluation of developmental stages when considering changing environments and demographics is the inclusion of a distinct developmental phase immediately after adolescence, yet prior to adulthood proper. The following is a broad overview of the literature on development from adolescence to adulthood, encompassing the work of various authors within the psychoanalytic, lifespan, and developmental psychology communities. Although the professional orientation and training of the scholars in this section are highly diverse, they unanimously agree on most of the general elements of development from adolescence to adulthood. The developmental perspectives discussed herein include classical psychology, ego psychology, object-relations theory, and neuroscience.

One such theorist, Freud, applied his drive model to understand the adolescentyoung adult developmental period. In sum, Freud believed that adolescence was marked by an increase in libido as the result of puberty and physical maturation. These physical changes and increases in energetic capability regress the individual back to the phallic/oedipal level of development where conflicts associated with that age are revisited with the goal of resolution. According to Palombo, Bendicsen, and Koch (2009), Freud believed “the physiological maturation of the systems of genital functioning and the attendant hormonal systems leads to an intensification of drives, particularly libidinal drives” (p. 32).

Furthermore, Palombo et al. summarize Freud’s beliefs about the central tasks of the period between adolescence and young adulthood as follows: The primary tasks of this phase are the ultimate separation from dependence on and attachment to the parents and the establishment of mature, nonincestuous

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object relations. In addition, the resolution of the issues of this phase leads to the establishment of a mature sense of personal identity and the acceptance and integration of a set of adult roles and functions that permit new adaptive integrations with social expectations and cultural values. (2009, p. 32) As illustrated in the previous quotation, in hindsight, Freud’s view on adolescence has not been largely modified as a general understanding of the adolescent-adulthood developmental process. Particularly, his emphasis on independence, personal identity, and adaptive social roles are clearly aligned with the commonly held understandings in today’s literature. However, his emphasis on libidinal drives, as quoted previously in this section, reflects a distinction between his ideas and others, namely that this process is predicated upon the drives foremost, and objects second.

Erik Erikson (1950, 1959, 1968) built on Freud’s drive model, extending it into the social realm, placing more emphasis on the significance of the object world or culture on the development of identity. Erikson’s work marked a growing departure from Freud’s emphasis on drives in favor of a template that placed more value on positive strengths, possibilities and the future in terms of one’s development (Palombo et al., 2009, p. 207).

One particular belief Erikson held was that identity is usually consolidated after successful resolution of the adolescent stage crisis: identity versus role confusion (Erikson, 1959). Erikson says: Societies offer, as individuals require, a more or less sanctioned intermediary period between childhood and adulthood, institutionalized moratoria, during which a lasting pattern of “inner identity” is scheduled for relative completion.

(1959, p. 110)

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Despite this valuable understanding, the nature of this developmental epoch has changed dramatically within the course of 50 years. Although the tasks of such a developmental period remain similar today, current researchers point out the age associated with such tasks must be (conservatively) extended 10-20 years in order to reflect a demographic of similar characteristics (Cote, 2008). The research presented is an overview of the varying perspectives on development from adolescence to adulthood with an emphasis on a new, distinct developmental period: emerging adulthood. The use of the terms emerging adult, adolescent, and young adult may vary according to the respective author’s definitions and parameters.

Peter Blos’s (1967, 1972) work provides an essential introduction to the psychoanalytic tasks associated with maturation, as derived from Freud’s drive model.

Blos (1972) builds on Freud’s concept of psychic structural formation and explores the further applications of his thoughts to the area of adolescent-young adult development.

Specifically, Blos introduces the concept of the “ego ideal” as a specific manifestation of the congruence between the external world and the management of internal drives. He argues: Both ego ideal and superego begin to develop early in life, long before they assume the structure of a psychic agency…the ego ideal becomes enmeshed with new drive modalities as well as with new ego competencies as both emerge at different developmental stages. By virtue of this fact we can expect the ego ideal to become drawn into the turmoil in which the libidinal and aggressive drives partake during late adolescence…It is the momentous task of adolescence to accomplish the deinstinctualization of the oedipal ego ideal and to restore its original function on a

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higher level of mental life. Only after this alteration in the nature of the ego ideal has been achieved during late adolescence can this agency become a firm guide to action and serve as the guardian of the sense of integrity, self-esteem, and love of the self. (pp. 95-97) In comparison to the superego, the ego ideal is the narcissistic and generative element of the re-instinctualization of adolescence drives, opposite in function to the superego whose aim is the prohibition of instinctual energies. According to Blos, a healthy/mature ego ideal serves to channel the energies reinvigorated by puberty and adolescence, not completely back into the self (primary narcissism), but rather invested into realistic appraisals and subsequent aspirations of the self in relation to the external world. Again, if the superego is the prohibitive agent, the ego ideal is the generative agent of action that propels maturational advancement into the future.

Blos (1967) also extended the parallels of early developmental phases to those of adolescence when he conceived of the second individuation process. Specifically, Blos extended Mahler’s concept (1972) from early childhood and integrated it with the realities of adolescent psychology. He provides an overview of these two processes here: The disengagement from internalized objects—love and hate objects—opens the way in adolescence to the finding of external and extra-familial love and hate objects. The reverse was true in early childhood during the separationindividuation phase, when the child gained psychological separateness from a concrete object—the mother. (p. 163) According to Blos, the adolescent must “disengage” from the object representations of

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childhood in order to make space for the inclusion of new objects. This disengagement, however, produces a notable ego weakness in adolescents, as they are independent at the cost of the auxiliary functions previously provided by the parents (Blos, 1967, p. 164).

Building on Blos’s contribution of the importance of object seeking and object experimentation in adolescence is the similar task of learning to both release old objects and simultaneously learn new ways of being. Mann (1985) argues: The major psychological task of adulthood involves replacing the wish for power over with a sense of interpersonal effectiveness which permits being influenced by the legitimate needs and wishes of others…this state of affairs recognizes a more individuated sense of self with less need for external validation extracted from others by conformity, willful manipulation or some other compulsive activity…giving up the notion of omnipotent control with its compulsive quest for certainty allows paradoxically more control in the form of freer choices. (Mann, p. 290) Mann believes that the crucial achievement in young adult development is the loosening of omnipotent desires and compulsive activity aimed at controlling others. As she argues, the process of development is interpersonal, where one is capable of both recognizing alternate realities and simultaneously becoming more self-aware. According to Mann’s theory, the individual realizes the benefits of replacing a tyrannical need for control with interpersonal effectiveness and realistic self-esteem.

Mann’s theory coincides well with Winnicott and Bollas’s ideas about selfformation and transformation. Specifically, this concept is valuable as it provides a particular application of the concepts of omnipotent control, object usage, and object

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relating within the period of emerging adulthood. Emerging adult Facebook use may reveal meaning paralleling these developmental tasks.

Colarusso (1988), another noteworthy researcher on adult development, reports that young adulthood can be revised from Erikson’s definition to include the entire age range from 20 to 40 years. Despite his broad inclusion criteria, the tasks of such a stage (identity development) remain relatively consistent and reflect the consensus among researchers regarding a replacement of object-relationships. Colarusso reports these tasks as follows: Time sense in the 20s is strongly influenced by the search for adult structure and new objects—career definition, friends, lovers, and eventually spouse and children—to replace the major temporal organizers of childhood, Mother and Father Time. The 20s are often characterized by loneliness, superficial object relationships, and a hunger for stability and new permanence to replace the family and internal psychic structures of childhood. (Colarusso, 1988) Colarusso is arguing that young adults seek a replacement of the permanence they left behind in adolescence. Furthermore, he characterizes people in their twenties as lonely and relating on superficial levels.

One interesting question investigated during the study revolved around the impact of Facebook on the young adult’s tasks to develop new object relationships, aspirations, and beliefs about the self. As Colarusso states, the time sense in young adulthood is an identifying characteristic, unique in relation to other maturational periods. Ideally, this research may be able to offer information related to social media’s role in this sense of time in young adulthood (Colarusso, 1988).

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Another researcher on young adult development, Gould (1981), emphasizes the task of deconstructing commonly held illusions about reality and the external world. Gould believes that separation anxiety is the prime force shaping development, creating certain beliefs about the world unique to every stage and its tasks. Gould gives an interesting account of the ages between 18-35, which he terms the “illusion of absolute safety.” This “illusion,” as Gould describes it, is deconstructed by challenging four major assumptions.

These are: 1. I will always belong to my parents and believe in their version of reality.

2. Doing it their way with willpower and perseverance will bring results, but when frustrated, confused, tired or unable, they will step in and show me the way.

3. Life is simple, not complicated. There are no unknown inner forces; there are no multiple coexisting contradictory realities present in my life.

4. There is no evil in me or death in the world; the demonic has been expelled.

(Gould, 1981, p. 66) Gould’s concept of separation-anxiety compliments Colarusso’s understanding of the obstacles needed to overcome developmental challenges. Specifically, Gould’s ideas present more of a tactical approach in clinical work. The process of shedding the previously mentioned beliefs, or illusions as he calls them, comprise a major part of achieving adult maturity. The process of abandoning old objects in favor of more nuanced, complex models becomes the overall goal of young adulthood.

This process of displacement can be potentially difficult for the young adult, whose task is to create and use potential space in order to transition from the second to the third separation-individuation (Colarusso, 1991). Colarusso views this transitional

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period as fraught with unique characteristics, particularly as the young adult is caught between two major separation-individuation periods. Colarusso argues: The transition from the second individuation to the third takes place during late adolescence and young adulthood. It is based on an increased capacity for intra-psychic separation from infantile objects and the engagement of phasespecific developmental tasks of young adulthood. For instance, in contrast to adolescents, young adults are usually functioning on a relatively independent level, living away from home and taking care of daily needs on their own. In addition, they are either preparing for adult careers or working in the adult world and are engaged in active sexual lives beyond parental purview, knowledge, or control. The young adult in transition between the second and third individuation—no longer uncertain of the boundaries between self and other (the first individuation), no longer either emotionally or realistically dependent on parents although biologically mature—is intra-psychically alone, sheared of childhood attachments, but not yet involved with the same degree of intensity or depth with the eventual replacements for the infantile objects: spouse and children. (1991, p. 181) Colarusso refers to the period of young adulthood as a transitional time between that of the second and third separation-individuation processes. Because of the distinct quality of this period, the subject is left in a state of relative limbo with regard to object relationships, having departing from the family of origin but not yet having established a new family. Based on Colarusso’s argument, this stage of development is characterized by a deficit of objects and a surplus of space. If this is true, how then does the young

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adult use this newfound space to specifically select and use objects? As mentioned previously, young adult/emerging adults actively use Facebook as a new medium for this process. The meaning of such Facebook use will be examined here.

Despite Colarusso’s contributions in the area of young adult development, many contemporary authors make convincing arguments for a re-conception of young adulthood and the addition of emerging adulthood into the developmental lexicon (Arnett, 1998, 2000, 2004, 2006; Brown, 2008; Cote; 2003, 2008). Identifying the exact chronological age of this emerging adult group is difficult and complex due to varying uses of the term ‘young adult’ as well as the individual relativity of completion of maturational tasks. For the purposes of this research, we will include emerging adults as a distinct subset of the young adult cohort.

According to Arnett, emerging adulthood has five notable themes: 1. The age of identity explorations, 2. The age of instability, 3. The self-focused age, 4. The age of feeling in-between and 5. The age of possibilities. (2004, p. 8) The first theme, the age of identity explorations, will be the most significant for this research study. For the intent of this section, identity exploration is necessary to include as it supports the idea that emerging adulthood is a relevant period for inquiry and exploration about Facebook use.

Using emerging adults as the focus of this study is necessary given our knowledge about the particular tasks in this period (Arnett, 2000; Colarusso, 1991; Erikson, 1968),

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the foremost of which is to experiment with various versions of identity, ultimately gaining enough self-awareness to make consolidating decisions about one's future.

Although identity may not take a permanent crystalline form, there are nevertheless very real decisions to be made regarding future occupation, relationships, values, commitments, and so on.

Neurobiology and emerging adulthood.

Another noteworthy development in the understanding of emerging adult development comes from the area of neurobiology. Viner et al. (2017) provide an overview of the major changes taking place in the emerging adult brain. The three major processes that characterize these changes are a) sprouting and myelinization, b) conductivity, and c) interconnectivity. Respectively, they account for large growth in neuronal branches, “alogarithmic” acceleration in processing speeds, and enhanced integration of these networks (Viner, Online Course Module 2017).

Furthermore, healthy biological development in this area leads to enhanced capacities in the cognitive and psychological realms, such as executive functioning, selfregulation, and integration of identity. When given proper nutrients and put to use,14 the brain undergoes massive positive changes in capacities spanning cognitive, emotional, and psychological dimensions (Viner, Viner & Monroe-Cook, 2017, pp. 1-3.

This biological aspect of the research is important as it provides an empirical level of support to the abstract conceptualizations made regarding the second separationindividuation process decades ago (Blos, 1967). Viner et al.’s findings on pruning,

14

Exercised, as in practiced and stimulated in various ways that maintain the “fire together, wire together” metaphor.

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sprouting, and integrating of neural pathways closely parallel the tasks of young adult development, namely the psychoanalytic developmental view that there is a process of reintegration around past object ties and identity.

This research on neurobiology correlates well with the developmental view of emerging adulthood espoused in this literature review. From this perspective, development in this phase requires stimulation provided by relationships, objects, and experiences.

Young adults/emerging adults and media use.

Research (Arnett & Tanner, 2008; Brown, 2006) exists which supports the notion that, although the exact mechanisms are unknown, the media has and continues to influence emerging adulthood in many dynamic ways. Brown (2006) specifically states that research is needed that addresses many important questions regarding the interaction between emerging adulthood and media. Brown says (cited in Arnett, 2008), Although quite a bit is known about the role of the media in the lives of children and adolescents, much still needs to be learned about emerging adults, especially as media technologies continue to evolve and become more a part of the air everyone breathes (p. 294).

Brown (2006) supports the notion that qualitative methods are crucial for further research on the topic of emerging adulthood, as “qualitative work may be especially helpful in understanding the ways in which emerging adults make sense of mixed and sometimes conflicting messages in the various contexts of their lives” (p. 294). Brown reports how difficult it is currently to explore media’s effect on the individual, compared to the past when the television was the dominant media outlet. Therefore, due to the increasingly

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“intertwined” nature of media in emerging adult lives, new research strategies such as qualitative interviews are necessary to generate further knowledge on the topic (Brown, 2000).

Researchers claim that although these topics are largely influential, they remain relatively unstudied in terms of in-depth qualitative interviews (Arnett, 2008; Brown, 2006). Existing literature suggests that there is a need to know more not only about emerging adulthood but specifically about the interaction between emerging adults and new media (Arnett, 2008; Brown, 2006, 2008). Brown (2006) reports: Researchers should continue to ask, as the relatively few previous studies have, whether emerging adults use the media as part of their process of constructing who they will be as adults. Are they choosing and applying aspects of the media that are relevant to who they are and want to be? (p. 293) In sum, this literature review provided an overview of several different perspectives on emerging adult/young adult development, spanning decades of time, multiple theoretical orientations, and a range of professional identifications. Despite the large variability within this pool of researchers, there are certain common themes, including experimentation, exploration, intersubjective maturation, and intra-psychic integration. These themes represent a relative consensus on what occurs within a healthy developmental transformational process.

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Review of general social media research.

Current non-psychoanalytic literature concerning Facebook, or SNS (social networking sites) in general,15 is massive in size, vast in breadth and dizzyingly contradictive. A meta-analysis published in 2012 reported 412 studies to date on Facebook (Wilson, Gosling, & Graham, 2012). However, despite the sheer volume of research, there is little consensus about Facebook use and well-being.

Some studies report correlations between Facebook use and depression, loneliness, addiction, and decreased wellbeing (Kramer, Guillory, & Hancock, 2014; Kross et al., 2013; Lin et al., 2016; Ryan, Chester, & Reese, 2014; Sagioglou & Greitemeyer, 2014; Vannucci, Flannery, & Ohennessian, 2016), while others find almost completely opposing results, indicating its positive effects as a social facilitator (Rains & Young, 2009; Steinfeld, Ellison, & Lampe, 2008).

Burke and Kraut’s (2015) 15-year meta-analysis offers a compelling explanation for the contradiction of results from previous studies. They argue that there is no overall conclusion to be drawn regarding the determinism of technology on well-being, as an individual can use technology in many varying ways: Although evidence suggests the internet, like print media and television before it, seems to have identifiable effects on psychological well-being, these associations do not imply a strong technological determinism. Human agency is key because the technological effects depend upon how people decide to use technology.

(2015, p.100) Ultimately, as Burke and Kraut argue, the only truly consistent variable within all of these studies is the degree to which the individual is passively or actively using the

15

i.e. Not specifically in regard to the emerging adult population.

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medium. According to their research, those who passively observe Facebook report more negative experiences than those whom actively participate on Facebook (Burke & Kraut, 2015, p. 100).

These studies have identified significant potential uses of Facebook to enhance well-being. However, they are almost exclusively quantitative in design and rely on reductive yet operationally convenient concepts through which large aggregates of data can be interpreted.16 Although this may yield significant statistical conclusions, little is understood in terms of the subjective and psychic meaning of Facebook use. As Kraut and Burke (2015) stated above, the argument about Facebook use should not be placed into dichotomous categories of good or bad because individual use largely determines the effect of that use.

Other research on internet psychology (Graham, 2013) has posited new concepts regarding psychological behavior, including the online disinhibition effect (Suler, 2004) and negative social comparison (Feinstein et al., 2013).Online disinhibition effect theorizes that social media users act more impulsively, perhaps even more anti-socially, due to ease of access and a lack of face-to-face encounters. Negative social comparison theory hypothesizes that one is more inclined to evaluate one’s own life as negative in comparison to others online, potentially leading to increased rumination, resulting in feelings of depression.

Graham’s (2013) research offers a conceptual bridge between the more popular psychological research and the psychoanalytic discourse. He posits that social media digital natives have become so reliant on the accessibility and ease of use of these

16

Commonly used operational concepts in quantitative studies include social capital, attachment styles, social support, health, loneliness, relationships, subjective well-being, anxiety, control, communication, and addiction.

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platforms via smartphones that they can be termed “auxiliary egos” (p. 272).

Furthermore, this kind of pseudo-merger can have many consequences, including the experience of increasing social demands, intrusion, and even the development of a kind of visual perceptive trauma.

Review of Psychoanalytic Literature on Computer-Mediated Communication Since the 1980’s, philosophers, clinicians and academics of varying disciplines have been engaged in an “exploration of necessity”17 regarding technology and human behavior. With increasing participation on and through the internet and digital platforms, many scholars debate the inherent meaning of this use and how it differs from traditional face-to-face encounters. One of the most significant questions they put forth asks “How does the change in medium effect the commonly held, and long understood processes of psychic structure formation, and intimate relations; the cornerstones of psychologies of depth?” (Hartman, 2012; Lingiardi, 2008, 2011; Muchnick & Buirski, 2016; Seligman, 2011; Turkle, 1984, 1995, 2004, 2011).

The discussion in psychoanalytic circles has largely remained skeptical of computer-mediated communication and technology, although tolerant of the ways in which people may use technology for potentially positive purposes (Hartman, 2012; Lingiardi, 2008, 2011; Muchnick & Buirski, 2016; Seligman, 2011; Turkle, 1984, 1995, 2004, 2011).

Muchnick and Buirski (2016) explicitly convey their opinion that social media as a form of computer-mediated communication is unsuited as a means for personal transformation. By using social media as an antidote, they argue, the person is relying on

17

Necessary because the technology has grown at levels that exceed researchers’ ability to investigate.

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an external source of comfort, soothing, and relief, which although restorative and organizing, cannot replicate the transformative potential of real relationships (pp. 145146).

Similarly, Hartman (2011, 2012) argues that digital environments can potentially deny the experience of real loss, thus prohibiting the facilitation of mourning and other processes necessary for development and maturation.

Overall, there is no consensus on the role of technology in terms of psychoanalytic values, although there is certainly some intrigue and concern. Relevant to this study are the issues raised regarding psychoanalytic theoretical values such as aspects of subjectivity, the experience of necessary loss, a multiplicity of self, fantasmatic use, inhibition, and intimacy.

This study is interested in the subjectivity of individuals as they progress into adulthood, reflecting an actual developmental history with Facebook as one of these platforms for a virtual connection, marking the first generation to use such an outlet on a massive scale. These psychoanalytic perspectives on social media use will be integrated into the research by way of inclusion in the discussion of the findings.

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Chapter III

Methodology Reintroduction of Major Approach The question that guided the methodology for this research was: How do emerging adults use Facebook? This research explored the personal, subjective experiences of emerging adults, using an interpretive psychoanalytic hermeneutic casestudy methodology (Tolleson, 1996). The data obtained from interviews with five case study participants was analyzed under the rubric of psychoanalytic theory in order to develop categories of meaning. Five individual cases were created, each consisting of both an in-case analysis as well as an across-case analysis of findings.

This research was based on a case study methodology. This methodology provided an optimal design for the objectives of this study, namely, in-depth exploration of the personal meanings of young adult/emerging adult Facebook use. Yin (2009) supports the use of a case study for exploring issues of depth: “(A case study) investigates a contemporary phenomenon in depth and within its real-life context” (p.

18). Furthermore, Yin suggests that case studies are most appropriate for answering the “how and why” questions that are being asked about “a contemporary set of events, over which the investigator has little or no control” (2009, p. 13). This research deeply explored how emerging adults use Facebook.

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Rationale for Qualitative Research Design The use of case studies also aids the development of in-depth processes and actions that illuminate essential knowledge useful and necessary for the humanities (Hoffman, 2007). As Hoffman reports, it is far too common that human experience is subordinated in favor of concepts and studies, which lend themselves well to repetition and reduction. For example, the use of “big data” removes the human element of the person studied and displaces it with an objective numeric value, or quantity. Hoffman believes that this kind of methodology gathers little to no information about the participants and their individual experiences and meanings; furthermore, it creates an undesired distance between researcher and participant.

In contrast to popular quantitative studies measuring aggregates (“big data”), this qualitative study aimed to achieve a direct, in-depth exploration into the lives of a small sample of individuals. Specifically, this research explored the highly idiosyncratic dimensions of personal experience, reported through narratives and organized into individual case studies with the intent of developing ideas.

Furthermore, case studies offer the opportunity to utilize a hermeneutic epistemology (as do many qualitative designs). The method of analysis known as interpretation of meaning characterizes this case study as hermeneutic. Hermeneutics was developed as a method to study individuals, traditionally referred to as the “human sciences.” Case studies parallel hermeneutics in terms of ethical inquiry, in-depth investigation, and non-neutral stance of the researcher (Creswell, 2013; Kinsella, 2006; Yin, 2009).

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Restatement of Epistemology This case study employed hermeneutic epistemology in order to explore the meanings of emerging adult Facebook use. Thus, the researcher did not assume a privileged stance in regards to claims to truth or objective reality. Rather, this research aimed to interpret and analyze personal discourse, viewing the researcher as a coconstructor of its meaning. It is assumed that the researcher is bound by bias and that he does not discover meaning, simply interprets it. Gadamer (1975) states: hermeneutically trained consciousness must be, from the start, sensitive to the text's alterity. But this kind of sensitivity involves neither "neutrality" with respect to content nor the extinction of one's self, but the foregrounding and appropriation of one's own fore-meanings and prejudices. The important thing is to be aware of one's own bias so that the text can present itself in all its otherness and thus assert its own truth against one's own fore-meanings. (p. 271) The hermeneutic method described by Gadamer becomes a useful technical statement when analyzing and interpreting meaning. Specifically, this researcher resonates with the stated importance of accepting, even celebrating the researcher's subjectivity as a co-constructor of meaning. Rather than valuing the ideal of objectivity, biases were used as another tool to appreciate and recognize the “otherness” or “alterity” of the data.

Kinsella (2006) builds upon Gadamer’s work by adding a new level of clarity to the conceptual definitions. She summarizes a hermeneutic approach as follows: A hermeneutic approach a) seeks understanding rather than explanation; b) acknowledges the situated location of interpretation; c) recognizes the role of

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language and historicity in interpretation; d) views inquiry as conversation; and e) is comfortable with ambiguity. (p. 3) Essentially, Kinsella’s work provides a tangible summary of abstract hermeneutic concepts. Kinsella’s definition fits well with the intended goals of this study, especially regarding the role of researcher as historically situated.

Ultimately, the practice of this epistemology can be judged to the extent that it provides a thoroughly articulated foregrounding. By elucidating the researcher’s own subjectivity via theoretical frameworks, assumptions, conceptions, limitations, and experiences, the readers are empowered to make their own judgments regarding the findings and interpretations. The foregrounding, through elaboration of assumptions, beliefs, and values, is integrated into this research and noted when present throughout the document.

Psychoanalytic case study rationale.

Under the general umbrella of a hermeneutic epistemology, this research will use an interpretive psychoanalytic case-study methodology design, most appropriate for the study of individual subjective experiences, which values depth of reflection and meaning.

This particular design method also offers an opportunity for the researcher to interpret the findings through a psychoanalytically informed theoretical lens (Tolleson, 1996).

Following a general psychoanalytic theoretical framework, this research valued a “theoretical pluralism” such as that denoted by Tolleson (1996): “The dogmatic use of theory exists when a researcher imposes her own theoretical agenda in a way that strips the subject of his uniqueness and complexity” (p. 30). This quote illustrates the merely

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conditional value of a priori theoretical beliefs as well as the true cost of intrusive dogmatic allegiances.

Specifically, this study sought to interpret findings from the “ground up,” taking the data (visual, narrative, counter-transferential) as a leading variable when determining conceptual representations. This strategy was applied by way of considering alternative explanations of meaning via competing theories within psychoanalytic discourse to the point of theoretical exhaustion. This strategy was also used to help the categories of meaning truly reflect an eclectic group of concepts meant to capture the idiosyncrasy of their respective uses. Faculty consultants reviewed analyses of the cases to ensure the categories of meaning resulted from a value of theoretical pluralism and were supported by the narrative data, represented by quotations.

Research Sample The scope of this study included emerging adults (ages 22-29; Arnett, 2000) who possessed and used current profiles on Facebook and who could adequately participate in direct, depth-oriented dialogue about their Facebook use. Specifically, although the interview structures were relatively flexible (semi-structured) and encouraged the interviewee to elaborate on personal meanings (Tolleson, 1996), the boundaries oriented themselves around the dimension of experience most relevant to the use of Facebook, within Facebook as an environment. For this reason, it was necessary that the prospective participant had a high amount of experience using Facebook as a platform ( > 5 years) as well as current active use ( > one visit per day).

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Sample and Sampling The research sample consisted of emerging adults between the ages of 22-29 and who currently used Facebook regularly ( > once per day).18 This study recruited five emerging adult participants who fit these criteria.

A purposive sampling strategy was used to find participants (Creswell, 2013).

Due to the small sample size needed, it was imperative that the participants be motivated, interested, and capable of reflecting on the issue of Facebook use. A purposive strategy allowed for those most interested in participating to emerge, as they were assumed to have the most desire to discuss their experiences.

Participants were recruited using two strategies. First, this researcher networked with friends, peers, colleagues, and other associates in order to spread awareness of the study and increase opportunities for referrals through word of mouth.

In the case that a friend, peer, or colleague provided a referral, that referral must not have been someone who knew or had known this researcher prior to the study. In other words, there must have been at least two degrees of separation between the referral and the researcher to minimize any conflict of interest generated by previous or current relationships. Creswell (2013) discourages including known participants in case study research as it may create a power imbalance in which the participant feels pressure to participate, or if they do participate, there is a risk of the data being biased.

In addition to the networking, an email with an attached flyer (Appendix A) was sent to various contacts along with instructions and referral guidelines. ICSW students and faculty were not able to participate; however, they were able to: a) forward the flyer/post the flyer on Facebook and/or b) provide referrals so long as they met standards

18

Regularly was defined as logging-in and viewing this website at least once per day.

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of privacy and confidentiality. This strategy was employed in order to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

This researcher’s phone number and email were included as contact information, and the flyer provided instructions to the recruit on how to proceed. Specifically, the recruit was asked to either text, call, or email if interested in participation. Once contacted, this researcher scheduled a time to conduct a brief telephone screening interview (Appendix B) in order to assess eligibility and interest.

Once the researcher confirmed that the participant met the inclusion/exclusion criteria, a meeting was scheduled with the participant to review informed consent and complete a short demographic questionnaire (Appendix E). This meeting took place at a location of the participant’s choosing. The first interview began immediately after the informed consent was signed and the participant expressed understanding.

The goal was to recruit a sample of people who had the capacity and willingness to reflect, discuss, and explore their own behaviors and motivations regarding Facebook use. To this end, the study sampling was purposive and intended to attract those most eager to discuss their experiences both in-depth and in a sincere fashion (Creswell, 2013).

Research Strategy The research proceeded as follows. Participants were recruited by this researcher using word of mouth and emailing of flyers (Appendix A) to lists of contacts. The potential participants then contacted the researcher, stating their interest in participation.

After being deemed eligible to participate through a brief phone-screening interview (Appendix B), an appointment was set for a meeting in which to review the informed

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consent, sign consents, and start the interviews. The participants determined the meeting setting, whether that was Skype, in-person, or telephone. Ultimately, each form of meeting was used. The participants were interviewed once per week until the research question and research objectives reached a point of saturation (Creswell, 2013).

The interviews lasted anywhere from 60-90 minutes. Interviews for an individual case were completed within two months in order to maintain a “continuous stimulation” of the interview process and to avoid stagnation (Goedert, 2016). The aim was for the interviews to occur on a weekly basis until saturation of the data was reached.

Due to the focus of the study, there was not an attempt to procure a sample that was generalizable or specific to any one cohort of individuals. If the criteria were met, the participant was invited to begin the interview process immediately. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed by the researcher in order to develop the individual case studies.

Data Collection The first and primary source of data was narrative interviews. Narrative data was collected from multiple semi-structured interviews. These interviews were semistructured in that the topic of Facebook provided a defining scope. Within this scope, the interviews remained open-ended, allowing participants to elaborate upon the most meaningful aspects of their experiences. Runyan (1984) supports the use of narrative data in case studies: “In attending the particularities of thought, conversation, actions, subjective meanings, and social contexts, narrative qualifies as an idiographic method par excellence” (p. 182).

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The method of data collection consisted of a style most similar to clinical interviewing, which provided both flexibility and structure to the scope of dialogue and also fit nicely with the preferred skills of a case-study interviewer (Servatius, 2010; Tolleson, 1996; Yin, 2006).

Furthermore, as Servatius (2010, pp. 73-74) reports, there is considerable overlap between the identified skills of a case-study investigator and a psychoanalytic therapist.

This interviewing method not only permits but values attention to subtle, non-verbal cues as well as other clinical nuances that may convey significant meanings within the statements of the interviewees. Attunement to the non-verbal dimension of the interview may allow the researcher access to various other forms of behaviorally meaningful communications (Tolleson, 1996).

The second source of data was the researcher’s field notes. Field notes are effective for noting particular reactions, impressions, thoughts, or ideas that emerge during and after the interviews. These notes aided in the storage of fleeting experiences and thoughts that may otherwise be lost to recall and may not be captured by the narrative text (Tolleson, 1996). These field notes also served a reflective function after the interviews. Here the researcher was able to summarize the overall experience of that particular interview, including any pronounced impressions that led to the development of themes (Creswell, 2013).

A third source of data was gathered by observing participant’s Facebook profiles (as snapshots). This had two purposes: one, to confirm the inclusion criteria of the participant, and two, to add a visual element to the data gathering. The researcher added these visual impressions to the overall field notes included from the interviews in order to

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obtain a more holistic representation of the participant’s Facebook use. These profile pictures or snapshots are considered physical artifacts; however, they were not saved.

These physical artifacts were used solely for the purpose of a one-time observation. Yin (2009) supports the observation of physical artifacts as an additional source of information that may contribute to the validity of the findings. The additional level of data helped this researcher confirm the validity of emerging themes, patterns, and ultimately categories of meaning derived from the narrative text and field notes.

In order to provide ethical guidelines for collecting data on Facebook, researchers have delineated the proper use of participant and non-participant data (Kosinski, Matz, Gosling, Popov, & Stillwell, 2016). Kosinski et al. specifically state: Participants’ consent allows researchers to record content that refers to or was contributed by other people, such as tagged pictures, videos, messages, or comments on the participant’s profile. In our view, it is acceptable to use data generated by or containing references to non-participants, but only if the analyses are aimed exclusively at those directly participating in the study. (2016, p. 5) As this APA study on Facebook ethics states, collecting data about an individual participant may very well include information about other-non-participants.

Due to the inevitability of viewing content derived from extra-participatory individuals when viewing a Facebook profile, certain guidelines are established.

Specifically, the object of the research must be the participant, not the people who post on their Facebook wall, tag them in pictures, and so on. Furthermore, information that could reasonably be attributed to an individual should not be revealed in publication (Kosinski et al., 2016).

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This information is relevant to this study as it applies to the observational data gathered from the participant’s profile page. The following steps were taken to ensure that privacy and anonymity were maintained. First, this study did not save the profile pages themselves, only notes of general impressions relevant to the participant. Also, these field notes did not record identifiable information about individuals who were not participating in this study, nor were any direct quotes used from non-participating individuals resulting from screenshots or other means. The degree to which nonparticipants were used as data was only to the extent to which their actions and overall relationships reflected essential meaning to the participant.

Data Analysis Within case.

This study employed Tolleson’s (1996) psychoanalytic case study method for the within-case analysis. This qualitative method allows for the use of a psychoanalytic theoretical framework necessary for the interpretation of narrative data. A psychoanalytic interpretive analysis was conducted of each case, viewing it as an individual unit of analysis.

The raw narrative data, including the researcher’s experiences with the participant, were reviewed for particularly meaningful and relevant themes or motifs relevant to emerging adult Facebook use and the psychoanalytic meanings of this relationship. Once the themes or motifs were sufficiently abstracted, they were referred to as categories of meaning. Tolleson (1996) characterizes categories of meaning as “particularly thematic patterns” (p. 105) which emerge from the interview data (both text and researcher) as strikingly relevant to the topic at large. The overall process of creating

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these categories of meaning involves what Tolleson describes as “moving progressively from the idiosyncratic to the more general, from the concrete to the abstract” (p. 92).

In other words, for the purposes of this study, the raw data was reviewed, coded and placed into themes or categories of meaning relevant to the psychoanalytic meaning and idiomatic expression of emerging adult Facebook use.

Across case.

In addition to individual case analysis, a cross-case analysis was conducted. This was the meta-version of the individual case process, in that the identified themes of the individual cases were reviewed with one another as a whole, in order to develop another, broader, all-encompassing level of abstraction considering all of the cases as a single aggregate unit (Tolleson, 1996; Yin, 2009).

This researcher analyzed the data by logging all individual within-case categories as a list and then labeling them according to groups. Initially, five or six groups were formed relevant to the overall themes. After another iteration of analysis, three more comprehensive categories emerged that were common to all the studied case units.

Validation Strategies/Issues of Trustworthiness

Due to the anticipated small sample size, as well as the epistemological

foundation, there are certain values this research prioritized which undoubtedly affected other areas. For example, this study is primarily concerned with interpreting meaning from individual experiences, characterized by depth of inquiry, respect for the uniqueness of each participant, and co-creation of meaning. It bears repeating that this study is not

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empirical in nature and therefore does not value the tenets of that particular epistemological lens, including reproducibility of the findings.

I used member checking as a way to ensure that the findings were resonant with the participants’ experiences, equating to a true co-construction of meaning and therefore valid according to the epistemological lens. All participants reviewed their drafts and provided feedback. They unanimously agreed with the findings and gave positive feedback. In this way, the risk that my data was inconsistent from that of the participants was reduced. This risk was also reduced by having multiple interviews with the participants, including the application of technical strategies for clarification and reclarification of meaning during and throughout the interviews as a cumulative process.

Furthermore, Runyan (1984) offers several criteria for evaluation of a case study.

The following are those criteria relevant to the topic and consistent with the philosophical grounding: 1. Providing a feel for the person, conveying the experience of having known or met him or her.

2. Helping us understand the inner or subjective world of the person, how they think about their own experience, situation, problems, life.

3. Deepening our sympathy or empathy for the subject.

4. Effectively portraying the social or historical world the person is living in.

5. Being vivid, evocative, emotionally compelling to read. (p.152) It was the intent of this research that the findings would be measured according to these more specific criteria. Similar research (Stolorow & Atwood, 1984) suggests that hermeneutic criteria used for judging the validity of a psychoanalytic case study also

Â

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considers “logical coherence of the argument, comprehensiveness of the explanation…and the aesthetic beauty of the analysis” (Stolorow & Atwood, pp. 5-6).

Together, these criteria form the basis for judgment of the validity of the findings.

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Chapter IV

Findings Introduction For this psychoanalytic case study, I interviewed five participants, completing three 60-90 minute interviews with each, not including a brief fourth meeting for member checking. Member checking was not part of the original dissertation proposal plan; however, it was included after participants requested to view the individual findings as a way to add validity to the findings by assuring they are co-creations of meaning.

The member checking proved valuable, as each participant did have input on his or her case. Although none of the input led to significant corrections, the process helped ensure that the conclusions reached were almost certainly co-constructed forms of meaning between the researcher and the participant.

The following analysis is a co-constructed interpretation of the interview data, intent on providing a compelling, illuminative account of the participant’s respective Facebook use. A hermeneutic epistemology grounded the data analysis and interpretations by highlighting the role of the researcher’s subjectivity on the process.

A specific aspect of this analysis, one that is unique to this dissertation, is the inclusion of counter-transference data. As a psychoanalytic clinician and researcher, I intended on using myself as an instrument of receptivity to the tones, attitudes, verbal,

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non-verbal communications, and overall seemingly small but meaningful behavioral cues gathered during the interviews with each respective participant. Impressions that result from these perceptions will be differentiated in this section from those deriving from explicit narrative data. In addition, a visual analysis was used as another source of data in order to supplement the narrative and countertransference data and provide a type of triangulation.

There are a total of five completed case studies, outlined in this chapter with respect to each as its own whole case, specifically analyzed for emergent categories of meaning reflective of the participant’s relation to and use of Facebook as an object/space for developmental and idiomatic meaning.

Each case is structured the same way, divided into two organizing groups: the background information and the interpretive categories of meaning. Within the first group, each case contains introductory information about the individual as well as a brief snapshot of the individual’s Facebook use, including age of the profile, hours of daily use, number of Facebook friends, and participant age. This section will also include a general description of the participant’s relationship to Facebook over the course of their development. For some participants, there will be an inclusion of the visual aesthetics in particular, as some cases present more meaningful semiotic data in this regard than in others.

The second group, interpretive categories of meaning, is organized based on themes that emerged from the participant’s interview data, as well as the researcher’s own subjective experiences of the interview process.

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Case study sample.

Five participants were interviewed multiple times, with a final meeting reserved for member checking. Of the five participants, three were female, and two were male.

They represented a varied group of emerging adults, by their age, place in life, occupation, use of Facebook, and personality. However, this study was limited to the extent that the sample did not reflect ethnic or racial diversity, as all of the participants were Caucasian.

The median age was 26.2 years, with a range from 24-29 (24, 25, 26, 27, and 29 years respectively). Out of the five participants, two were married, one had two children, and three were single (not married, but two were in a relationship with a significant other). All of the participants had advanced education in the form of a bachelor’s degree, with four participants possessing a master’s degree.19 What they share, among other qualities described in the Discussion section, were the criteria to enter the study: having an active profile for over 5 years, using Facebook on a daily basis, being between the ages of 22-29, and demonstrating a reflective ability and willingness to elaborate on meaningful experiences of their use. The aim of this sample was to attract those most interested in discussing their experiences, which understandably did not result in a generalizable cohort, especially considering the limitations of the sample in terms of racial and ethnic diversity.

19

It is notable that the two males in the sample both earned their MBA in the past year.

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Facebook sample profile.

The average number of Facebook friends per participant was 1,113 (.2), or 1,420; 873; 1,060; 1,276; and 937 respectively. The average years spent on Facebook were 10, or 10, 11, 10, 10, and 9 respectively. Every participant began using Facebook in adolescence and continued through emerging adulthood. The table below illustrates the basic demographics and Facebook data of the participants in this sample.

Table 1 Sample Demographics and Facebook Statistics

Facebook

Years on

Age of

Friends

Facebook

Adoption

24

1420

10

14

MS

Shooter

26

873

16

MBA

Ted

29

1060

11

18

MBA

Bea

25

1276

10

15

MA

Stephanie

27

937

9

18

BA

Total/Average:

26.2

1113.2

10

17.2

--

Participant

Age

Sloane

10

Education

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Case One: Sloane Introduction.

Sloane is a 24-year-old Caucasian female who recently graduated with a master’s degree in a specialized medical field, a degree she will use when she starts a full-time position this year at a hospital. She is in a relationship with her boyfriend of several years, whom she met in college. Sloane currently lives with her mother in a suburb of Chicago. She has a fraternal twin brother and a mother; her father passed away when she was a child.

Facebook snapshot.

Sloane has had an active profile on Facebook for 10 years. She has 1,420 Facebook friends and reports using the website for about one hour in total each day. She currently checks Facebook in the morning, throughout the day (more often when not busy), and at night. She says that she most often uses Facebook to look at pictures of friends, family, and acquaintances, as well as to post pictures and articles she finds useful or interesting, albeit on an irregular basis. She enjoys using emojis, memes and pictures to both communicate information to her friends and family as well as to interpret information about other people on Facebook.

Sloane reports that she is always attentive to the number of “likes” she receives on Facebook posts (including pictures). This is a large element of her motivation to use Facebook, as she reports that it “feels good” when she receives a high number of likes.

When asked how many likes she considered to be enough, she surprisingly had a specific answer: “about 50 for Facebook, and about 100 for Instagram.” She clarified that she

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does not expect this many likes every time she posts something, taking the content into consideration when forming expectations about “likes.” She said, “I know I’m not going to get a lot of likes when I put up a neuroscience article or something like that, so I don’t expect it then.”

Interview process.

Sloane was an overall pleasant and courteous participant who demonstrated a sincere interest in participating. There is no doubt she has an active relationship with Facebook, a relationship spanning a decade of use—almost half of her life. However, as discussed further in the following section, her use of the interviews was paradoxical, as she both expressed and acknowledged meaning, yet did not appear interested in following certain hunches or significant threads of meaning beyond the manifest level of communication. This is not an indictment on Sloane, but rather a description of the interview process and a communication of her own personal aesthetic of being in this respective time and place in her subjective development. Furthermore, I believe her preferred mode of communication is non-verbal and symbolic, communicated through pictures, actions, and other iconographic signifiers and semantics unique to Facebook.

Sloane’s overall attitude about her Facebook use reflected a sense of selfevidence. In other words, elaborating on her use, including her inner genuine experiences beyond the ritualized and habitual daily actions, seemed unnecessary. Her use was more matter-of-fact, simple, and needed no explanation beyond that which was given. I had the sense that Sloane was using Facebook in an interesting manner, as she herself admitted that it was “unconscious.”

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For Sloane, it appeared that talk was cheap; behavior was expressed more through one’s actions, symbols, and signs. Overall, I sensed through the interviews and her pictures that she expresses her personal idiom through visual images more so than verbal communication.

The categories of meaning below were determined not only by the narrative data but also by a combination of visual impressions gathered from the data provided by her Facebook screenshots, creating a holistic impression.

Categories of Meaning Object for developmental reflection and indicator of maturational status.

Sloane uses Facebook, developmentally, as a tool that stores memories, reminds her about anniversaries, and provides signifiers of her current phase of life, compared to when she was an adolescent on Facebook.

I asked her, “If you think about Facebook as a transitional space from adolescence to adulthood, in that kind of context, how would you feel your use has changed over time if it has?” She responded: Yeah, it has. I saw some pictures I put up in college of me partying with a beer in my hand and stuff, so I took those down for two reasons: one, because I just don’t (party) as much, and two, because I don’t think it’s appropriate.

Here, Sloan reflects on her past use and what she did in order to reflect a more professional and adult profile, including deleting pictures of herself at parties or bars in college.

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Sloane also comments on how Facebook reflects a growing understanding of her developmental time in life post-college and in emerging adulthood when she says: Yeah, I think it’s definitely nice in that aspect, seeing what everyone is up to and not even (just) your close friends, but like acquaintances as well. There are so many people who are traveling around the world and getting engaged and all of this different stuff, moving across the country, etc. So it’s cool seeing what people you know are up to.

Although Sloane enjoys watching her peers in their various explorations around the world, she also acknowledges the jealousy that accompanies this experience. She says: (In response to others’ pictures of traveling) I am thinking, “oh wow that looks cool!” But at the same time you can’t let it get you down, like, “oh man, I wish I could do that” because you don’t know, they’re only posting the positive aspects.

I feel like they’re filtering it, so it’s cool to see, but I know a lot of people are like, “oh I can’t even look on Facebook because it looks like everyone is having such a good time.” You have to remember that people filter what they want. Yeah, there are definitely times when you see people doing all of these extravagant things and I’m like sitting at home and am like, “gee this stinks,” but I think it’s easier if you take it all with a grain of salt—no one has these perfect lives. I think everyone has things they are not posting.

I understand this perception to not only be common amongst people on Facebook, usually referred to as FOMO (fear of missing out), but also indicative of her maturity as an individual. Sloane is able to perceive the reality beyond the Facebook world and

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renounce her immediate sensation of jealousy, as her voice of reason provides a necessary internal regulatory function about reality perception and a practical understanding of media literacy.

Sensorial communication as unconscious idiomatic communication.

I felt that Sloane conveyed information about herself and the important meanings in her life through her pictures. I could not help but notice the sensory data I experienced when I saw her pictures, heard about her Facebook use, and even as I reflected on the case after the interviews. These sensory experiences represent an unconscious communication, a source of data spanning multiple realms of processing: olfactory, auditory, gustative, and visual sensations.

Sloane reported several times that she enjoys a series of short cooking tutorial videos on Facebook titled Tastees, praising them as very useful, quick, and effective, providing small but valuable technical advice on meal preparation and recipes. This endorsement, along with the several other occasions on which she both communicated and symbolized her celebration of food, suggests a theme. For example, her Facebook picture banner (the background banner behind and around the profile picture) is a Chicago hot dog with “everything” on it.

Another picture she attached is of a piece of Lou Malnati’s pizza (another Chicago classic) with a can of Miller High Life beer in a plastic Ziploc bag and a title reading “Meal Prepping Is So Tedious but SOO Worth It (with a ‘high five’ emoticon).”

The last food-related item was a post she created, specifically a poll asking what type of

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chicken wing was better: “bone-in, or boneless?” I felt that these not only reflected her love of classic Chicago cuisine, but also the evocative value of the sensational content.

Upon reflection, while reading the transcripts and reflecting on the experience of meeting with Sloane, I repeatedly began to feel hungry, to sense and crave foods, not yet connecting the experience as a meaningful communication within the context of our interviews. However, after a few times, it became clear that my sensory associations to all of these foods was not a coincidence and probably of psychic significance, perhaps a reflection of an aspect of her idiom. To clarify, I am not usually this perceptive, especially regarding sensory modalities, so I took time to note these impressions as particularly meaningful subjective experiences originating with the participant.

I find Sloane’s choice of career interesting and meaningful. Sloane is a speechlanguage pathologist, adding more credence to the idea that there is something particularly meaningful about her gustatory expressions, that region of the body (mouth, throat, esophagus), and the overall appeal of the corporeal as a meaningful concrete form of idiomatic expression.

Hence, one may consider “hunger” as a theme within this category of meaning, reflecting psychological hunger, desire, yearning, or an overall striving to fill a need. On an intrapsychic spatial level, this experience reflects Sloane’s current stage of adulthood.

Colarusso (1991) supports the experience of psychic hunger as a normative aspect of adult development: The 20s are often characterized by loneliness, superficial object relationships, and a hunger for stability and new permanence to replace the family and internal psychic structures of childhood. (p. 117)

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As Colarusso suggests, the 20s are a period of flux between adolescence and adulthood proper, creating a kind of psychic vacuum of internal space for objects. This space, I speculate, fuels the search for new objects to internalize. The theme of “hunger” that occurs in Sloane’s Facebook profile data and interviews could be referring to the desire to gain new experiences and cultivate the acquisition of new objects with which to develop her identity.

Concretized ritual and ambivalence.

During our first interview, Sloane came to a realization that her Facebook use was mostly done out of habit, describing it as “unconscious.” She said: Sporadically throughout the day, I’ll be on my phone checking to see if anyone is up to anything…I guess it’s more like an unconscious thing, when I’m checking occasionally…it is weird to think about that I am on my phone and I find myself automatically clicking on it (the blue Facebook icon) without even noticing sometimes, there were a couple of times too where I’ll notice I’ll click it then close out, then I'll click right back on it within like 10 seconds and not even knowing it, and I’m like, “huh” and realized I wasn’t necessarily doing it intentionally, but it’s more just like a habit I’ve more so noticed since last time.

By unconscious, Sloane seemed to mean that her use had become automatized, stereotyped, reflexive, and without conscious intention. It is feasible that this is a common experience; I have caught myself many times checking my phone for no apparent reason other than motoric habit and physical attachment. It feels as if the use of

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iPhones in general, leads to a pathway of motor behavior that sequences muscle memory in a distinct fashion, organized into a kinesthetic repetition (Chong & Mardsen, 2009).

This behavior can be understood as a concretization in the sense that her relationship with the blue Facebook icon on her phone is a physical object (visual) that helps her restore organization and calm as well as being soothing. Stolorow and Atwood (1987) define concretization as: the need to maintain the organization of experience is a central motive in the patterning of human action. The basic psychological process that mediates this functional relationship between experience and action is concretization—the encapsulation of structures of experience by concrete, sensorimotor symbols. (p.

85) It seems that Sloane’s unconscious checking of Facebook may be a concretized ritual that provides her some sense of self-cohesion and continuity. Her behavior can also be understood as an impulse to gratify a need, that is, to seek the validation of friends and others that makes her feel whole and connected. Waiting for responses may be anxietyinducing for Sloane, who uses Facebook to connect with important others and restore her sense of self. Perhaps due to the instantaneous capabilities of technology, she has become accustomed to checking for updates on Facebook on a more frequent basis.

During various parts of our interviews, Sloane reiterated her unconscious use of Facebook, as discussed previously. However, she would usually qualify this statement by a renunciation of the behavior, specifically stating that it was like an unwanted addiction.

For example, after I asked her how unconscious use made her feel, she said:

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Eh, I guess I wish I wasn’t on it. I guess it is a weird thing to realize. I don’t want to feel like I’m addicted to social media, I guess, but I am on it.

This quote represents a specific instance where Sloane recognized her discomfort being dependent on this technology as if it were an attachment that made her feel vulnerable. Muchnick and Buirski (2016) provide support and explanation for this behavior on Facebook when they argue its use could be similar to an “antidote” that, although provides a restorative kind of psychological anesthetic, is also nontransformative, as the remedy is sought repetitively when in distress. Furthermore, they believe that a real relationship is the only thing capable of inducing self-transformation and that online interactions, if used as an antidote, can only serve to maintain and not inspire growth (p. 145).

Sloane’s use is characterized by ambivalence, as she both acknowledges the fact of her use and the value of Facebook, but also simultaneously renounces her gratifications of this use. Similar to the concretization, Sloane seems stuck in a repetitive type of behavior, where she is ultimately uncertain as to how she perceives and values it in her life. As mentioned in a previous quote, she is gratified by its use; however, she finds the idea of feeling compelled to use it alarming. Furthermore, these contradictory sets of feelings about Facebook are conflictual, leaving her wrestling with the concept in terms of its positive or negative value in her life.

Several times in the interview process, she conveyed this struggle through narratives in which she would provide “pros and cons” of the idea of Facebook and its various functions and attributes, both specific and in general. She says:

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I think in general it more so has its pros and cons. You are able to connect to other people; it’s like a virtual world… it makes you happy when you get likes and stuff, but then on the other hand (it’s not a real portrayal of yourself)….which I think is a negative aspect essentially.

She also says: With Facebook, sometimes I find it interesting too that there have been people I know who I want to friend on Facebook but I’m like, “eh, is that weird if I add them?” Like I don’t know them well, you know what I mean? Sometimes that’s where I find it too, that there aren’t really set boundaries of what you can do on Facebook and what you can’t, where it’s like creepy or not creepy, if that makes sense.

When asking about her own personal view of etiquette on Facebook and if this scenario makes her anxious, she says: I don’t….kind of….but not really….I mean there are people where I know them really well in person and I’ll add them on Facebook…I guess I find myself thinking, “Why do I want to add them on Facebook if I already know them, why do I need to add them?” There are people I do know, and I like a lot of their things, then there are people I don’t know, and I don’t like a lot of their things. I think it’s maybe because I don’t know them well in person?

After asking her about the extent to which she feels she “curates” her profile she says: Yeah, for pictures and stuff. I’ll pick pictures that I like. I won’t pick one where my one eye is closed, you know what I mean? I guess I would put up pictures that I think other people would like too, though.

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These quotations illustrate the extent to which Sloane’s attitude about Facebook is uncertain, as she simultaneously holds both positive and negative views of the platform.

Whether it is the appropriate conduct for friending and liking content, the idea of Facebook as a positive or negative object, or whether she curates her profile, the presence of ambivalence is a reoccurring theme.

Object to Facebook.

Throughout our interviews, at varying times, Sloane used an external locus of perception to report her experiences on Facebook. Specifically, she spoke more about how she thought other people use Facebook than how she herself used Facebook. In addition, she articulated her concerns about the technology of Facebook in a way that conveyed a sense of apathy about a perceived loss of psychic agency. She communicated this in her use of the passive voice in speech, but also through the positioning of herself as an object of the technology, denying any of her own power to construct the digital environments. She says: I don’t know how they keep the technology so precise. It seems to be the friends you keep in contact most with. I don’t know how they know that…like they refer friends that you might know that you actually may know…they’re good at what they do I guess. I mean, they kept me on it for 10 years while the other platforms died out, so I find it interesting that they are able to keep us hooked, well, keep me hooked, I guess I should say…how accurate they are. Yes, like what we were just talking about. It’s kind of an uncomfortable feeling that they are so accurate in what they do. Seems like they know a lot.

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Sloane also says: I have found myself, like I said earlier, unconsciously clicking on it when I’m on my phone. I try not to be on it as often. I don’t want to be addicted to social media, but I am on it…I do like being on it, there’s something that draws me back to it. I don’t know if it’s the interaction, notifications part, or a combination of it all. I do like it because prior to Facebook there was MySpace and everyone kind of….MySpace kind of died. But for some reason, Facebook hasn’t. I can’t really put my finger as to why because they’re both very similar….but even with the new apps that have come out like Instagram and Snapchat, Facebook is still there whereas MySpace just stopped. And I don’t know why.

Therefore, Sloane seems to be describing her Facebook use as one of social connectivity, but also simply because it exists, and because it has not yet been replaced. This passive type of use characterizes a possible psychological use of Facebook that is a reflection of a conservative process in development, motivated more by a desire to keep and preserve than to explore and experiment.

Facebook as a contemplative object.

Sloane, as perhaps any Facebook user does, uses Facebook as a way to understand people, as she observes and interprets behavior accordingly. There were a few instances in our interviews when she had a strong opinion on what constitutes proper Facebook etiquette, and other instances where she herself was unsure about proper behavior.

Ultimately, it seems that Sloane is using Facebook as an object to help her determine her

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own values as she becomes an adult. Sloane believes that there are both pros and cons of Facebook use: It’s not necessarily a real portrayal of yourself, you get to pick and choose what you…make yourself up…beef yourself up in a way so other people don’t get the whole picture, which I think is kind of a negative aspect essentially…I mean they don’t know if you’re actually like that or how outgoing you are in person. You could post a bunch of stuff on Facebook, where in person you could be very quiet and they’re the exact opposite, so I think it has its pros and cons….Like I said earlier, I think you get part of the picture, but I don’t think you get the whole picture always.

Idealized sense of self.

Despite feeling rather ambivalent about Facebook in general, a recurrent theme in the interviews with Sloane was her belief that Facebook is mostly a place for people to enhance the social perception of themselves, if not their own perceptions of themselves.

She says: It’s almost like an alternate world. You have your real-life world, then you have the social media world, which I think a lot of people have more control over just in what they post, what they like, what they want other people to see. It’s like an ideal sense of self, so to speak. Where in the real world you have to have those real-world interactions, but on Facebook, you have more time. Even if you get a message on Facebook you have more time to come up with what you want to say, and so in that way, it’s different…I wouldn’t say it’s similar to real life.

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Sloane’s belief about behavior on Facebook is supported by Muchnick and Buirski (2016): People who have been hurt in early relationships and who are left with cautious, guarded interpersonal patterns recognize the allure of Facebook’s ability to connect them to others while simultaneously protecting them from the emotional risks inherent in real-time face-to-face interactions. Facebook can seem a perfect place to find a digital, synthetic version of human connection. (p. 147)

One-dimensional and controlled.

Sloane referenced an example of how she believes some people use Facebook to not only prop up their own grandiosity and avoid interpersonal risk, but also as a means to portray an image of themselves as morally superior, exciting, or fantastic. Sloane believes Facebook only provides one dimension of that person’s true character. She says: I do think some people boast and people tend to post things that make them look great and better than others, for the likes, the comments, I don’t know…maybe to grab their attention or maybe to have them talked about in a positive way by other people—like if I was to talk to my friends about a post I saw if it was something extravagant or big like an engagement or traveling…I don’t know why, but a lot of people have gone to Africa, and they’ll post pictures in Africa with like the little kids showing how they’re helping people and such. It seems like there’s a lot of people who have climbed mountains across the country and always post it to Facebook, so my friends and I are wondering if they are just doing it for the likes or if they are just doing it because they actually want to help people….It makes

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you feel uncomfortable sometimes, especially if they’re helping all these little kids in the picture, they’re posting about it constantly. It’s like, “are you actually helping them or are you just taking pictures with them?”

As Sloane says, she feels uncomfortable when people use Facebook as a way to generate likes, enhance themselves, or provide things that will impress people. She goes on about the one-dimensional nature of computer-mediated communication here: In person, I feel like it’s sometimes different because you have that time period to come up with a response…I don’t know, some people act different, talk differently on Facebook…you think you have an idea [of who that person is], but I guess it’s not always accurate. You might get to know a part of that person, but when you get to know them in person, you get to know the whole person, if that makes sense.

Facebook as intermediate space for development of real-world relationships.

Sloane uses Facebook predominantly as a way to develop the relationships she already has offline.20 For example, this tool has been useful in allowing her to send jokes, share content, and engage in non-verbal communication with meaning deriving from relationships established in the real world. These relationships include her boyfriend, best friends from grade school, high school, and college, as well as her family. She says: It’s a good feeling, especially when you find a picture or video that you know is going to make someone else laugh. It’s good to find one of those and tag ‘em and laugh at that and vice versa. I mean if one of my friends tags me in a video that they know I find funny, I think that’s a good feeling…essentially it’s nonverbal in

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These are often referred to in literature as “anchored relationships.”

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the sense that us two aren’t talking to each other, but we’re laughing at the same common idea or object…..The people I find myself tagging are definitely my good, better friends: my boyfriend and my family, the people that I know really well in life.

Seeing what other people like has become a topic of interest, even a pleasurable activity for Sloane. She reports that she can infer several things about someone from a picture they post as well as something they “like.” This may especially be true of the “form” she describes to enjoy, that is, looking at pictures where there is no dialogue, as much is revealed about the person posting the picture and the people in the picture. She says: Growing up I feel like I’ve been a more visual type of learner and I am more into the pictures aspect of Facebook than anything…I feel like you’re able to get more of a gist of the background images too, so not only what they’re doing but where they are at. Body language, too, kind of helps you see where things are going more so than written, if that makes sense. I feel I get a better gist overall of how like the person is doing and feeling from the pictures as opposed to a single sentence post or a status update. I think I like the pictures more in that aspect. I think even pictures of friends and family, it helps you feel like you’re there.

For Sloane, observing other’s pictures reflects her relationship with Facebook as a way to feel a connection with significant others. Like much communication on Facebook, and even more so on Instagram, most of her posts, especially between her family, friends, and boyfriend, are not completely verbal. The essential meaning in the communication is transmitted through emojis, “likes,” or other symbolic icons heavily dependent, almost

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entirely defined, by the context of the situation, including the history of the relationship with that person.

Case Two: Shooter Introduction.

Shooter is a 26-year-old Caucasian male who works for a large bank in a strategy and data-analytics role. He moved to Chicago after finishing his undergraduate degree on the east coast at a top public university in order to enroll in an MBA program, a program he completed last year. During the first interview, he wore a black polo shirt with his undergraduate college logo emblazoned on it. I recognized the school logo, and this initiated our conversation about his origins and arrival in Chicago. Shortly into our first interview, I felt a sense of familiarity with Shooter, although I had never met him prior. I had the impression that Shooter’s social life is important to him, that he has significant connections to people, and that connectedness is an organizing psychological modus operandi whereby he finds equilibrium, vitality, and enjoyment. Our interviews were all completed on Skype, as his work hours and 2-3 hour round trip commute made meeting in person a near impossibility.

Facebook snapshot.

Shooter began using Facebook in 2006, amongst the large tide of his friends who were leaving MySpace for Facebook. He says he was probably a freshman in high school when he joined Facebook, a move made more out of social necessity than individual desire. Shooter currently has 873 Facebook friends, whom he has accumulated over a

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decade of use, a period of time spanning adolescence, college, graduate school, and emerging adulthood.

He visits Facebook throughout the day, beginning when he wakes up, continuing at work where one internet tab is always reserved for Facebook. Although this tab is on his computer at all times, he says he only checks it during lunch and the early afternoon, and a final time before bed, usually resulting in about 30 minutes to one hour of total use.

However, he pointed out this estimate does not include the time he spends looking at links, clips or material of which Facebook was the source.

He summarized his Facebook use as mostly checking the news feed aspect, scanning for notifications, which are usually interesting articles, photos or news his friends share. He said he posts infrequently, but that when he does it is usually informative; for example, he recently posted an article that ranked universities based on value, not shy to point out the fact his alma mater was in the top 20. He also posts pictures of himself and his girlfriend, either on vacation or at a formal party or event, especially if he has not been active on Facebook in a while, or, as he says to, “basically…to remind everybody I’m still alive.”

Shooter’s relationship with Facebook could be characterized as complicated. On one hand, his use has become ritualized and comfortable, as Facebook serves as a consistent object upon which he can rely on for various functions. However, as the object is consistently present, at times it is inescapable and intrusive, acting more as a bad object than a useful one. In this way, it represents a relationship that is enmeshed to a degree that Shooter experiences a lack of autonomy, but a surplus of stress and anxiety. In other ways, his relationship with Facebook is gratifying, as it enables him to have experiences

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that are transformative, entertaining, and enlivening. However, he reports that he never goes onto Facebook to seek these experiences, as they mostly occur out of surprise, so in this way it is an exciting and stimulating object.

Interview process.

The interview process with Shooter was interesting, as it covered several different topics, not only about his use of Facebook, but also his observations of other people’s behavior and discussions about use in general. In fact, Shooter became so interested in the topic himself that he took it upon himself to write notes and observations from Facebook between the interviews, even texting me a valuable podcast on the topic of Facebook and behavior21 specifically revolving around a case study of human-technology merger.

The interviews themselves covered multiple aspects of his Facebook use, as he associated it with personal meaning with relative ease, elaborating on instances when Facebook use initiated an internal journey of memories, affect, and relationships. These interviews felt rich, and they were representative of the ways that the topic of Facebook use often acted as a launching point for associations to the idiomatic material. One of the objectives of this study is to interpret idiomatic uses of Facebook. If idiom is an “intelligence of form” reflected more by its associational content, then this may explain why I felt these elaborative aspects were fruitful, as they did express aspects of the participant’s idiom.

I enjoyed the interviews; I felt a strong sense of mutual recognition with Shooter.

One instance reflects this sentiment more explicitly. He was speaking about showing his

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NPR (Producer). (2015, February 14). “Our computers, ourselves.” Invisibilia. [Audio podcast].

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girlfriend something on his phone from his own Facebook profile and the kind of reaction he has when she sees his Facebook, saying: So there’s a handful of times I'll show her something on my phone on Facebook, and then she’ll like look and hold it and scroll around, and she’ll make a comment like, “Your Facebook is so weird!” I’ll grab hers and take a look to see what pops up on hers, and I think hers is weird!

This is my favorite example of Facebook use, as it signifies how unique and familiar each person’s Facebook page is to themselves as both a construction and reflection of an environment of the self. Although the icons, the colors, and the template are identical, as Shooter points out, it is immediately clear that it is not yours.

Categories of Meaning Ambivalence of adult identity status.

Whether through discussing affective experiences on Facebook, beliefs about Facebook, or relationships to Facebook itself, ambivalence emerged as a re-occurring theme in my experiences with Shooter. I understand ambivalence to be a normative aspect of emerging adult development, as a core feature is feeling “in-between” (Arnett, 2008).

Shooter illustrated the concept that emerging adulthood is a time of feeling inbetween, as he simultaneously accepted and rejected his status as an adult. Internally, he does not feel like an adult; however, in his intermediate space of Facebook, temporal signifiers offer external indicators that conflict with his internal sense. Here I use the term temporal signifiers to convey the significance of developmental milestones such as

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engagements, marriages, and having children as they appear on Facebook, and as they affect the subject’s understanding of his/her time in life.

At one point in the interviews, he stated not feeling like an adult at all, not feeling his age, and how discrepant it was compared to the image of himself at this point in life he had held when he was a child envisioning his future. He says: I didn’t have an exact picture of what I was going to be, but I can say that I, like, remember thinking when I’m in my mid- to late 20s, I’m 100% an adult and I’ll like have my life together, settled down, married with kids, starting a family and stuff. And now I’m in my mid-20s, and I don’t feel like old at all. Now I think of people getting into their like 40s and 50s as when “ok, you get to that age, that’s when you’re like an adult and you’re a full-on grown-up.”

Shooter also reported how at this stage in life the content on Facebook has dramatically changed to reflect more engagements, marriages, and life-long commitments. This qualitative change in intermediate space has helped usher him into a growing realization of his emerging adult status: It [Facebook] reassures, no, not reassures, but reaffirms that I am no longer a juvenile, or I’m past that college age and I’m getting into adulthood.

As his words suggest, Shooter simultaneously does not feel like an adult (previous quotation) and yet possesses a growing awareness (via temporal signifiers of his peers on Facebook) of his nearing adult status. His hesitancy to state the word “reaffirms” may be a symbolic representation of his ambivalence regarding his self-identification of adulthood status.

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When Shooter was discussing his parents, he spoke about the realization that having parents in their 60s meant that sometime in the near future he will have to focus his attention on providing care for them. I took this to reflect his ambivalence regarding the acceptance of his parents as aging, which he does at times, but then also does not. He said, My parents aren’t old enough yet, but at some point, I will be taking care of my parents. My mom, she is actually getting a little old there, but right now I’m just making sure I can take care of myself.

Furthermore, Shooter outlines his ego ideal and where he expects to be by his 40s or 50s, which he referred to as real adulthood, now that he is an emerging adult and the prospect of feeling that mature must be located at a distance. He says: But by that point [being in his 40s or 50s] for me, I’d like to be or have a clearer picture of, “am I going to make it or not?” Ha-ha.

According to Shooter this would mean: Living comfortably, like money-wise I don’t care about being stupid stupid rich, but I want to live like comfortably, have a decent house, like have a pretty cool house and no vacation home, or a ok home and a vacation home, and just be in a very happy committed marriage with a couple of kids.

Colarusso highlights the centrality of this experience on the development of time sense in young adulthood when he argues: Time sense in the twenties rests on psychic structures built in childhood and adolescence. In the early twenties, the consignment of childhood to the past can produce a brief, latency-like temporal calm, which is built upon the resonance

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between conscious aspirations and the unconscious expectations of the ego ideal and the realization that the future is long enough to postpone some decisions, undo mistakes in career or object choice, and start again if necessary. But by the mid-twenties, time sense is increasingly influenced by the search for adult structure and new objects—career definition, friends, lovers, and spouse and children—to replace the temporal organizers of childhood, Mother and Father Time…moreover, the intrapsychic power of Mother and Father Time is gradually reduced by the inability of the real parents to control their own aging or to protect their children from a similar fate. (pp. 117-118)

Negative psychic space.

A superordinate theme or category of meaning resulting from the interviews with Shooter was that of negative space. This category is comprised of three themes: censorship, conformity, and intrusion. All three are related to each other via the commonality that they inhabit “negative psychic space.” By negative psychic space, I am referring to the spatial dimension of the phenomenon whereby an individual’s psychic potential is displaced by content of the culture/others/objects that in some way results in a net loss of potential meaning related to selfhood. Negative psychic space is not the absence of meaning, but rather the accommodation of other’s meaning (Green, 1999).

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Censorship.

During our interviews, censorship came up several times in relevance to Shooter’s personal meanings of his own Facebook use, as well as his perceptions of the culture of Facebook at large. Shooter believed that censorship is a given, a completely necessary aspect of functioning as a professional adult, with relevance to employment, social approval, and overall acceptance. He says: I’ve noticed that either my younger cousins or people who I know aren’t the most mature [in real life] will not post stupid things on Facebook that they would say in real life. There’s been…especially during the job search and in college it’s been pounded into your brain like, “don’t put anything stupid on online because it’s there forever.” So I don’t know if that’s like institutionally taught nowadays or what, but it takes a pretty immature person to post something stupid on Facebook.

Shooter demonstrates the kind of learned Facebook behavior that is not only appropriate but also expected today, using the example of his cousins, who, despite being younger and immature, have learned to self-censor online. The understanding that posts are permanent is something frequently imparted on youth. Our conversation continues here: Me: So you’re saying they learned at a young age to censor their own stuff, basically?

Shooter: I would say so, yeah. Especially recently where like people are starting to find out stupid things that Trump used to say, or in the sports world you’ll find people that tweeted something years ago is now coming up in the mainstream…it’s been affecting even the NFL draft, there’s one player who had a

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picture of himself from college smoking weed and he dropped in the draft order like 2 rounds just because of some picture that came out years ago. It’s really prevalent, and not eye-opening because it makes sense to me, but it’s interesting that it's driven into us like, “hey this is how your profile should look like and this is what it shouldn’t look like.” I think you can report like cyberbullying and anything that someone does or says online can be used against them if there was any type of cyberbullying case in court or something, like if somebody did something…and cyberbullying is probably a whole other topic. I’ve never been bullied or done bullying, but I know people who have. It’s a really big problem.

What I hear from these quotations is a sense that Facebook’s archival functions have created a new sense of permanence22 of past behavior. The potential consequences of this, as Shooter evidenced, are lost professional status, even criminal charges, among other things. I sensed a level of anxiety from Shooter that behaviors may not be simply relegated to the past, as was mostly the case prior to the development of Facebook. He demonstrates his own self-censorship here: Me and my brother went to the Phish show this past Sunday, and we took a picture to send together. He wanted to post it to Facebook, and I kind of asked him not to because I was pretty intoxicated in the picture. There was nothing physically there, but the background was the Phish show and I look pretty drunk. I kind of asked him, “Hey you mind not posting that because we look like idiots

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Stephen Hartman (2011, 2012) has written about the potential impact of this archival repository on the experience of necessary loss, suggesting that the features of such platforms may inhibit the facilitation of mourning as nothing is ever truly lost. Although this is an interesting perspective, in the case of Shooter, the findings suggest that he does experience loss, via the memorial of his grandfather and realization of other changes and losses through his life. This issue in general will be further discussed in the across-case section.

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and everybody in the world will be able to see this.” So that’s like a perfect example of self-censorship.

Shooter, as one can see, is obviously aware of his own impulse to self-censor, as a means to control the public image of himself, which, although honest, may be discrepant from the image he thinks is appropriate for his professional self and standards.

Conformance.

Shooter’s own Facebook experiences as well as his conceptions of other’s Facebook use offer insight into the meaning of his use. Specifically, Shooter is clear that he believes Facebook is a reflection of one’s being, and that being should be checked by standards of behavior along professional lines: Facebook really has turned into an extension of people’s being almost, it is part of their personality, like if you’re meeting someone for the first time. I don’t know if I’ve ever said this, but I can picture myself saying or other people saying this, like “They’re really cool, they’re kind of weird on Facebook, but they’re really cool in person. You know, sometimes they get a little into it on Facebook, they put themselves out there.” But that just becomes something you describe somebody as—maybe not the first couple of things you say, but I could see at some point it coming up about how they appear online As suggested in this quote, Shooter interprets one’s Facebook persona as significant introductory material used when meeting or describing people, almost as if it were a disclaimer. According to Shooter, there are relatively clear parameters regarding acceptable and normative Facebook behavior. For example, as he cited earlier, he

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believes that if he is looking for an intern, he will look to see if the applicant’s pictures are in line with professional standards of behavior. For Shooter, a Facebook profile should reflect not the true self, but rather the aspiring and socially normative self, withholding private interests to oneself if they fall outside of this ambiguously defined normalcy: I know some people who deleted their Facebook, but it’s more like they just don’t check it and don’t post, and if somebody wants to get a hold of them they can’t use Facebook to do it. It’s kind of like an anti-establishment Facebook mentality…because it really is the norm now. Don’t take offense to this [I had told him I had deleted my Facebook account years ago], but it’s almost like people will most likely judge somebody negatively if they don’t have a Facebook account. It’s almost like, “Why?” or, “What are you trying to hide?” It’s weird.

Intrusive object.

Related, yet distinct from the category of censorship, is intrusion. Among other things, Shooter’s relationship to Facebook has become a source of intrusion, both an internal and external demand he feels limits his psychic space.

Facebook acts intrusively to Shooter in two ways, one in the way it places unconscious demands on him to conform to ideal standards, whatever they may be, but another in how it decreases the distance between him and others in real time, contracting relationships in time and space. Shooter describes a typical experience with his mother on Facebook:

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Another example of this is my mom. I think I mentioned this last time. She’ll post something and tag me in it, and if I don’t respond within a couple of hours, she’ll text me like, “Hey did you see what I put on Facebook?” And I’m like, “Yeah, Mom, I did, I didn’t feel the need to respond to it immediately.” It’s almost as if when someone tags you in something they expect an immediate response, and if you don’t [respond quickly] they think, “Well what’s he thinking about this? Is there a problem?” A picture of me and my brother my mom put up, yeah it’s like nice and I like it, but it’s the middle of the day at work and she totally expected me to see it, react, and do something in response…like if you are tagged in something you are expected to do something.

This quotation summarizes the specific feeling of intrusion enabled by Facebook.

Although it connects people by decreasing the variables of distance and time, it also provides experiences of conflict when it interferes with the “real life environment,” as is the case at times for Shooter.

Another aspect of this intrusion is the perceived lack of privacy Shooter feels on Facebook. Although he uses privacy settings, he admits it is still, “a little scary.” He goes on: It’s [Facebook] become like a stalking ground…it’s become a little scary in that sense … you can customize how much other people see you, like what level they can see you…like if they’re not your friend they can only see a, b, and c. So I’ve made it as private as I want to make it, but it’s still strange that if you searched my name you can still see my picture. I guess I feel like my privacy is invaded, but not enough to do anything about it because I still use Facebook and check it

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every day, and I do my own fair share of Facebook stalking. If I hear about someone and want to see who they are, wow, yeah , I guess the feeling is intrusion I guess.

I take this sense of “intrusion” Shooter describes to mean that it feels invasive of his psychic space, a level of discomfort when realizing the publicness of his profile and the lack of genuine privacy he feels he has on the platform. However, he is also quick to admit that he does his own share of this intrusion into other people’s Facebook profiles: So I wrote some things down in a note since our last meeting, so I take back what I said about not searching people. Turns out I definitely do that, a lot actually.

Like if someone new is starting at work or I hear someone’s name or something like that, and I think the majority of people do. When we were looking for an intern, we looked at their LinkedIn to get a better idea of their professional life.

But then right after that, we would go right to Facebook, see if we could find their Facebook profile and judge them that way. It’s definitely, I think, I would say a majority of people my age do that. I’d say pictures definitely give off the best indicators of anything. So if their first 10 pictures are like crazy pictures in a club with crazy lights and they’re drinking everywhere, then that guy’s definitely a party guy.

Shooter offers what I interpret to be the best example of this intrusion, as Facebook is not only an object he relates to but also an undesired inhabitant of his psychic space. When speaking about why he only posts every couple of months, he says, “it goes back to that intrusive thing where I don’t want everybody to know what I’m

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doing and who I’m with.” To which I reply by saying, “So it feels like an intrusion or a demand to post on Facebook though?” Shooter answers: Yeah , I’d say that, especially if I take a picture of me and my girlfriend it’s a really good one just to let everyone know, but yeah , if I haven’t posted something in a long time I’ll still post just something to let everyone know I’m still alive.

Shooter elaborates on this feeling with another example: I went to Mexico and was at this resort where there was no Wi-Fi, and I got this feeling like, “Shit, I need to check Facebook and I can’t,” and it’s almost like I hate that I feel that way. I/you are so connected to it, it's addicting, it’s like a drug.

Archival function of cultural objects.

Shooter cited several examples of his use of Facebook, use that coincidentally inspired him to recall memories about his past and significant experiences as he elaborated aspects of his idiom inspired by current events and overwhelmingly posted on Facebook. These experiences were enabled by the use of Facebook and the specific characteristics and features of its website, including the “newsfeed” area and “memories” section. Both of these features include real-time reactions to current events, records of meaningful events throughout his life, and a personal repertoire of his own cultural objects, which by way of identification and repudiation help him define his sense of self.

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Identification and processing of loss.

One powerful example of this overall theme occurred when the lead singer23 of the band Linkin Park committed suicide, and Facebook, in his words, “just blew up.”

Shooter reported that he was very surprised by the emotional revelations and comments about the sense of loss that fans had shared, because, as he said, “I never met the guy.”

However, despite this attitude, he felt inclined to download two of their albums as he drove home from work that day. This event is unpacked into two different types of subsequent object use, which Shooter exemplified through his narrative.

He spoke of the significance of the event: Especially for me, because I was in that punk rock scene probably when I was in late, or early middle school to early high school and [pauses]—I used to love Linkin Park—[ felt] a little nostalgic.

Specifically, this incident reminded him of freshman year baseball practice. Each player was able to pick a song for warm-ups, and he chose a Linkin Park song (“Papercut”) as a way of evoking a kind of self-state for functional use, “that was kind of my pump up, get in the zone type of music.” I interpret this behavior as a psychological mechanism to sublimate his own anxieties about performance, transforming the experience of passivity into activity, infusing himself with a sense of omnipotence, selfdirection, and power—characteristic of adolescence. This was “nostalgic” because he used this event on Facebook to reflect on its personal meaning in the context of his own life and to process that loss.

Hearing about the news of the lead singer’s suicide on Facebook also moved him to recall memories of road trips to the beach with his family when he was in middle

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Chester Bennington

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school. Furthermore, he said his brother introduced him to Linkin Park, and when the singer died, they spoke to each other about it: So me and him [older brother] were just talking about it like, “remember when we used to listen to it [Linkin Park] on the way to the beach?” and my parents would hate it. We had like one Walkman so we’d have to switch off because they [parents] got to the point where they were like, “We’re not going to keep putting this on in the car. We're going to listen to something else.” So we joked about trips to the beach and stuff like that.

For Shooter, the way he elaborates on this one current event is interesting, quite impressively using it as a source for associative self-inquiry whereby he follows strings of content into higher-ordered groupings of psychically meaningful stimuli, arriving at nodal points reflecting personal importance: baseball, brotherly bonds, burgeoning adolescence, individuation from parents, and road trips to the beach—all inspired by the loss of a well-known cultural object, a musician/artist.

Repudiation.

Shooter not only identifies with cultural objects, brought to attention through current events on Facebook, but also repudiates the behavior on Facebook inspired by the recent presidential election along with the previously mentioned suicide. In regards to the death of the Linkin Park singer, Shooter displays a sense of irritation at the behavior of people who came out to memorialize celebrity deaths: A lot of people, well me personally, I’m not the kind of guy who gets all upset if a celebrity dies, like I didn’t personally have an attachment to them. But people I

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saw did, and they were like, “I can’t believe this happened,” or, “He was the best singer ever,” or, “We’ll miss you,” stuff like that. It’s just kind of weird to see that. I mean, yes, I like his music, but I’ve never spoken a word to the guy…they feel the need, it’s interesting to see the people who feel the need to like express it out on Facebook, and that’s where they like spew their emotions out…is on Facebook.

Shooter seemed to feel that people were dramatizing their experience of loss, as they assumedly had no real relationship to the singer. I sense that Shooter felt this irritating as he was an actual fan of the singer, and yet he did not want to scream for attention or publically express the contents of his experience of loss.

Another example of Shooter’s tendency to repudiate behavior on Facebook relates to the presidential election. He said that several friends had commented on the election, and his newsfeed became flooded with rather vocal opinions, the likes of which he did not find useful for constructive discourse. Shooter ultimately unfriended several people who would consistently post this kind of politically evocative content: Now I find myself, for example, on the news feed, you have an option to “hide” some people’s content they share, but I don’t even care anymore. I’ll just unfriend them…especially during the presidential race. My opinion is that everyone can have their own opinion, but don’t like try and pull people to your side. What I had noticed was that I had friends who post that kind of stuff, and these are people who I still want to be their friend, but I don’t want to see any of that political crap—so it was during that whole season that I would hide their posts from my newsfeed.

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When asked if the content he dismissed or hid was particularly contrary to his own political beliefs, he said: It probably was a majority of stuff I didn’t agree with, but my brother, he’s a total out-there hippie, he actually works for a Jewish company that is pro-Palestinian and we’re Jewish, you know. I agree with where he’s at with this, but even then I was hiding his stuff because although I agree with it. I guess it was tension because a lot of people we knew, family friends and stuff, like started arguing about it and I didn’t want to get involved. I didn’t want to accidentally “like” something and just kind of separated myself from that. It was like talking down to the audience. Even if you were somebody who agreed with it, it felt kind of condescending like, “why aren’t you speaking up also?” I feel like everyone has their own way of expressing themselves.

For Shooter, the experience of politics on Facebook was irritating at the very least and helped him form his own opinion about what he does not like in that way, or what is “not me.” Shooter specifically decided that Facebook is not the forum that he would like to use to express his political beliefs.

Facebook profile as narcissistic and idiomatic communication of self.

Several times during the interview process, Shooter acknowledged the sense that not only he views Facebook as an extension of himself, but also that there may be an entire generational perception that Facebook is an extension of one’s identity: I think our generation views this [Facebook profile] as one of the best indicators of who that person is. Some millennials view Facebook so strongly that it’s

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become more like a fingerprint and as a means of identity. Every single person’s Facebook is different and you can kind of display what interests you have and what makes you unique. It’s become almost as safe and identifiable as a fingerprint.

Shooter goes on to describe how one’s Facebook profile is an extension of their own personal style or aesthetic: It’s almost like a branch of your personal style in the same way some people dress goth versus punk versus preppy. I guess it’s like an extension of style, but I guess it doesn’t really fall into those categories. That is tough. I would describe mine as like an extension of my opinions and my interests I guess, but it’s like everything—I guess with clothing, that’s one pillar, or music, or I guess it could be, Facebook could just be another pillar where you can kind of share or fit into a certain group. I think everybody’s Facebook has been groomed to fit themselves into whatever social norm they have put themselves into. For example, I guess if you are kind of a skater kid you’d wear Vans shoes, you’d fit the mold dress-wise, and your Facebook could I guess fit the mold of someone who is a skater kid. A lot of their feed would be videos of people doing cool tricks and different pictures of people going to concerts like heavy metal concerts. And for mine, mine would be kind of like a jock mixed with a young professional almost because I have a lot of sports that pop up, but then again a lot of random links that go to Investopedia and Market Watch and stuff like that…Facebook really has turned into like an extension of people’s being almost, it is part of their personality.

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Shooter here describes the extent to which he believes Facebook is a place where one can exhibit aspects of their personality, even implying that people can “try on” different personas as they grow and develop, fitting themselves into predefined social groups as they see fit.

This example highlights the Facebook feature of reacting to personal content. For example, as Shooter points out, the links he most frequently visits are stored by Facebook in some sort of algorithm, which presumably groups his interests into categories and feeds information back to him by way of news and products, which he may find useful or resonant with that categorical interpretation. In this way, it seems Shooter interprets the artificial intelligence component to the technology not as an appropriation of agency (Seligman, 2011), but rather as an extension of his actual interests, needs, and wishes: One thing I have noticed is that the ads, the ads work. And I know it’s marketing where you start typing into Google and you start seeing those ads on Facebook, but I like that. For example, I’m an Amazon Prime member and I get these ads on Facebook for bath bombs because I’m sure I typed it in one time to buy for my girlfriend, and like I was glad [when I saw it]. Although some people don’t like it, I do. It’s a service. There’s also this new thing where if you click on an article and come back to Facebook from that article, they’ll have a list of very similar articles with a picture of the headline if there’s a picture, and I love those because that’s how I get lost in Facebook, ha-ha.

This quote adds support to the meaning Facebook has for Shooter, and given its enhanced technological capabilities via algorithms, it allows him to connect with more material he is interested in and reflects his interests.

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As mentioned earlier, Shooter finds it interesting that when he looks at his girlfriend’s profile he immediately recognizes it as “not his” despite the layout being almost identical. The way one manages their Facebook profile and digital environment is reflective of their own idiom, as their profile reflects subtle yet distinguishable differences in object choice and use. He agreed with a metaphor I used to capture the meaning of this experience of walking into your own home and not recognizing almost anything in it: Ha, yeah, that is exactly what I was going to say! It’s like being lost somewhere you know you shouldn’t be lost in.

He alludes to this more mysterious element of identity or idiom as he compares the experience of “knowing” your own profile compared to that of “knowing” your own phone, portraying a level of intimacy with the object: [If you compare] my profile next to my mom’s, 100% [could tell the difference].

I’m sure she clicks on a lot of stuff I know I wouldn’t click on, and so it is pretty similar to the iPhone in that every iPhone is pretty much laid out the exact same, but you still know it’s not your iPhone [when you open or use someone else’s].

It’s so basic, but every single person can go on someone else’s phone and instantly know it’s not theirs even though it’s the exact same most basic technology ever.

When Shooter says it is basic technology, I interpret this to mean that iPhones, like Facebook, are designed to have such a universal and uniform template that it should presumably not be this easy to distinguish one profile from another. As Shooter demonstrates through these examples, at least for him, one’s digital environment via

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Facebook is so intimately linked with the self that the most subtle and minor of cues instantly trigger a sensation of unfamiliarity when on someone else’s profile. This example highlights the degree to which Facebook has become a narcissistic extension of the self, and within this extension, a reflection of idiomatic meaning.

Perception of Facebook self as performance of development.

Shooter quickly applied his experience in the first interview to the world of Facebook, reporting the results during the second interview. Specifically, he focused on his own group of friends and family, analyzing the extent to which they were reflective of who he had come to know them to be outside Facebook. The results of his miniexperiment illustrate the discrepancy he felt existed between his friends and family members’ Facebook selves as compared to their real-life attributes and maturity: I’ve been more attentive I guess to what people post and trying to kind of like see if I can create in my mind that link from their Facebook profile and their real-life personality to see if there is any disconnect. Because I do think there is, but not with everybody. I was thinking about this today. I don’t know if there’s one thing you can point to that says if this person has this kind of trait in real life they’re probably not going show it on Facebook, but I do think that one indicator of it could be maturity level.

I understand Shooter to mean that people will inhibit less mature and socially unacceptable behavior he knows they engage in offline, based on his relationships with them in historical context. One person he describes seems to be fashioning his persona to

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a more socially acceptable one, reflecting his age and ideal maturity as an emerging adult.

He offers another example as further evidence: I have a friend who moved to Denver with his girlfriend and he’s kind of like embraced the free spirit/Denver mentality. He’s not totally vegan, but I think he’s a vegetarian now, and he posts all these things…He was one of my college roommates freshman and sophomore year, and he’s always respectable but we would watch South Park together and make fun of the vegetarians, and now he’s like the complete opposite. But, in person, me and him still crack the same kind of jokes even though on Facebook you would never think he would ever make those jokes…I think people are more reserved on Facebook because they know it’s there forever, they know everybody can see what they’re saying and they know that everybody is judging them good or bad, so it is. Everything is tying back to this intrusiveness and people portraying themselves how they want to be portrayed as opposed to how they actually are, I guess.

Shooter’s experiences are valuable, as they reflect not only his perception of the friends he knows well, and the potential discrepancy between online and offline personas, but also as it relates to the feeling of being judged and the permanency of posts. In this way, Facebook has become more of a public sphere where aspects of the self, felt to be discordant with socially acceptable developmental ideals, are mostly split off from expression.

Shooter also relays how people not only withhold information about themselves but also create potentially false, or perceived as such, aspects. He speaks about his mother as she demonstrates a varied, but similar, behavior here:

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So my mom is 63, she’s divorced, she’s single…in person, she is very tame and conservative, but on Facebook, she portrays herself as she has this new life and always posts about it when she goes out with her girlfriends to get drinks. Maybe it’s just cause she’s my mom and I have my own feelings about that but I just never see that in person. For example, she’ll tag all the 60-year-old women friends she’s with when she goes to this bar by our home and puts these pictures up. I just don’t see her as this like party girl, but I guess that’s how she wants to be portrayed online.

Shooter provides another example of a similar experience: There’s this one guy I know who was a crazy party animal in college, and I guess you could say the same about me. Well, I wasn’t a crazy party animal, but I like to have fun, but I don’t portray that online anymore, and this guy definitely doesn’t.

He keeps it very professional. I see him sharing political satires like from The Onion, just being very mature, like mature and serious, and I just don’t see him that way at all.

What I find interesting about these examples Shooter provides is that two of them relate to people attempting to portray themselves as more mature than they may be, or at least compared to his experience with them. However, the example of his mother is the opposite; that is, she is portraying herself as fun, exciting and perhaps more outgoing than the ways Shooter has experienced her, suggesting that she may be trying to present herself in a way that denies her age and development.

In sum, I interpret this information to mean that people in these instances adapt their online persona in accordance with a socially acceptable, as well as personally

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advantageous, developmental ideal. For instance, both of his friends are attempting to be taken more seriously as professionals and seen as more mature adults. Shulman, Blatt, and Feldman (2006) report that this behavior is quite common, and reflects a “pseudoadult” process: Toward the end of adolescence or beginning of young adulthood, young people face increasing demands to take additional steps toward becoming an adult.

Without having matured inwardly, and combined with latent vulnerabilities, young people may end up adopting what may be seen to them as an adult role (either parental or as understood in society). It can be expected such “pseudoadults” (Miller, 1999, p. 40) will have limited ability to face difficulties and losses and may collapse or get “stuck.” (p. 161) This quotation supports the argument that Facebook may enable a kind of false adaptation, or external compliance with society’s ideals, without the establishment of an inner sense of corresponding maturity.

According to Shooter, his mother wants to express her newly single lifestyle, another example of a desire for social acceptance by way of appeal to socially constructed developmental ideals, which may not necessarily reflect corresponding internal structural qualities. Ultimately, these perceptions also reflect Shooter’s insights into his peer group and family, by way of Facebook. Facebook, as an object, regardless of the validity of his perceptions, offers him a place to feel connected to the people in his life he no longer sees in person as frequently as he once did.

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Case 3: Ted Introduction.

Ted is a Chicago transplant, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio. He attended college in Kentucky, where he played baseball for one year, specifically playing the position of third base. Ted ultimately quit, as it required intense sacrifice in terms of time and commitment, the levels of which he felt were disproportionate given his chances at playing professionally. After spending much of his early adulthood working in various jobs within different fields, including 10 months he spent teaching in China, he sought higher education in the realm of business. He finished his MBA this past spring at a wellknown program and currently works in a small management-consulting firm.

His way of being, or idiom, was reflected in several aspects of his expression: his vernacular (business nomenclature/buzz words), thought processes (top-down or heuristic model) and values (efficiency, determination, and responsibility), both explicit and latent.

It is important to note that he is both the oldest participant and one of only two married participants, two temporal markers reflecting his more adult status.

Facebook snapshot.

Ted’s Facebook use is minimal yet consistent, existing more by its own historical inertia and small utilitarian value than any personal desire or enjoyment. Ted has 1,060 Facebook friends, is 29 years old and has had a profile for 11 years, having adopted the platform as a freshman in college. Ted reports using the platform, “maybe 15 minutes a day.”

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It seems that as time has gone by, and his identity has taken form, his use and need for exploration on Facebook have dwindled, the purpose of keeping it entirely predicated on the strings of attachment to old friends, peers, and family whom he would otherwise would have little to no ability to contact if needed. For example, he reports appreciating the international range of Facebook that allows him to maintain a connection with people, no matter where he or his business school friends reside.

Specifically, he uses Facebook as a tool to connect with sub-cultures like the graduates of his MBA program, who have created their own page to communicate, create events, and post information. It is through these groups, or sub-groups, that he finds value in Facebook at this time in his life. His family has also made their own group page, allowing him to connect with desired groups of people and avoid posting and interacting with the overall populace at large on Facebook. Finally, he also appreciates the Marketplace feature, where one can find willing buyers and sellers of a variety of personal items. This function has proven useful for him as both a buyer and a seller, as he recently moved. When asked to use a metaphor to illustrate his relationship with Facebook, Ted reported: It’s like if you’re in line at a supermarket. I’m not disappointed or super excited if I get an awesome cashier—it’s not going to like ruin or make my day you know?

It’s nicer to have someone who is pleasant than someone who totally hates their job and doesn’t talk to you, but like I am going to forget that interaction the moment I walk out the door. I’ve done my transaction, I’ve gotten what I need. I have my milk and eggs or whatever. It is a very check-out transactional type of experience.

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Interview process.

My experience with Ted was very pleasant, as he is a likable, genuine person with a plethora of close friends, a testament to his social capacities and friendly demeanor. I jokingly referred to him as the “reluctant user”; a nickname he agreed was accurate.

While spending almost an entire year teaching children in China, he had no access to Facebook, an experience he described as, “liberating, to be honest.” At times during the interview process, I wondered why he even used the platform, as it seemed to give him more frustration and annoyance than anything else. He responded that although he does use it for basic practical purposes (which will be outlined later in the case), leaving it would be too cumbersome as it is, much to his chagrin, the only platform with such social capital.

Transference and countertransference data.

Several times during the interview process, Ted expressed concern that he was not giving helpful information and seemed to feel bad. During these moments, I was unsure of how to respond, because I was simply not used to, nor expecting, the interview data to be delivered in such an already interpreted form.

The challenge for me during the interviews was processing Ted’s cognitive ability to reduce and organize his experiences into predetermined templates, themes, and categories. Furthermore, his perspective was purely that of a business consultant, so his nomenclature, thought processes, and stylistic manners were influential on his experience. He rarely allowed himself to reflect without analyzing, categorizing, and

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labeling. In other words, he was so effective at sorting his experiences, albeit through a rational business filter, that by the time they reached me they seemed pre-metabolized.

I used these finished products as meaningful idiomatic communications resulting from his identification with business. This is a category of meaning that will be discussed in the next section. Sub-themes will be included as they are relevant to the categories.

Categories of Meaning Facebook as a dynamic relationship over time.

Ted reports that his Facebook experience as of late reflects dominant themes about where he is in life: Today, today it’s a lot different than it was in college. Whatever this may be—I was talking to a couple of friends about this the other day—maybe this is just the time in my life/stage we’re in that if I were to, and I don’t do this often, but if I were to go to the actual newsfeed it would be 3 things: engagements, weddings, and babies.

Upon asking him how this made him feel, he replied, “Well for one, it makes me feel old.” Ted also defines how his relationship with Facebook has changed since college: Since college, I guess for me it was a gradual progression, so it’s not like the day I graduated I dropped off the Facebook Earth. I definitely use it less now and progressively less since college, and I used it for different things too. In college, it was maybe more picture-sharing stuff, more posting, more active usage. Back when I graduated college, that was 7 years ago, there was just a lot less functionality. But now it’s more integrated into your Instagram, into your Events,

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your Marketplace, all that. I would definitely say that I scroll and browse a lot less because I had more friends and I am more distant from those friends now that I have a smaller group. That was super relevant to me when I was recently out of college.

Ted also iterates how Facebook itself has changed: Back in college there were no ads. There weren’t as many people on it, of course, it’s literally grown by billions of people since then. There was a tint towards younger people when I was in college—now it’s like your mom’s on there, my grandpa’s on there, which is cool, I get it. Facebook is trying to do what they’re doing they want more people, and it’s not even for me as an almost 30 year old. I don’t care if my mom sees something on Facebook, it’s just they have, they get excited about different things and different conversations than my generation is interested in. That why I get more excited about the Facebook page for my classmates I know because we are doing these common themes all together. Or it could even be like my family page, it's more controlled that way, specifically the interests to me compared to having to dig through everyone, literally billions of people’s stuff, to find something I’m interested in.

I sensed from this quote that Ted enjoyed the smaller, more intimate attributes of the early Facebook when it was simpler and targeted directly to college students. Now that it has become so convoluted with vast interests and demographics, he feels more overwhelmed when on it than entertained, perhaps even more alone. In regards to a relationship with Facebook as the object, it appears the two have grown quite distant as the very constitution of Facebook has changed, lending itself to less intimate encounters.

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As someone who is clearly in the later stages of young adulthood, Ted knows himself, knows what he wants, and has developed close relationships with friends, family, and his spouse. He distinguishes between his openness to new relationships now compared to the beginning of early adulthood: I’m at this stage of life where I’m not completely open arms to everyone like I was in college like, “yeah be my [Facebook] friend.” I can be, I’m just more selective now.

Ted’s place in emerging adulthood, both temporally and maturationally, reflects a more refined sense of self, as he has learned through many experiences the kind of relationships and environments he values. As an adult, he is able to screen stimuli as they approach his self-system—an important developmental task according to Blos (1972), Perhaps the most important psychic acquisition—important for the survival of the psychic organism—is the automation of the stimulus barrier and the screening of stimuli in accordance with their particular usefulness for keeping developmental progression in flux. (p. 94) As this quotation suggests, the significance of maturation does embody an element of efficiency, as the individual has a better concept of valuable and needed stimuli. Rather than using Facebook as a medium for exploration, he views it as a tool to satisfy his drive to obtain information, provide action, and achieve results.

Furthermore, Ted appreciates the extent that he can “fence-off” subcultures within Facebook that provide the nuanced groupings and communities he is looking for, without the overstimulating clutter on the massive newsfeed feature. Included in these fenced-off groups are his MBA class peers, family, and other groupings of friends. This feature

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allows him to directly go to the group page and bypass the more “public” areas of Facebook. By doing this, he can access information faster, post things to a more targeted demographic, and relate more to the issues at hand in a way that allows him the feeling of connection: I guess it’s moments of time. So in each moment its very relevant. You know, I just was with a class that was very close for 2 years but that will probably wean off after a few months, a few years and become another source of let’s call it, “a handful of friends,” 10-20 friends that I actually keep in touch with. Whereas right now I can say I have 50, 60, 70, and that will probably come down to a reasonable number…even in undergrad where people were studying all different kinds of stuff, we were studying one general subject of business, so the conversations they like to have, the posts they like to share, the types of questions you can ask them, the types of things you can reach out to them for, there are just a little bit more common interest-type things. And so I guess with the business school program, we’re a lot more spread out after graduation in two ways, 1) with the incoming demographic, which is more international than I was used to in undergrad, and 2) once we graduated we went tons of different places all across the world to work, whereas the undergrad experience I had was a little smaller and more close-knit, not as spread out. So Facebook can be a useful medium for that, so it’s the travel, people living in cities, people living abroad, that kind of commonality.

Ted is describing the positive functionality Facebook provides for him at this stage in life, where he has a niche group of people who are like-minded and have similar

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interests. In addition, because of the international disbursement of people after graduation, Facebook allows him to stay connected with these people from whom he otherwise might become estranged. When discussing the feeling of community, he says: There’s a community feel if you fence off that community. I chose to fence off that community (alumni) and interact with them specifically, but I don’t feel like there’s a Facebook community for me specifically, there’s not a community of people I interact with on a broader scale. Like I don’t send info to my entire “friends” group, it’s pockets within that.

Once again, as Ted demonstrates, his Facebook usage and history reflect the maturational process of object selection and the growing awareness of the close relationships he wants to maintain, including those with his wife, family, and immediate friends. Unlike in college, he has no use for “friending” everyone he comes across or meets, as his Facebook use in that time period was for different purposes, more exploratory and imprecise. Now, with developed intimate relationships of his own, he feels Facebook has less value, especially in terms of offering intimate connection.

Relationship to Facebook as an ambivalent attachment.

Throughout the interview process, I was surprised to the extent to which Ted, on one hand, recognized the power of Facebook and its functions, yet on the other hand viewed it as almost worthless. I took these behavioral overtures as meaningful and representative of an attachment style Ted has come to know through Facebook, one marked by high amounts of ambivalence. Specifically, Ted illustrates this in his behavior by both seeking participation in a study about Facebook while simultaneously dismissing

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its significance in his life. Quotes that reflect this ambivalence will be shared to supplement the counter-transference information supplied by this researcher.

Ted was immediately dismissive of Facebook as bearing any significance in his life. On the very rare occasion that it does, it is always minimal and often below the quality level of other sites such as Instagram and Snapchat. When asked about the solution to unfriend people on Facebook as a way of decreasing clutter, he says: I do it every once in a while, not very often, only because the scale of it is just daunting. So I just, I’m not going spend hours on Facebook defriending a bunch of people…first a gut-level reaction I feel bad like, “well maybe I care about this person sometimes whatever,” which you really don’t. I use Facebook for what I need it for, and using it for the newsfeed and updating is just not one of those purposes because there’s also a degree of clutter even from people I care about.

This quote represents the level of conflict Ted feels when thinking about deleting Facebook friends. On the one hand, he needs to do so, as he admits he no longer has a relationship with some people, but on the other hand, he cannot because of the associated guilt. Ultimately, he decides to agree that he does not care about the people, yet avoids making a determination about deleting them. When responding to a question about accommodating an audience on Facebook, Ted replied: I don’t know, I hardly ever post on Facebook so I have zero concern about my audience. I have more concern about my audience on Instagram.

Ted shared his thoughts on how Facebook became so convoluted: It is the stickiness of it, it’s a one-stop shop for all of social media. You don’t have to go to competitors because we have Instagram, we have Messenger, we

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have pictures, we have videos, we have articles. You can make your own Facebook page, you can follow different pages, you can make events. We have all these loyalties and necessities but people are looking for competitors now. Well, it’s funny to call Facebook a dinosaur now, but like they’re the dinosaur of social media in their own way. It’s got 2 billion people on it—it’s huge.

This passage reflects Ted’s ambivalence about Facebook, referring to it as both necessary but obsolete, practical but also inferior, old but enormous. This quotation represents Ted’s relationship in whole to Facebook. Like a dinosaur, it is slow, outdated, and yet very powerful, a relic of the early 21st century that has too much clout to stop but not enough excitement to enliven. Ultimately, this dinosaur metaphor captures Ted’s feelings about Facebook: large and important, but also frustrating and unresponsive to certain needs.

Facebook as a frustrating object.

Ted is not shy about his current frustrations with using Facebook. Now that he has a closer, tight-knit group of friends and a wife, he is more concerned with the establishment and attainment of intimacy in these relationships than exploring and building new ones. However, as he says, it would take him days to go through and delete people who were no longer his friends, which would require too much effort, energy and time. Therefore, it is not something that he necessarily wants to keep, but he cannot get rid of it. His experiences of frustration are discussed in this category of meaning.

A particularly insignificant, and thereby frustrating, aspect of Facebook for Ted is the newsfeed. He experiences it more as a repository for verbal garbage and useless rants,

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the likes of which only make his goal to find specific information more strenuous at times: So the news feed is not very useful for me, like I said if there’s 1,000 people I’m friends with, do I really give a shit about most of those people? No. The newsfeed is probably one of the last things I look at. On Facebook, people go on all these big rants…there’s just so much to get to the actual point of Facebook, whereas if I’m just exploratory, I’m on the train and just kind of bored and want to do some stuff, there’s just way too much effort to have to put into Facebook.

Ted provides an example of the clutter on his newsfeed when he says: I was on Facebook today and this popped up in my newsfeed. One of my classmates I care about, and he’s a cool dude and I hang out with him, well he posts some idiot thing like, “I went to Target today.” And I’m just like, “This is the level of importance on these things? [It] is so low on Facebook that if someone posted, “Hey, I got married today,” or, “Hey I had a baby today,” it’s treated equally as, “Hey, I went to Target today.” It’s part of the frustration and why I gave up on Facebook a long time ago. Like he’s a cool dude and a good friend of mine, but I wouldn’t get excited about that, and it’s like, “Really?! Why do I need to know that?” It’s really frustrating because it really kills a platform that has potential. Like Facebook has billions of people it’s connecting together, and there’s lots of good things that come of it, but it’s like it just gets watered down with that kind of stuff so quickly that I’ve lost all interest in the newsfeed.

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Business identity as idiomatic communication.

Although Ted did report that getting married, posting pictures of that milestone, and hearing the congratulations and notes from old-friends and acquaintances as a good feeling, there was little if anything beyond this experience that held personal meaning for him. What struck me most about Ted’s Facebook use was his insistence on its meaninglessness beyond the transactional type of interactions. In other words, there was very little affect or emotion within this relationship outside of the occasional frustration he felt about its overwhelmingly public discourse.

Most importantly, through the interviews, Ted’s subjectivity felt to me to be saturated by the idea of business, as if it were a personal ethos embodying more than just his profession. This is not to say he is not more than this, as he reflected a sense of humor, empathy, and helpful consideration during our interviews, which were collegial.

Rather, I include this information as a way to illustrate that in regards to his relationship to Facebook, this was his strongest idiomatic communication.

Minimization of affect and ethos of rationality.

Over the course of our interviews, I sensed that Ted communicated his perception of desired psychic equilibrium mostly by the idealization of rationality and the minimization of affect; behaviors I assume are adaptive given his line of work, equally appraised as such by clients. He says: I mean, I wouldn’t go on Facebook when I’m super busy, you know, ha ha, and I wouldn’t necessarily say it makes me feel or makes me go from a happy state to a sad state or a sad state to a happy state. Honestly I just use it more as a tool, as a

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utility, so I guess it has value in utility in that way. So I guess it has the potential to make me happier in a more efficient way, you know getting things done, but it’s a general mood of slight boredom when I’m on it. I don’t necessarily expect to get a whole lot out of it, like it’s a pretty neutral expectation. You know, if I scroll for two minutes and I’ve just seen useless stuff I’m not disappointed. Or If I see something amazing I’m not like, “Wow I’m so glad I did that, this will be my goto every time I’m sad!”

This quotation reflects an example of Ted’s value on rational cognition as a way of being, one that impresses me as the kind of style needed in industrial consulting. If rational thinking is a highly valued aspect of his identity, then from Ted’s perspective psychic equilibrium may equate to an experience of emotional neutrality.

Furthermore, Ted offered several notable and valuable insights into how he would improve Facebook, reflecting both potential for improvements, but also meaningful communications with regard to his idiom. More than anything, Ted does not like the clutter of Facebook, finding the newsfeed and public areas to be cacophonous, rancorous, and vapid. He believes that, among other things, creating “tabs” that divide areas into personal, professional, and the like would be helpful: So you have your newsfeed, which is a combination of your personal and potentially your professional life…I know that blends nowadays, that’s reasonable, but it’s helpful in my experience via Facebook Marketplace, to sell stuff, to have that, could be completely separate from my regular news feed. I’ve complained before how everything is so messy and convoluted in the newsfeed kind of stuff, so maybe you could parse it out so you know what you’re getting.

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You know, like you could have different tabs, like is it strictly personal, is it family, is it you know, topics that you’re interested in—like articles you like to read, is it business related, is it school related? Like if there is a way to consolidate your pages into certain categories so the information you’re seeing can be specific to that one category. I’m trying to think from the business point of view, like if I’m a company, if I’m Coca-Cola, you know I’m going to advertise to people who clicked on certain things or have had certain conversations or whatever in my demographic I want to sell to or maybe I’m a B2B business service like Salesforce, I don’t really want to advertise other than brand recognition, on a personal Facebook. I’d rather advertise on a big section of business owners that are communicating back and forth, you know trading ideas, doing actual business on the platform, connecting in some way. Then all of the sudden you see Salesforce there, and it’s like I don’t even know if one of my mom’s friends on Facebook, like does she even know what Salesforce does?

Probably not. And it’s not relevant. It just adds to the clutter, and if you’re going to clutter, at least have a purpose.

This quotation is representative of the content of much of our interviews.

Discussing business opportunities, from a consultant perspective, seemed to be the most comfortable and relatable theme to which he could speak. I infer that the only way he can find meaning or even depth on Facebook is by applying his business acumen in order to create ways to change it.

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Self as object/brand.

As a business professional working for the past 7 years in various capacities ranging from teaching to sales to marketing to academics, Ted has formed strong opinions about what needs to be removed from one’s profile in order to appear marketable to potential employers. Ted’s considerations come from his experience as a profile user as well as a business consultant with advanced training regarding human resources practices and management. On the level of meaning, however, his attitudes reflect a theme of his idiom: valuing practicality, responsibility, and action.

Censoring as second nature.

What I found most interesting about Ted’s insights into curating one’s profile was the strength of his belief, considering it not only common sense but, more importantly, necessary and adaptive: When Facebook started, when that [curating one’s profile] wasn’t a popular thing to do and managers weren’t looking at everybody’s profile so that was more like a, “oh man I really should do that,” as opposed to now where it’s like, “no one needs to remind you now, it should be second nature to you”…it’s a subconscious thing by now for the past few years, you know looking for jobs…you just know every time you post something on social media it’s an integrated part of your life, like you would post something you would be comfortable with your grandmother reading or would be fine with your employer reading…it’s a product of the fact that I’ve had Facebook for 11 years now and started when I was 18 and grew up learning and knowing these things, but maybe a newer user who isn’t focused on

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that for some reason might make some more mistakes. But given the digital age now, I think most people are pretty cognizant of that. I think many years ago people didn’t understand the permanency of that and how public that was.

Perhaps a more revealing idiomatic communication is Ted’s conceptualization of one’s Facebook profile as a “brand:” Yeah you could definitely do that [portray oneself through Facebook]. I don’t put the effort in to do that, but you definitely could post pictures, articles, Facebook Live. You can have a very robust brand, you know. I’m sure companies do that, celebrities do that, people who need that as far as having money-making opportunities.

Furthermore, as Ted describes the kind of curating necessary for the attainment of employment, he outlines the kind of material (pictures, content) needed and the consistency with which it is presented. As a “brand,” it must be consistent across all platforms. He supports this, saying: I haven’t hired anyone yet, but I would definitely check LinkedIn and even do a sweep of Facebook to check and see if there was anything. To make sure they’re not hiding something or they’re not a different personality on one social media as to the next. I think that’s pretty common for recruiters and companies’ hiring managers, things like that.

When asked if there were any ‘red flag’ items he might dislike, he said: I guess it would be any drug references. I guess language, excessive language kind of stuff, anything illegal, anything that just makes you feel uncomfortable to see for someone you are about to hire. We’re a small firm, so we’re a little bit

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more familial in that way as far as who we bring in. We don’t have a budget for that now, but if we did I’m not going to hire someone to work with who I’m uncomfortable with. Then you have to question about, “Are they being honest?”

They interview really well, their LinkedIn page is real sharp, but then their Facebook page and their Instagram page is a total mess…it’s like, “Which one am I hiring here? Is it the weekend warrior or the weekday warrior?” At least for us, that persona needs to be the same.

Objectification.

These quotations not only support the idea that Facebook is considered a public forum, but also reveal another level to which Ted’s communications of his Facebook use are reflective of his identification with business, as well as his particular idiomatic style of efficiency and idealization of rationality. The following quote speaks more to his inclination toward the quantitative as opposed to the qualitative: We’re also a data analytics-heavy firm, so for us the virtual persona is just data.

Honestly, like a picture is a piece of data, a post is a piece of data. Anyone can fake an interview or whatever, but if I have a piece of data that contrasts or confirms it, that’s a heavily weighted piece right there…I just read a thing sent around that 80% of hiring managers look at your Facebook profile. Well, that’s kind of a common thing. I don’t think anyone should be surprised by that at this point.

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Ted relies heavily on empirical data to support his theories about personnel: both a suspicion about authenticity, but also an expectation of self-censorship and a unified representation of self across all media outlets.

Case Four: Bea Introduction.

Bea is a 25-year-old Caucasian female, who recently completed the essential components of a master’s degree program in Germany. She is currently awaiting a final determination on her thesis, which will confer her degree, and in the meantime has since returned home from Germany to live with her mother. She works as a vocal coach, aspiring to teach voice at the University level one day. Bea is very passionate about politics and social theory, and self-identifies as a “leftist of the left, like across the street left.” Bea also reports experiencing depression and anxiety, both of which spur her to use Facebook in specific ways relevant to receiving care for these issues. Bea’s emerging adult development has been replete with explorations and experiences that have helped transform her beliefs about the world and cultivate her identity.

Facebook Snapshot.

Her Facebook use is frequent and intensive, checking the site around “twenty times a day” and considering herself “attached at the hip” to Facebook. Bea reports using the website for around 2 hours per day, has had an active profile for 10 years, and is Facebook friends with 1,276 people.

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Bea joined Facebook after having been active on MySpace, as Facebook had then begun to include non “.edu” email addresses as acceptable for accounts. Previously, one had needed to be in college and provide a valid email address from an educational institution to join. Furthermore, Bea said that she thought Facebook must have been the “cooler thing” at that time, most likely because of its perceived status as almost exclusively for college students.

Bea reports always having had a strong relationship with Facebook from the first day she had an account, although her use has undoubtedly changed over the course of a decade that has seen her move from early adolescence to adulthood. Bea’s relationship with Facebook parallels the most classically understood developmental transformations from adolescence to young adulthood. Specifically, her use has changed from overly dramatic, idealistic, and Pollyannaish to that of someone with an enhanced recognition of externality at large, a process that includes mourning the loss of a world so recently endowed with the narcissistic fantasies of perfection and utopia characteristic of adolescence.

Furthermore, rather than Facebook being a space for her to engage in performative acts, as she did in her adolescence, it has become a place where aspects of her true self-have found a meeting place in reality, where they will be accepted as serious and treated with respect.

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Interview process.

The interviews with Bea were very valuable, as she was demonstrative, intelligent, and passionate, in this way offering much in terms of the “process” of the interviews, including my own subjective experiences and impressions of her. Bea was actively engaged in the process, seeming very eager to convey her unambiguous attitudes, opinions, and feelings. Much of our interview time was spent discussing the formation of her political, social, and philosophical beliefs, as she describes herself as a “feminist, leftist; always the leftist person in my friend group, and social constructivist.” I sensed that Bea was communicating something fundamental about herself as she continued to return to these social topics as a kind of indirect communication about who she is, perhaps revealing more of a un/non/pre-conscious communication of idiom.

Overall, Bea has a sharp intellect, a tremendous capacity for humor and irony, and unmatched passion, all of which contributed to a generally enriching experience and a fascinating exploratory case.

Categories of Meaning Vocalization and auditory expression as idiomatic metaphors.

Bea’s idiomatic use of Facebook was striking as we moved through the interview process and I became attuned to her mannerisms, ways of communicating, and preference for symbolic expression via metaphor. For example, Bea used metaphors to convey her experience of Facebook several times, referring to it as “screaming into the void” on several occasions, and also calling it an “echo chamber.”

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Having trained her whole life in vocal performance, these metaphors impressed me as particularly idiomatic as she was communicating in her own personal language of being: auditory and acoustic metaphors. I felt that these expressions of speech reflected a deeper recurring motif of Bea not feeling “heard,” a feeling she verified in the third interview. After asking her to elaborate on these metaphors as personally meaningful, she replied: Ha-ha, I know [agreeing about acoustic metaphors]. You’re just screaming and hoping that the right person hears it, who you want to hear what you’re saying, if that makes sense, because you’re like projecting it to everyone but like you want specific people to know it.

When I asked her what she meant by “void,” she said: I mean I think that’s a good place to vent on certain areas of Facebook and that’s more so what I mean, cause no one is really listening. Everybody’s just talking at the same time, so most of the time when you vent your frustrations, not that many people are actually paying attention to you. Even though you have a large audience, they’re not really tuned in and everybody’s really focused on their own stuff, I think.

I understand these quotations to supplement her use of auditory and vocal metaphors, the significance of which rests in the theme of her not feeling heard or understood. Finally, Bea’s profile picture, as a visual supplement, is a picture of her screaming into a microphone on a stage with lights, a fitting idiomatic metaphor that captures the meaning in some of her expressions.

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Facebook as an object for development retrospection.

Bea, as one of the younger participants in the study, has had Facebook for all of her emerging adult life, noting, “I have not been an adult without social media.” Bea also uses Facebook the most and most frequently out of all the participants, thus establishing a unique relationship with it as an object for her development and maturity. The qualities of Facebook, such as the photo albums, memories section, and vast history recorded since her first post, allows her access to self-states, moods, beliefs, and experiences in past years to which she may not otherwise have access. In these ways, Facebook acts as a personal archive for auxiliary memory functions.

One of these elements is a sense of vulnerability, something that is overdetermined, possibly stemming from maturity, but also serving a defensive purpose.

She was 15 years old at this time, and she pokes fun at her young adolescent self in retrospect: I think you know I started using Facebook, it was stupid pictures of me and my friends and angsty statuses with like pop-punk song lyrics. You know, general stuff, fun stuff like that [sarcastic]…reading my old statuses from when I was 17 is hysterical, it’s very funny. There was one I remember when I was 17 about being in love, and it’s like “HAHA RIGHT *****. SURE. TOTALLY! [sarcastic]” or like just song lyrics and super passive-aggressive posts or poetry that’s just terrible.

This quotation, as humorous as it is, may also have a function. She is talking about the idea of love, and in retrospect laughing at the “fairy tale” image she had about

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it, as opposed to the more realistic relational understanding she has now. This is classic, as with maturity comes reflection on earlier naiveté, especially in areas of romance and love.

Bea continues: I think being realistic about Facebook versus how I used to feel, I used to feel a little bit more like, “people are going to listen to things I say, they’re totally going take me seriously.” They’re totally not. You’re going to have fifty million conversations the same way you had your last conversation because you can’t really [have an open conversation] unless you’re open to learning something new.

Unless you’re really talking to someone who is legit open to reading an article, taking another perspective, and saying, “hey wait,” instead of like debating back and forth. That’s the kind of brain set/mindset you have to be in, and people aren’t on Facebook with that mindset. People on Facebook, that you deal with are very defensive, and they feel like their way of life is being attacked.

Here Bea is acknowledging the growth she has experienced on Facebook, the maturity resulting from an enhanced perception of reality. She implies that when she was an adolescent, she had grandiose beliefs about her ability to change people’s minds. Now she has learned that she needs to research things more and present more coherent and rational arguments if she wants to be listened to regarding politics and social issues. This has marked her development on Facebook, as she now uses it mostly as a place to read articles, follow current events, and stay informed and educated on critical issues.

Bea compares her use now as opposed to her use as a teenager:

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The past year and further out it’s been like me constructing a better image of who I would like to be at my most interesting, creative, beautiful moments and sharing those with the world. Before then when I was a teenager it was just like, I don’t know, poetry, lyrics, fake sad statuses, you know?

Bea sounds proud of her developmental use of Facebook, as it is reflected to her over the past decade. She seems to believe that she is now using Facebook as a way to be more creative as she learns to negotiate the complex nuances of reality with her own personal strivings.

Ego-solidarity and feeling understood.

What most surprised me about the interviews with Bea was the therapeutic value of Facebook. I had not heard this from anyone, including the other participants. However, Bea offered compelling testimony supporting this use of the platform. Bea uses Facebook in this way, via private groups, to process emotional issues, feel understood, and gain helpful psychological support, the meaning of which seems to ultimately reside in her comfort expressing vulnerability online as opposed to offline. This is Bea’s way of, “maintenance of an inner solidarity with a group’s ideals and identity” (Erikson, 1959, p.102, cited in Mitchell & Black, 1995, pp. 148-149).

Bea speaks of her experience with private groups on Facebook several times, relating their value in allowing her a “safe space” to feel comfortable being herself, coming into her identity, and processing upsetting emotional experiences related to anxiety and depression. She says:

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I am in a shit ton of closed groups. A lot of them deal with social issues, but they’re also places of solidarity. I found groups for people who deal with mental illness where it’s just a good place to go and vent about your problems….having a place to go with other people who have experienced those same issues [anxiety/depression] who understand what you’re going through. It’s very nice because you can talk your face blue to someone who doesn’t understand depression and they will never get it and they will say things that are obnoxious like, “Have you ever tried yoga? It’s so great.” So it’s nice to have places to go where I’m like I know this person, he knows how I feel, and so I tell him how I feel today. They’re not gonna ask me if I’ve tried sleeping more or if I need detox tea.

This quotation not only reveals Bea’s use of Facebook as a tool for solidarity, but also as a place where her experiences with mental illness will be understood by people who have had similar experiences: For me it’s important to find people who understand what I am talking about, and depending on who you are as a person and what you go through in life…I had a discussion the other day about mental illness, and I think it’s like 18 or 20% of the population suffers from some sort of mental illness. But if you deal with mental illness, the chances that you are going to run into to someone and talk to them about what you are going through and know they have similar issues—it’s not as big as people think. I do believe that mental health issues are prevalent, but there’s a difference between 1 out of 5 people and like half the population. So if I

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have 4 friends, then there’s a good chance I’m the only person having the issue, statistically speaking.

Further on in the same interview, Bea stresses the significance of this point again: It’s huge [having these groups], it’s really big, it’s…for me personally very, very helpful because again I think when you’re going through something and you have these wonderful friends who support you, but they don’t understand, or you have parents that love you, but they don’t understand. They don’t really know what it’s like, so I mean being able to say, “Hey, I need help,” and someone will see it who understands, who’s been through it, and they can say, “Hey, it’s going to be ok, this happened to me and here’s what I did.” I think there’s more opportunity to find it on social media than anywhere else because with certain things people just say dumb stuff in real life all the time.

These quotations support the argument that Bea may feel rejected when bringing up personal issues like this with those closest to her in her real life, as they seem to usually react insensitively, perhaps even reductively, as they prescribe physical objects in place of an actual relationship—the latter being what Bea is actually requesting.

Safe space for true-self.

Bea taught me several things about these groups, specifically, how they provide the kind of safe space she and others have come to seek. For example, these groups are usually either private or closed and require permission to be enrolled, thus attempting to screen out those who are not sincere in need and use. Furthermore, they are protected by

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not only each other but by moderators and admins, who take their jobs seriously and guard the groups from users who may threaten the safety of the space.

In this way, people have created their own online peer-support groups, with their own culture and capacity for intersubjective relating, the hallmarks of a community, which Bea describes: One of the groups I’m in is a solidarity group, and they do “selfie Friday.”

Everybody posts a selfie in the comments if it’s Friday. Everybody likes everybody else’s photos and says something nice about the other person, and so it’s purposefully there as an activity to spread positive vibes.

In general, other groups have similar activities such as sending “internet hugs,” emoticons like smiley faces, and other specific symbols signifying particular things. For example, an upside down smiley face is used to annotate sarcasm.24 Ultimately, for Bea, these groups within the deeper levels of Facebook offer safe harbor for the expression of difficult experiences, which may not be “heard” by people she is close to in real life. Although they love her, they do not understand her experience or what she is asking of them.

Besides the actual primary and secondary benefits provided through these groups, Bea admits their anonymity also provides her a safe distance. Rather than confiding in someone she knows, who may not understand her, she feels “venting” to people online is safe due to the fact that they do not know her; thus, she may feel less vulnerable taking this risk:

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I find this interesting because as another participant mentioned someone could be sarcastic online, and you may not be able to tell, as sarcasm is mainly conveyed through non-verbal means.

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It kind of gives you that distance of like, “I don’t really know these people so I can tell them that I’m having such terrible panic attacks that I am vomiting all over the place,” or, “I can tell them about that dude I hooked up with and then found out he had a girlfriend and then felt very shitty,” because I didn’t really feel like I could address that with other people. Being able to sort out my feelings, it’s almost like a therapist, cause a therapist doesn’t really know you…is removed from you so you can kind of like vent and have people respond positively…so there’s that safe distance but [it] also means that people care enough to interact and read.

Bea’s use of Facebook speaks to her creativity and ingenuity for dealing with issues she identifies as anxiety and depression. Here she has found an environment with objects that help her create and discover her true self, where she will be accepted as she is and does not risk experiencing shame, humiliation, or rejection in the process. In this way, she uses the environment for facilitation of intimate relationships and elaboration of her true self.

Facebook as a space for false-self/invulnerable-self.

Despite using Facebook as a place to express her true self—the aspect of herself felt to be non-defensive, open to vulnerability, and resonant with internally felt authenticity—Bea also uses Facebook in the opposite way, that is, as a space for performance. Whether that performance is an enhancement of herself narcissistically, acting “as-if” some painful experience did not affect her or accommodating the Facebook

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culture at large, she is largely concerned with appearing invulnerable, as it manifests in various levels of Facebook use.

During the last interview, Bea was very sincere about her use of Facebook and revealed some experiences that illustrated a deeper self-truth regarding motivation and behavior: I personally don’t want people to think I’m super affected by them even though I am. I like to pretend that people don’t know that I’m super affected, I like to keep that to myself. I like to keep my emotions private. I don’t like that to be represented [being affected]. I like to be controlling over how that’s presented, and I feel like sometimes when you delete someone it is kind of taboo cause they can be like, “Why’d you do that?” and it’s hard to be like, “I can’t see you because I miss you.”

Hence, deleting someone who had hurt her from Facebook would only communicate to them that she was indeed hurt by what they did, an acknowledgement she is very much opposed to as it would make her loss seem more real, revealing the more vulnerable and dependent side of her personality, a side she holds close to her chest.

In addition to withholding information from Facebook, as a defensive means, Bea may accommodate to the culture of Facebook at large, as she has come to understand it as a place to present the best versions of oneself: So you don’t actually see everyone’s day-to-day life. Every time you’re going on Facebook you’re looking at people on their boats and you’re thinking, “I don’t have a boat.” They don’t have a boat either; they went like 1 day. So I realized that was like, “Man that’s how Facebook works, everybody posts shit and it’s not

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real, um so like why would I put my exact real self on display?” I have students who friend me on Facebook, parents of students, people who have gotten to know me as a singer on Facebook, so in a lot of ways for me I’ve, in the past couple of years, crafted it to be in that direction, where I am showing what I want to show and not necessarily all of the things about me.

I believe this quotation captures the formation of Bea’s belief that Facebook is a space for “crafting,” as she says, her persona, a reaction to the culture at large where she feels everyone posts only the best, most glamorous aspects of their lives, ignoring the rest: Everyone’s trying to show off this dream life that they don’t actually live. We all do that, you post the best pictures of you that look the best from this angle or this time when you were on vacation, and there was a sunset, and you have your whatever cocktail, and it looked really nice. So you pic it on Instagram and Facebook and show everyone what a great time you’re having….those are just the pics they post, and they don’t post the pics where they look fat or are having a mental breakdowns, for the most part. People post things that make them look the best, and so I do think it can be pretty narcissistic. But then there’s also the aspect that I feel like I can control others’ perceptions of me, which is good, or I feel like I have some modicum of control.

Bea goes on to say, There’s a million different apps that people have where there is some sort of filter and then you have more control. Even as a person with an iPhone you don’t need to be good at photo-shopping or photography to take a picture of yourself or a

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place where you are and make it look really nice. It’s really easy to post really, really good-looking photos, so it can be further from what’s actually happening.

But it’s kind of nice to be able to control your own image and then show that, so you’re showing your image to the world of what, who you are, plus a combination of what you like to be, plus a combination of your ideal version of yourself. I mean, I’m not taking pictures of myself when I wake up in the morning. I’m taking pictures of myself after I’ve done my makeup but before I’ve left my house, you know?

Bea is very honestly describing her use of Facebook, use that I presume to be very common, although not publically acknowledged. In fact, as she was talking in the first quote of this section, I realized my own Facebook profile picture was of my wife and me, with a sunset in the background, a testament to my own complicity in this Facebook culture of curation.

Case Five: Stephanie Introduction.

Stephanie is a 27-year-old, Caucasian, married mother of two children. Stephanie is one of two married participants and the only participant with children. She holds an undergraduate degree in special education, her career field until the birth of her first child over two years ago. A proud Catholic, Stephanie considers her faith a large aspect of her identity. Stephanie’s experiences, and meanings therein, reflect a relatively [within the sample] unique perspective on Facebook use due to her role as a parent.

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Facebook snapshot.

According to Stephanie, she has 973 friends on Facebook and uses the website on a daily basis, although only abruptly and rarely for longer than ten minutes. Stephanie has had a Facebook account for 9 years, during which she has experienced many different uses, values, and meanings. Stephanie reports that she may check it more often if she has posted something and wants to see if comments or likes have been made on the post.

Additionally, she also checks more frequently if she has commented on a post and is looking for specific information such as a response to a question.

Stephanie has an interesting narrative of how she started using Facebook.

Ultimately, her first profile was made by her cousin as a joke during her senior year of high school when she visited him at his college. She said that she was initially very opposed to social media in general, as it was an increasingly popular fad, and she felt it was unappealing in that way. However, she quickly realized the benefits of having a profile in college for connecting with people, friends, and posting pictures of parties and trips.

Stephanie’s use has changed over the years, reflecting her status as a mother and wife. She describes the juxtaposition of her use a few years ago to her use now: Five to eight years ago, I’d get on Facebook [and] it was all pictures of my friends at college parties, or like spring break on the beach, or something like that. Now I log into Facebook and it’s all pictures of my mom-friends and their kids on a family vacation, or maybe like wedding pictures or birth announcements…it

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definitely kind of tells you where you are in life…like, “Ok you are past the partying phase of life.”

In college, she would post pictures of her with her friends at spring break or at a party, and now she posts pictures of her children at the supermarket. However, being a stay-at-home mother has also transformed her relationship with Facebook, as it has offered her a place to connect with people, share ideas, learn, and even explore differences.

Interview process.

It is also of interest that our interviews, namely the timing and nature of the meetings, were organized around her primary role as a mother. Stephanie was able to fit these interviews into her daily schedule only by sacrificing the solitude offered her by her children’s naptime. We were able to discuss these experiences by phone, and she was generous to spend her cherished break time in a selfless endeavor.

Furthermore, I believe that the mode of communication, as well as the nature of interviewing a mother of young children, was particularly reflective of parenthood as a sub-phase of adulthood. Several experiences during our interviews support this idea. For instance, during the first interview, her child woke up and began crying, so she both attended to her child as well as maintained engagement with the interview, demonstrating an impressive and necessary ability to multi-task.

During the second interview, Stephanie took the phone call on a long car ride home after her children had fallen asleep. Just as she arrived home and the interview was almost complete, it was ended abruptly as her car stalled in front of her house. I use these

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examples to provide a picture of a day in the life of a parent, where unexpected occurrences and chaos are almost guaranteed aspects of daily living. In addition, such instances help illustrate the interview process as a reflection of Stephanie’s current stage in life: little spare time, a deficit of personal space, and a surplus of responsibility—a fitting portrayal of parenthood in general.

Limits to understanding.

As a parent myself, I can identify with some of Stephanie’s experiences of new parenthood; however, as a male I am hopelessly limited in my ability to understand her experiences of being a mother and all that entails. It is my assumption that, although males can be maternal and females paternal, the act of physical mothering is an exceptionally unique experience, one that I simply cannot speak to. Therefore, when and if issues pertaining specifically to maternal duties are reported, I will use rich quotes as much as possible to capture the exact words of her experience.

Categories of Meaning Facebook as space for development of parental ego ideals.

Stephanie’s predominant use of Facebook exists within the subcultures of “mom” pages where she and others have formed a community or “village”25 to provide helpful advice, answer questions, and obtain aid when needed. These mom groups function as a type of transitional space for mothers (and perhaps fathers) to feel “held” psychologically. Just as babies, toddlers, and small children need to be physically held when in distress, people of all ages need to feel held during certain times of stress.

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As in the common phrase, “it takes a village.” This was reiterated by Stephanie.

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Although the need for the physical act may change as one matures, more abstracted forms of being “held” are considered and used for continuity of being and self-cohesion.

Much research exists that articulates the psychic mechanisms at work during parenthood, especially the intrapsychic tasks accompanying this phase. Colarusso (1991) outlines the “third separation individuation” process as one defined by becoming a parent. This phase requires a certain re-working, for the third time, of issues surrounding classical themes of development, most notably the goal of further elaboration and individuation of the self. Colarusso argues: Becoming a parent initiates a major intrapsychic shift from the dominant sense of one’s self as a physically immature, dependent child, or a sexually mature, semiindependent adolescent or young adult to that self as a spouse or partner in a committed relationship who as a result of the intimacy stemming from that interaction has produced a child. When a couple becomes parents, a family is created, and its initial structure is identical to that of a family of origin. The circle is complete; the infantile role is reversed. (p. 185) The implications of this conception are profound, as the status of identity changes in one moment from a primary relation to the world as one’s child, to relating to the world as a parent of a child. For Stephanie, her new adventure into parenthood reorganized priorities and motivated her to seek out those resources most necessary for her education and development, essentially those that serve to maintain and restore narcissistic equilibrium.

Like any other time during the lifespan, transitional space is used as a means to distinguish “me” from “not me” in an effort to develop an enhanced locus of perception

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regarding externality, but also to develop identifications and internalize desired qualities that prove useful and relevant to one’s idiom or identity (Winnicott, 1971). Facebook, as mentioned in previous cases and throughout this work, is a particularly useful context for exploring transitional space, as emerging adults across the spectrum are tasked with navigating these amorphous dimensions for the purpose of further elaboration and definition of self.

In the process of identity formation partially defined by parenthood, one must develop skills, capacities, and tolerances, as well as access tribal knowledge necessary to not only psychologically survive the process, but to provide optimal experiences for the children, whose care and wellbeing are now of central concern. Being a parent does not negate the existence of narcissistic needs, which are essential for wellbeing and especially for conducive parenting. Parenting thus requires an especially creative use of time, space, and the objects therein in order to achieve a sense of psychic equilibrium amidst chaos.

Object selection and usage as function of depth, meaning, and narrative.

Stephanie’s various mom groups provide her with people whom she admires as parental objects in their own right, whom she surrounds herself with on this medium.

What is most interesting to me about this use is its non-verbal nature. Simply by viewing the pictures, posts, responses, and comments of a person, Stephanie feels able to, “pick up on their vibe,” or, as I refer to it here, their idiom.

Stephanie is very clear about whom she looks to on Facebook for information, an object-choice communicated in non-verbal, visual realms that transmit depth, reality, and

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meaning to Stephanie. Specifically, Stephanie is able to assess a user’s idiom through the spirit or style of their posts, the way they respond to others, and their overall “vibe.”

Stephanie discusses the values she seeks and finds in others: This Facebook page I was a part of was either a bunch of moms I either know, love, and trust, or friends of people that I know, love, and trust and I would value their opinion…Facebook in my stage of life has become a way for parents to share their style of parenting, or if they’re not intentionally sharing their style of parenting, just by the information they put out there they put off a certain vibe, you know, of what their parenting style is. So depending on how many people respond to a question I might have, I can gauge their response based on what kind of parent they are, if that makes sense….Let’s say 10-20 people respond to a Facebook post of mine with a good intentional answer, and some people, you know, I can kind of throw their answer out the window because I’m like, “Eh I don’t really care about their opinions,” but then there are other people who I really look up to maybe as a parent or—um, yeah , well, I’ll just use parenting as an example. There might be a parent I really look up to, and she’ll answer one of my questions on Facebook, and it might be her opinion that I value the most. It brings me peace of mind.

As Stephanie suggests, she will value the opinions of those whom she “knows, loves, and trusts” most highly as she makes decisions regarding parenting. These opinions she cherishes, as they hold more value coming from people she either respects and knows in real life (anchored relationships), or are derivative connections of these people whom she knows and trusts.

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The nature of her object selection on Facebook is also idiomatic, as she reveals the things she seeks out in pictures and posts, even from those whom she may not know, but feels connected to placing particular value on the qualities of narrative, depth and realism conveyed through the pictures. She says: [On what drew her to pictures] Maybe it’s the more empathic pictures of, maybe it’s a mom with her whole crew of kids out and about and they’re about to go into Target. Those are the kind of things that draw me in, where a picture kind of tells a story, and it’s not a close-up picture of a girl doing duck lips you know. I guess I like a picture if it “speaks a thousand words” as the saying goes, so yeah, if it’s just a close up of a face shot with dark mascara I’ll skip right past that. I want to see a picture of them [friends] out, of my friends out at the fair out on these adventures they’re going on, their vacation pictures, especially candid shots, like not posed, you kind of get a feel for something if it is posed and made to look a certain way like you’re [they’re] trying to give off this façade: “Oh this is my perfect little life.” You can tell if something is posed, and those I try and scroll past. I really don’t care about that.

Stephanie is labeling the type of posts and pictures she is attracted to and those she dismisses. Clearly, Stephanie has little interest in the more narcissistically inclined pictures, as well as those that seem posed or staged, and more interest in those that portray a real-world feel.

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Sublimation of affect: Stress into humor.

Stephanie uses Facebook in various ways and, as a parent, has learned to cope with new situations in adaptive and creative ways. Stephanie provides an excellent example of adaptive psychological behavior: I took a picture of my kid laying on the floor of the grocery store in total meltdown, but it was more of a “let’s find humor in my misery” kind of moment.

It was one of those things where I know all toddlers have meltdowns and all you feel is it’s worse when it’s happening to you or everyone’s staring. So I try and keep that mindset of, “nope it’s not about them, people expect toddlers to act like toddlers, what they’re really paying attention to is how the parents respond to it.”

If the parent is calm and just smiling like, “Yep, it happens, it’s life,” then everyone kind of laughs about it, but then if the parents are freaking out and dragging their kid out by one arm and spanking them in public, that’s a different ballgame. I just simply posted a picture of my toddler on the floor saying this is what shopping looks like now, but immediately, I had a bunch of other moms laughing like, “been there, done that,” and some may even go as far as to give tips, hints, advice.

It seems Stephanie is using Facebook as a way to diffuse her high levels of stress and frustration into humor by transforming a negative experience into a positive one. One measure of maturity is the ability to transform concrete defenses and primal emotion into higher, elaborate, and more nuanced forms of neutralization and catharsis (Freud, 1965).

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Ego identity: Solidarity as psychic holding.

In addition to allowing Stephanie to sublimate her stress, her posts on Facebook also function as a way to elicit solidarity related to her experience and identity as a parent. By posting this picture and receiving validation, she feels that her parental identity is given support by the community. Erik Erikson provides a useful definition of identity or ego here, one that captures the extent to which identity is formed through a feeling of solidarity with communal values (Mitchell & Black, 1995, pp. 148-149): By letting the term identity speak for itself in a number of connotations at one time…it will appear to refer to a conscious sense of individual identity; at another to an unconscious striving for a continuity of personal character; and at a third a criterion for the silent doings of the ego synthesis, and finally as maintenance of an inner solidarity with a group’s ideals and identity.

Stephanie feels that she is supported and supporting other mothers through her posts, reinforcing a resonance between her and her peers’ ideals. Furthermore, this experience provided the type of holding that Stephanie as a parent may have needed, as every parent needs in various forms at times. In this situation, the “holding” was not the physical holding that she may provide for her children or that children need in general, but rather an appropriate kind of holding paralleling her maturational level, where simply being understood is a form of psychic holding that allows her to feel restored and whole.

Stephanie says: So it’s silly comedy things I’ll post just to give other people laughs, but then it also gives me reassurance, like [a] “you’re not the only one” kind of a thing, “we’re all in this together,” like solidarity.

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Recognition of diversity and appreciation for authenticity.

Stephanie used Facebook not only to connect with other moms like her but also as a way to explore difference. Difference inspires Stephanie’s curiosity and drives her to learn more about diversity and people who have varying lifestyles. Stephanie shows a worldly appreciation for the rich and vast potentials of being a parent, conveying a level of acceptance and capacity for intersubjectivity reflective of maturation: So my motto in life when it comes to parenting is that there is no one way to parent. However many parents there are in the world, that’s how many ways there are to parent. There’s no one way, truly.

She goes on: I guess there are a couple of moms who, this mom in particular that I am thinking of, is covered in tattoos and she lives this kind of like organic hippy natural lifestyle. I mean her parenting styles and her physical style are very different than mine, but they are interesting to me because maybe just that, because they are so different…actually there are two women who come to mind. There’s this other woman, this stay-at-home mom, and she has an essential oil business, and she has five kids. They’re all girls under 5, or five girls under 6, so it’s definitely a busy lifestyle. Her husband is a videographer, so they have a lot of followers. They’re always posting videos…and so I find myself kind of gravitating towards their posts because it’s fun for me to see the dynamics of a household that’s very different from mine—not that I want to change my dynamics to be like theirs. It’s just fun for me to see a whole different culture just from the computer. I’ll never meet these people, and I really don’t have too much in common with them, but

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it’s kind of neat that I can…well maybe kind of weird too…but kind of neat that I feel like I know them in a way just because of all the things that they post. I guess when you think about it feels kind of stalkerish, but they are putting their stuff out there so they want people to know them because they know people are interested in this kind of stuff.

Stephanie seems to be recognizing these people for who they are, despite their differences in culture and lifestyle, and appreciates them for it. In some ways, she also feels this is as intimate one can become with others through a computer-mediated relationship. In response to my question about if she feels more intimate with them knowing what their lives are like, she says: Yeah, to have an intimate friendship the best you can through a computer, yes and by posting videos and kind of showing this authentic—you know not a façade. I think I like them in particular because what they post is genuine. They’re not trying to make it look like they have a clean house all of the time, they’re not trying to look like their children are perfectly behaved angels. What they post is raw, unfiltered, unedited like, “This is our real life and we love it we love the chaos, love the mess.” I think that’s why I like them so much, because any parent can admit nobody's children are perfect well-behaved angels. I think people start to get intimidated by some of the things people post on social media because a lot of the times it’s this façade people are posting to make it look like they have perfect lives, and it intimidates you. I like when I see these people post raw, imperfect things because that’s reality. I like when social media reflects realistic

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lifestyles, and I don’t like social media when people use it to make their lives this perfect façade because then it becomes a lie.

Stephanie’s quote reflects her appreciation for Facebook posts that reflect reality, authenticity, and diversity. She finds that the presentation of a façade can feel intimidating, as it presumably may have the effect of making people feel insecure about their own lives in comparison. She cites embracing the chaos of raising children, the messy house, the screaming tantrums, and overall disarray, as a reality of parenthood. I believe that the use of Facebook in this way also restores cohesion, as it validates her experience in real life, without making her feel ashamed or imperfect. In this way, she seeks others who provide meaning for the day-to-day life of parenting, meaning to her that equates to a normative acceptance of that which it is.

Collapse of potential space.

While Stephanie is clear about her positive use of Facebook, she is also clear about the experiences that do not lend themselves to growth or rich interaction on Facebook. Rather than Facebook being perceived and experienced as an intermediate space where the reality of what is real or illusory is not questioned, or as a place for both object and subject (or subject and subject, or object and object) to engage in play in a healthy dialectic balance and reciprocation of roles leading to enhanced creativity, generation and subjectivity (LaMothe, 2005), Stephanie experiences a breakdown in this potential space. The collapse of potential space then, as LaMothe (2005) argues, “signifies the loss of dialectical tension, the movement toward and distortion of one end

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of the dialectical pairs, and the concomitant diminishment of subjectivity, agency, and aliveness” (p. 207).

Stephanie experiences a loss of potential space on Facebook during certain times, especially during the most recent presidential election, when she felt there was no space for flexibility, discussion, reflection, or mutuality, leaving her feeling resigned about the platform at large: I’ve gotten to the point, especially during the time of the election and everybody gets you know, feels like they have to step on their soapbox and share the lines of who they are voting for, and all of a sudden, Facebook is a means to share your political opinions. At that point I’m like, “Ok I hated Facebook,” because this is totally not the purpose of Facebook, you know. I’m not here to shove my political opinions down your throat. My purpose of Facebook is to simply share fun, good, interesting things about my life if somebody else happened to be interested in it.

So when people started getting really bold in like their political posts, I would definitely hide their profile from the news feed, and I’m like, “I don’t want to hear that.”…I just felt annoyed because I’d go on Facebook to see some pictures or some you know… I don’t know what my goal for Facebook was then. I opened my profile and it seemed like these are all pointless posts like, “Ok, nothing any one person is going [to] post, nothing anyone can post can change the any other person’s mind.”…It’s just going to affirm any one person’s ideas in their already strong opinion. I knew there was nothing I could post that would change anybody else’s mind, even though I did have strong opinions myself, and so like that’s why I avoided posting anything about the election. Then, anytime it happened I’d just

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kind of roll my eyes like, “Alright, good for you. I’m glad you’re trying to share your opinions, but at the same time it’s pointless.”

I understand Stephanie’s experience to be meaningful as it represents a collapse of potential space. In other words, rather than feeling inspired to reflect, discuss, and play with others in a fruitful, collaborative atmosphere, Stephanie felt very discouraged, resigned, and powerless. The necessary space for dialectic play was negated as people increasingly felt compelled to polarize around one or the other side of the political system (Democrat or Republican).

Of further significance is the fact that Stephanie did have opinions on certain issues, yet did not feel comfortable using the space of Facebook to express them: When I would see a post that would, for whatever reason, specifically target my opinions, not targeting me, but a person with opinions like mine—for example, I’m very pro-life and…and if I see somebody post strong reasons why they are pro-choice or um why abortion should be legal it makes me cringe. It gets me mad and kind of fiery on the inside, and I’m very tempted to combat their post. But I would say 99% of the time I stop myself because I know anything I would say would feed the fire with fire, and that is no way to have a civil discussion about morality. I really did have good self-control when it came to not getting into deep political discussions or just hot topics in general, because Facebook is no means to change hearts.

Through this quote, Stephanie conveys the experience of a collapse in the potential space of Facebook. Here, she feels there is little to no room for her to engage in discussion or adult forms of “play.” This experience emerged due to strict adherence to

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party loyalties, a particular rigidity evoked by people during the election, changing the very nature of Facebook from that of a place for intersubjective, flexible, and multifaceted relating to one of absolute dichotomies.

Categories of Meaning: Summary Sloane.

I. Sensorial Communication as Unconscious Idiomatic Communication.

II. Concretized Ritual and Ambivalence.

III. Object to Facebook.

IV. Contemplative Object. i. Idealized Sense of Self ii. One-Dimensional and Controlled V. Facebook as Intermediate Space for Development of Real-World Relationships.

Shooter.

I. Ambivalence of Adult Identity Status.

II. Negative Psychic Space. i. Censorship ii. Conformance iii. Intrusive Object III. Archival Function of Cultural Objects i. Identification and Processing of Loss ii. Repudiation

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iii. Facebook Profile as Narcissistic and Idiomatic Communication of Self IV. Perception of Facebook Self as Performance of Development.

Ted. I.

Facebook as a Dynamic Relationship over Time

II. Relationship to Facebook as an Ambivalent Attachment III. Facebook as a Frustrating Object IV. Business Identity as Idiomatic Communication i. Minimization of Affect and Ethos of Rationality ii. Self as Object/Brand a. Censoring as Second Nature b. Objectification

Bea. I. Vocalization and Auditory Expression as Idiomatic Metaphors II. Facebook as Object for Developmental Retrospection III. Ego Solidarity and Feeling Understood IV. Safe Space for True Self Expression V. Facebook as Space for Expression of False Self/Invulnerable Self

Stephanie.

I. Facebook as Space for Development of Parental Ego Ideals i. Object Selection and Usage as Function of Depth, Meaning, and Narrative

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ii. Sublimation of Affect: Stress into Humor iii. Ego Identity: Solidarity as Psychic Holding II. Recognition of Diversity and Appreciation for Authenticity III. Use of Facebook Experienced as Collapse of Potential Space

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Chapter V

Across-Case Analysis Introduction The organization of this section includes an across-case analysis, comprised of categories of meaning resulting from a meta-analysis of the themes among all participants as a whole. There were three main findings, or categories of meaning. Within these categories are themes, broken down into specific and particularly representative depictions of participant experience. The last category also includes a theoretical discussion, incorporating the findings of similar research and ultimately providing a possible direction for further research in that area. Following this discussion is a summary of the categories and themes, and the section concludes with commentary on the limitations of the study in to the research design, features, scope, and sample, along with a discussion of the clinical, conceptual and research implications, based on the findings of this study.

One of the central research questions that guided this exploratory study was, “What is the emerging adult’s object relationship to Facebook? Furthermore, how does this relationship inform and shape the self?” Through the interview process, much data was gleaned, suggesting several themes that constitute categories of meaning. The categories of meaning represent links between the study questions, the narrative data, and the theoretical propositions, resulting in areas of intersecting meaning with regard to emerging adult uses of Facebook.

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The across-case categories of meaning were determined by integrating the individual case categories of meaning into representational wholes. By logging the individual categories of meaning together and rearranging these categories based on participant commonality, ordered theoretical groupings began to appear. The formation of the categories, by both similarity in conceptual nature and relevance to theoretical propositions, essentially produced three major areas representative of the aggregate experiences, interpretations, and meanings derived from the interviews with regard to function and meaning of emerging adult relationships with Facebook as an object and space for development and identity formation.

This across-case analysis yielded three major categories: emerging adult use of Facebook for positive facilitation of self, emerging adult use of Facebook as intermediate/transitional space, and emerging adult use of Facebook for negative selffacilitation, or foreclosure of growth.

Categories of Meaning Emerging adult object relationship to Facebook as facilitator of narcissistic space for elaboration and experience of self.

Based on the various sources of data, including narrative, visual, and countertransference, there is sufficient support for the argument that the participants’ relationship with Facebook was formative of aspects of their identities. One of the central questions of this exploratory study was to explore how Facebook is used in terms of an object relationship for self-development.

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This category of meaning contains the ways in which the participants used their relationship with Facebook as a space for narcissistic development. Specifically, this category was structured through the following themes: idiomatic expressions, the maintenance of narcissistic equilibrium, expansive self-experience and development, selfevaluation in light of social comparisons, and participant phenomenological experiences understood through the metaphor of the “good or bad breast.”

Facebook as medium for metaphorical idiomatic communication.

A profound finding from this study was the degree to which every participant used Facebook as a narcissistic object for development of self and idiomatic expression.

Related to this is the extent to which all participants used Facebook as an object to identify, construct, and/or create ideals of self, otherwise known as the ego ideal. The term narcissistic26 is used to connote an appropriate and necessary level of selfinvestment, care, and attention. Such narcissism is necessary for the maintenance of healthy self-esteem, self-cohesion, and forward development throughout the lifespan (Siegel, 2004).

I consider one’s management of self as an object to be a narcissistic issue, not pathological, but a significant and vital self-relational dynamic upon which the maintenance of a healthy psychic equilibrium relies. Managing this Facebook environment is an example of management of oneself, especially when considering the way in which an individual’s narcissistic needs are met accordingly. Bollas (1987) defines this holding environment of the self:

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Colloquial use of the term “narcissism” carries negative connotations, specifically as a way to express gratuitous self-love. This is not the intended use of the term in this study.

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Each person forms his or her own “culture” through the selection of friends, partners, and colleagues. The totality of this object-relational field constitutes a type of holding environment and reveals important assumptions about the person’s relation to the self as an object at the more existential level of selfmanagement. (pp. 48-49) I believe this quotation to be a precise embodiment of one’s Facebook profile as a “totality.” One’s relationship with one’s own profile is a highly intimate reflection of personhood, reflecting self-understanding beyond language and the condensation of meaning to the extent that it may be considered an extension of the self.27 Furthermore, if one's relationship with Facebook is considered to be a narcissistic object relationship, then what does this imply about the individual as they choose how to represent themselves via idiomatically meaningful metaphors? All participants in this study communicated meaningful idiomatic information, if not through their interviews, then through their profile pictures, posts, and other content they decided to share with this researcher. Their idiomatic meaning was inferred from several types of object-uses, including sensational, symbolic, mnemic, projective, and conceptual (Bollas, 1992).

Though every type of use seemed to be present, some uses were more predominant on Facebook than others. The “sensational” use of objects was one such pattern. For example, Bea used vocal and auditory metaphors to impart her desire to be heard. Sloane used gustative pictures to convey, perhaps, a sense of psychic hunger relative to her stage in life as a young emerging adult. Stephanie posted a picture of her child having a temper tantrum at the grocery store, thus projecting the experience of

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One may even consider a Facebook profile to be an “auxiliary self” (Graham, 2013).

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being a parent, including the sensational accompaniments (my impression): screaming (auditory), proprioception (kinesthetic), and stress (bodily response sensation).

Shooter elaborated on memories (mnemic) activated through a current event on Facebook (suicide of a popular musician). He associated this memory with sensational aspects of his life growing up in Maryland, including car rides to the beach (olfactory) during which he had to share his headphones with his brother (fraternal), and enlivening stimulation during baseball practice (what he referred to as “pump-up music”; kinesthetic). He further identified with this current event by downloading that album and playing it to himself on the ride home from work that day (auditory). For Shooter, this use was mnemic because he used Facebook as a tool to experience once distant selfstates. Perhaps he listened to this music in order to relive or resuscitate an old self, that counter-cultural (he describes as a “punk/skater scene”) part of his personality, which he may have abandoned in order to become who he is today.

Ted’s use of Facebook for idiomatic purposes fell purely in the conceptual realm.

Ted conceived of Facebook as a poor product, which, although ripe with potential, was essentially useless. Given his high level of identification with business, he strove to find some value in an object that mostly gave him frustration and grief. Perhaps at this point in life he is struggling to find an idiomatic use of this object, as he transitions away from Facebook in its own right.

Most of these idiomatic communications via choice of object use and metaphor ultimately left the impression of a larger need or desire for the experience of connection via physical touch. People are craving the one thing Facebook cannot provide. For example, Facebook cannot provide someone who in a face-to-face relationship can sit

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with you and listen, nor can it touch you or be touched. In terms of the visceral instincts, as they are understood psychoanalytically, it is unclear how well Facebook can serve as an effective object in these specific ways for gratification of self-needs. Perhaps it cannot.

Perhaps what Facebook does offer in terms of the idiomatically meaningful is an abstraction or a medium for metaphoric communication, but limited in ability in terms of concrete physicality.

Facebook, as a digital object (Graham, 2013), may provide many psychological benefits and deficits; however, the actual presence of someone is not one of them. These participants may all be attempting to communicate the uncanny nature of simultaneously feeling connected to others while physically remote.

Ego ideals, solidarity, and maintenance of narcissistic equilibrium.

The participants in this study used Facebook as an object to construct ego ideals in resonance with identified peer group values. Through the felt experiences of community, participants are able to restore and maintain positive self-regard during particularly challenging moments or events. In this way, solidarity serves multiple functions based on the individual’s need.

Sloane’s relationship to Facebook reflects maturational growth, Rather than posting pictures of herself at parties, as she did in college, she now uses Facebook to develop her professional identity. Thus, Sloane uses Facebook as a way to express, and thereby experience, the more intellectual and professional aspects of herself. By sharing articles about neuroscience, research, and other academic publications, she reflects a

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desire to be seen as a competent, educated professional, even at the expense of the number of “likes” she receives.

Furthermore, Sloane’s use of Facebook also contains a degree of mutual psychic holding. Her close friends and family, through their recognition of her personality and intertextual non-verbal communications, are able to validate and support her posts, and she does the same for them. Of note, such intimate responding and recognition requires knowledge of the personalities of the people involved outside of the Facebook world.

Shooter’s relationship to Facebook has also influenced his sense of self. He has developed normative ideals about himself and others in regards to Facebook use and identity: I guess Facebook could just be another “pillar” where you can kind of share or fit into a certain group…I think everybody’s Facebook has been groomed to fit themselves into whatever social norm they have put themselves into…Facebook has become like a means to an identity.

It is interesting and meaningful that Shooter spoke about Facebook in this way, specifically referring to it as a “means to an identity” rather than a reflection of identity.

To Shooter, Facebook is not an extension of identity but the very medium in which identity is formed. This is supported by his belief that one tries to fit into socially normative groups, such as “skaters, jocks, goths, professionals, partiers.”

Shooter made a comment about being on vacation in Mexico and feeling a pressing anxiety to post something on Facebook so everyone would know he’s “still alive.” It is as if he is reassuring himself of his own object constancy or permanence, as he exists more fully when he is existing in the minds of those who see him on Facebook.

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Facebook has become an epicenter for aspects of his subjective experience. Most of the participants similarly reported a “rush” of positive feelings when posting on Facebook.

With hundreds, if not thousands, of friends viewing the posts, Facebook literally is a live and captive audience.

Therefore, it seems Facebook is used as a tool to develop ego ideals. Facebook presents the options for identity selection by providing the individual with a source of identification(s), which can be used to build the self. Shooter said that he views himself, or his concept of himself, on Facebook as a mixture of a young professional and an athlete.

In addition, Stephanie makes explicit the notion that her parental ego ideal is formed through the selection of parental-peer objects whom she desires to resemble on Facebook. To this end, she refers to the type or quality of their posts as indicators of their intentions and thus their match with her ideals. For example, Stephanie eschews posts that appear artificial, shallow and false, and accepts those that reveal the less glamorous but more authentic aspects of life as a parent. Through both anchored relationships and online relationships, Stephanie has been able to explore others’ lives in ways that inform the development of her inner ego ideal. That inner ego ideal would be someone who embraces the challenges of parenthood and is secure enough to communicate authentic needs in this stage of life, including vulnerabilities so commonly avoided in Facebook posting.

In addition, as mentioned in her case study, Stephanie looks to Facebook for honest support and solidarity as she experiences challenging yet normative aspects of parenthood. She cites the example of posting a picture of her daughter having a temper

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tantrum at the grocery store, along with the supportive responses of valued peers on Facebook who helped her “hold” the stress and anxiety of the situation, which she handled in a very poised manner.

Stephanie also cites how helpful some Facebook groups were in providing her information and perspectives about a medical issue prior to the delivery of her first child.

Anxious about making the right decision, she sought out the opinions of people within these groups. She reported being positively overwhelmed by the outpouring of advice, educational information, and diverse perspectives from people in this community. This experience provided her peace of mind about her course of action.

Bea demonstrates a similar use of Facebook, as she constructs her ego ideals and receives psychic holding. She has used Facebook as a means to educate herself about difference and expand her cultural purview, thus providing her with a more robust sense of her identity. Specifically, she cites the safe spaces afforded her, such as LGBTQ members-only groups, which have allowed her to discuss her sexual identity, and grow comfortable enough revealing aspects of it to her close family members and friends.

Furthermore, she has established ego ideals by the way of philosophy, social theory, and politics. She strives to be more educated on these issues and desires to be seen as rational, poignant, and competent in her pursuit of social justice. Bea said that because she has studied voice her entire life, she had very little exposure to courses and information regarding social issues and theory. Facebook has provided her with opportunities to further educate herself and individuate in this manner, forming political beliefs through encounters with rich sources of information.

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In addition, she uses Facebook as a way to enhance visual images of herself, relaying the most beautiful moments in her life. She comments that the use of filters for photos has become so easy that one not need be an expert in Photoshop to polish pictures and enhance images, a particularly meaningful action for the maintenance of her selfesteem and self-regard. She says, It’s been me constructing a better image of who I would like to be at my most interesting, creative, and beautiful moments and sharing those with the world…you can just feel better about yourself just by being like, “I know this picture of me can look really good and I can put something (filter) on it so it looks really, really good.” Then I post it, and everybody likes it, and I’m like, “Damn, I look great.” And it’s all kind of crazy because I’m just seeking validation.

Lastly, Ted’s use of Facebook may not as closely resemble that of the other participants; however, on a general level, he has used it for social and ideal purposes. For example, Ted said that he still relies on it for connecting with long-lost friends, coordinating and receiving information about events from his MBA class group page, and for gratifying particular moment-dependent needs for different kinds of information.

His development of an ego ideal on Facebook has largely come from what he does not want to be, that is, needy, obnoxious, and attention seeking. He cites the example of his friend who posted that he was going to Target as an example of the kind of vacuity of meaning he despises and therefore refutes as an ideal. Furthermore, he has been influenced to the extent that he desires more control over his environment, and the more public features of Facebook feel less under control for him. He says that he values

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the “fenced off communities” within Facebook as a way to develop intimate relationships with those close niches of friends with whom he is interested in communicating.

Social awareness, negative social comparison, and self-evaluation.

In some way, each participant internalized aspects of their relationship to Facebook. Subsequently, the quality of these internal representations were somewhat formative of their self-experience on the platform, even in general, as their use helped shape their psychic reality. Furthermore, some participants’ experiences may be considered derivatives of unconscious interpersonal phenomena, an interesting finding of the study that directly affects their relationship to Facebook and experience of self.

Stephanie explicitly acknowledged the idea that Facebook has been influential on her development: I’d like to say that my Facebook use has not shaped my identity and social media is simply a way to share who I have become…BUT…regardless of what I’d like to think, I think Facebook definitely has had a little bit of an impact on shaping me, like for obvious reasons. Like comparison stuff, like just getting a glimpse into people’s lives. Whether it’s a façade or not, people have a way of making their lives seem much more glorious or fun or more beautiful than it actually is.

While I keep that in mind and am aware of it, I do look at all those photos people post, and it does take a toll on you. You’re like, “Oh I need to make my life look like that too,” so to a small degree…but because I think I have an awareness and am careful of that I try not to let that get to me or shape me in any way.

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Stephanie is not alone in her experience, as all of the other participants explicitly stated a similar understanding of Facebook as a place that can easily evoke comparisons and feelings of inadequacy and jealousy, if not tempered with awareness.28 This understanding reveals the extent to which Facebook has become an internal object representation with specific qualitative features. Stephanie continues: I remember hearing this about the show The Real World…that 100% of the time is filmed, then of that 100%, 10% is kept. Then of that 10%, only 1% is aired, and so you are only getting 1% of what is actually happening on the “real world,” but they make you feel like you know everything that’s going on. So I was in high school or college and realized for the first time, “Oh everything shared online or on TV…their goal is to make you feel a certain way, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the truth.”

Using the “real world” metaphor, Stephanie is communicating the realizations she made about media that illustrate her internalized perception of Facebook. Specifically, it is something that is seductively powerful and exciting, but also manipulative and suggestive. As enticing as its hypnotic allure is, it presents only a limited and superficial perspective on life. Moreover, Stephanie believes that if one is not weary enough, one may unknowingly be overtaken by the need for social comparison, if not other evoked emotions that are most likely the result of projective identifications.

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This particular phenomenon has been researched on Facebook in the context of negative social comparison theory (Feinstein et al., 2013). According to this theory, people whom use Facebook may tend to evaluate their own lives negatively when comparing them to the perceived lives of people on Facebook.

As useful as this concept is, it does not explain the deeper processes at work, potentially the unconscious aspects of this phenomenon. This will be discussed further in a later section.

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Stephanie elaborates on this particular type of experience with Facebook: I think people start to get intimidated by some of the things people post on social media because a lot of times it’s this façade people are posting to make it look like they have perfect lives, and it intimidates you.

Here, Stephanie seems to be talking about the interpersonal effect Facebook has on her. It is likely that people who post in such a way are doing so to evoke a kind of experience, perhaps as a way to flee from their own depressive impulses and sensations (Altman, 2005).

In doing so, the poster is employing projective identification. This interpersonal psychological process is defined by Ogden (1990): In the interpersonal setting, the person projectively identifying engages in an unconscious phantasy of ejecting an unwanted or endangered aspect of himself and depositing that part in another person in a controlling way. Interpersonal pressure is exerted on the recipient of the projective identification, pressure that is unconsciously designed to coerce the recipient into experiencing himself and behaving in a way that is congruent with the unconscious projective phantasy. (p.

145) This definition describes the interpersonal nature of projective identification. It applies to this particular participant example because the participant felt pressure to experience something that may not have been true to her nature, but rather something that originated, and was possibly split off from experience, from another person. Specifically, the projector, by implicitly denying the realistic and perhaps less glamorous aspects of their own life, is depositing that denied experience into or through another: the recipient.

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This action implicitly affects the audience, who may receptively and unconsciously introject aspects of what the poster has unconsciously disavowed, in this case the realistic imperfections of everyday life, which are unpleasant but necessary for the establishment of well-being via the expansion of psychic space. The viewer, in this case Stephanie, and others who will be discussed, are left to contain the feelings of inferiority, jealousy, depression, and so on that have been evoked either through disassociation or through projective identification Bea reports a similar experience with Facebook when she discusses pictures that have inspired a negative evaluation of her life in comparison. For example, she shared that she might see someone on a boat and feel depressed that she is not leading such an exciting, adventurous life. However, Bea, like Stephanie, is able to renounce this immediate sensation internally by realizing that these are just small glimpses into these lives, not necessarily the entirety. In a way, these glimpses are only “part objects” and do not constitute a complete portrayal. Bea says: I will admit there are times when I go on Facebook and people are doing all of these fun things and I’m like, “Why am I not doing these fun things?” Then I remind myself that it’s not real. So I feel like I try really hard to remind myself that what things look like on Facebook are not how people’s lives look. But there are moments when I’m like, “Damn, I wish I was on a boat in Michigan.” Then I feel frustrated about my own life and then I have to go and see all my pictures and say, “No, all my pictures are super cool, and I’ll bet there are people looking at my Facebook pictures going, ‘damn her life is so cool.’” But it’s not, so it’s all fake.

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Bea reports having the ability to make more realistic self-evaluations after renouncing her immediate feeling of jealousy and comparison; however, as Stephanie mentioned previously, it is difficult after long-term exposure to this behavior (approximately a decade), to effectively resist the influence of this culture.

Every participant, to some extent or another, acknowledged their own participation in this process whereby one only posts the ideal aspects of their lives. This is not meant to say that every instance of posting was associated with an attempt to elicit emotional responses, nor is it meant to imply that posting is only pathological. These examples were used to demonstrate the interpersonal effect on individuals, both the poster and the viewer, and to highlight the potential for unconscious communication over a medium that is mostly non-verbal and removed from real-time interaction.

Furthermore, this example of projective identification serves to illustrate an unconscious and very real use of Facebook, as may be possible through most mediums that facilitate interpersonal communication, even if these mediums are not face-to-face or in real time. Facebook as an object is a condensed interpersonal world, replete with willing viewers who, depending on their own receptive inclinations, may provide suitable agents for the enactment of such psychic phenomena.

Stephanie has become of aware of such phenomena, which has affected the content she values and the people with whom she interacts, filtering out those whose posts may evoke negative experiences. These experiences have helped her become aware of the person she would like to become, through Facebook use and otherwise, as she seeks and selects those objects and spaces that allow her to have her own experience. She

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has essentially arrived at the historical position29 of Facebook use, where she desires the more realistic and authentic, albeit uncomfortable, aspects of people’s lives, which she can relate to on a more intimate level. She, like Ted, Shooter, Sloane, and Bea, have found those spaces where she can experience herself more truly and fully to exist more within the subcultural realms of Facebook, where groups are organized by common interest and communities form more intimate circles.

Shooter reports similar, yet distinct interpersonal experiences on Facebook. For example, when he discussed the suicide of a celebrity musician, he noted how it was irritating that others felt the need to, “spew their emotions all over the place on Facebook.” Specifically, he was bothered that some individuals were more expressive of their own felt personal loss, perhaps to an exaggerated degree.

I suspect that Shooter felt this behavior to be negative because it represented a similar process of extractive introjection, whereby either a combination of mental processes, cognition, and/or aspects of self are psychically stolen from another (Bollas, 1987).

By responding with such forceful emotion to an event, especially in a public realm such as Facebook, these individuals seem to be denying others the experience of processing their own feelings and reactions to the event, at least from the perspective of Shooter. This was true to Shooter, as I sensed he felt that he was robbed of this opportunity to experience it for himself. Although he ultimately did process this event in a more private space, the immediate reaction of the Facebook community was undoubtedly irritating to him in this regard.

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A term Ogden (1990, p. 82) uses in reference to the “depressive position.”

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Facebook experienced as both gratifying and frustrating object leading to whole object recognition.

All of the participants’ experiences with Facebook included both positive and negative aspects. According to Melanie Klein (1946), this experience can be understood as a splitting in which the good is separated from the bad in an attempt at preserving that which is good from contamination from the bad. Her theory uses the metaphor of the infant’s relationship to the breast as a way to communicate the fundamental aspects of this concept. For example, an infant experiences the good breast when being fed and satisfied, and the bad breast when it may be depleted, withheld, or frustrating.

Extrapolated to adult life, these processes are assumed to exist during various relationships; particular experiences color the perception of the objects accordingly.

In regards to the experience of Facebook, one can interpret experiences ranging from excitement and vitality to frustration, discontinuity, and emptiness. Although definite variation existed within the individual cases, there is substantial data to suggest that the participants used Facebook in ways that led to the development of a capacity for whole object recognition.

Continuing the metaphor of the “breast as an object,” there are times in the relationship to Facebook when participants feel elated, whole, and the psychic equivalent of being “fed.” These represent the extent to which their relationship with Facebook has evoked a good object experience. On the other hand, many aspects of one’s relationship to Facebook involve “bad objects” being perceived in various ways, where the experience is characterized by frustration, jealousy, anxiety, fear, or any other negatively valenced emotions. Both good and bad objects can potentially be used for self-growth, as they

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represent opportunities for extension of experience in relationships, in the ultimate pursuit of “whole” object perception—essentially an enhanced awareness of external reality at large and a capacity for object usage.

There are several instances in the participant data that support this interpretation.

Sloane reports that she expects to get a certain number of “likes” on her Facebook posts, and when this happens, she feels “good.” The meaning here lies within the acceptance, validation, and vital enhancement she gains by this experience, provided by her relationship with Facebook. The number of likes functions as a quantitative representation of the level of positive psychic meaning provided to her by Facebook.

However, these “likes” function qualitatively as well. The phenomenological experience is exciting and enlivening, as for each “like” (representing a single person) she receives externally on Facebook, there exists a corresponding representation of that person in her mind, thus animating that inner object and populating her internal object world. Sloane herself reports having an internalized sense of the people she interacts with on Facebook, thus supporting this idea: I mean it is a good feeling, especially when you find a picture or video that you know is going to make someone else laugh. It’s good to find one of those and tag them and laugh at that and vice versa. I mean if one of my friends tags me in a video that they know I find funny, I think that’s a good feeling….essentially it’s nonverbal in the sense that us two aren’t talking to each other, but we’re laughing at the same common idea or object. The people I find myself tagging are definitely my good, better friends, my boyfriend, and my family. The people that I know well in real life.

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However, there are other times when Facebook use evokes a bad object. In her case, this bad object appears when others use Facebook for self-aggrandizement, improper suggestion, and self-service. Furthermore, she conceives of Facebook as personally intrusive at times as well, thus constituting a “bad” object experience. This intrusion, for Sloane, exists in the form of Facebook being frighteningly accurate in its friend predictions, as well as their power in “keeping me [her] hooked.” She feels that her relationship with Facebook represents an unwanted sense of dependency, one that conflicts with her value of independent self-reliance.

Bea also reports positive and negative representations of her experience with Facebook. Bea’s use of metaphors reveals that she feels Facebook is empty, fruitless, and otherwise barren of psychological sustenance. She conceives of Facebook as an “echo chamber” as well as a “void’ that one screams into, to no avail, as “no one is truly listening.” Here, Bea experiences Facebook similar to the depleted breast; that is, empty and lacking meaningful relational provision.

More interestingly, Bea is able to hold contradictory meanings of Facebook in her mind simultaneously, regarding it as a void, and yet also as a safe space for her identity development. Bea’s use of subcultures on Facebook, as mentioned in her case, reveal her trust in “parts” of her object relationship to Facebook. She trusts in the fact that she can develop intimate and therapeutic discussions with people of similar experiences, who provide her with, if not concrete advice, companionship and genuine acceptance of her more private self. In this action, she is experiencing the presence of thoughtful others who hold her in mind, a vital function for her wellbeing.

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Bea, however, also experiences Facebook as a bad object, as it can be used to avoid closeness and enhance the experience of loneliness. She reported that people she has dated will not talk over the phone or in person, but will instead communicate indirectly through Facebook. For example, some people feel comfortable expressing feelings, opinions, and desires online and with an indirect message rather than in realtime, face-to-face contexts.

Ted illustrates both good and bad object experiences via his relationship with Facebook. The bad object experiences tend to manifest when he is scrolling through his Newsfeed, the more public section of Facebook. Here, he encounters what he refers to as distracting, intrusive, and attention-seeking gab. He uses the example of a good friend of his in real life, who posted something he found particularly disturbing in this way.

Ted’s classmate posted something to the effect that he was “going to Target.” Ted found this post to be the definition of absurdity, calling into question the nature of his friend’s character in the process, bewildered by the motivation to do such a thing. In a sense, he may have felt “robbed” of the time, energy, and attention he gave to this meaningless comment. He wondered why anyone needed to know this information and could not imagine how it could reflect anything but an attempt to seek attention. To Ted, the simple and incidental act of visually encountering this post was traumatic enough, as it intruded, needlessly, on his mental space.

However, despite this negative experience, Ted still considers this person a good friend of his, as he is able to hold the positive experiences with this friend in real life alongside this negative incident.

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Bea also reports some particularly meaningful bad object experiences evoked by posts she has made regarding social and political issues. The responses, written by her extended family members, are aggressive, hostile, and incendiary. A couple of these noteworthy experiences proved overwhelming to her, as she felt that she was placed under a magnifying glass for her views, opinions, and beliefs. By using the term “magnifying glass,” she most likely meant that she felt reduced as a person and defined by her particular thoughts on a specific issue alone rather than the totality of her subjectivity.

Ultimately, Bea used this feedback as a way to regulate her Facebook posts, shying away from posting the kind of content others that may find upsetting or offensive.

In this way, she has been able to mature and develop her capacity for intersubjective relating, increasing her relational flexibility and tolerance of differing views. In this achievement of the “depressive position,” she has demonstrated a more holistic perception of objects.

Overall, the participants’ use of Facebook was indicative of self-growth by the way in which it facilitated a “coming together” of whole object perception. Although this obviously varied to some extent for each participant, as a whole, the participants’ relationships with Facebook were fused with both loving and hateful feelings. This ultimately aided in the development of the self to the extent that the respective participants felt they received narcissistic sustenance for positive self-regard, and yet also an increased capacity to recognize others (or Facebook) as a whole; separate objects despite frustrating experiences.

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Emerging adult use of Facebook as a transitional object/space.

The findings suggested that participants’ self-identification of adulthood status was largely constituted by their experience with Facebook, which reflects the socially constructed ideas relevant to “adult passage.” All of the participants reported that their relationship with Facebook inspired reflections on developmental status, often by the type of pictures and posts that became more common in the cultural milieu as they grew older, including parents’ aging, engagements, weddings, graduations, promotions, adventures, and having children.

It should also be noted that this transition from adolescence to adulthood contains themes of separation and individuation. All of the participants used Facebook as both a transitional object and place, most relevant to the concept of the location of cultural experience and transitional phenomena, created by Winnicott (1967). It is in this “third space” that their emerging selves are able to exist, play, and grow as they explore, immerse, and become within this culture.

Intermediate space for emerging adult “play” and suspension of reality testing.

Based on the overall data, it appears that Facebook, as an object, is predominantly used as an intermediary space/location encompassing various dimensions of interpersonal interactions, including oneself and others, oneself and family, oneself and groups, and lastly oneself and culture. As the third area of experience (Winnicott, 1967, p. 368), the other two being the individual and society, culture is the potential space that rests alongside the self, separate yet attached.

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Facebook then may be considered a location of cultural experience for emerging adults, not as an extension of self, an additional form of self, or part self, but rather a “contiguous self” (Winnicott, 1967, p. 371) used for the purposes of unquestioned play.

Winnicott defines this, saying, “These experiences belong to object-relating of a nonorgiastic kind, or to what can be called ego-relatedness, at the place where it can be said that continuity ceases and is giving place to contiguity” (p. 370).

For example, none of the participants truly questioned how much of what was on Facebook was either real or unreal; although at times they may have suggested something to this effect, it was not the issue at hand. In fact, the interviews suggested that reflecting on what was “real” about Facebook use may have been perceived as challenging the nature of the space and its value. Winnicott (1967) argues the unquestioned nature of transitional space: An essential part of my formulation of transitional phenomena is that (as I have said ad nauseum) we agree never to make the challenge to the baby: did you create this object, or did you find it conveniently lying around? (p. 368) Upon reflection, I can see that my inquiring into the nature of this object may have felt intrusive, as the reality of the space is not customarily questioned. As a location as opposed to simply an object, it is stationed in the third area, or potential space, as noted above. Winnicott (1967) defines this area: The place where cultural experience is located is in the potential space between the individual and the environment (originally the object)…For every individual the use of this space is determined by life experiences… From the beginning, the baby has maximally intense experiences in the potential space between the

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subjective object and the object objectively perceived, between me-extensions and the not-me. This potential space is at the interplay between there being nothing but me and there being objects and phenomena outside omnipotent control. (p.

370) Winnicott (1967) proceeds to define this “third area” of mental experience as a place of “play:” I have tried to draw attention to the importance both in theory and in practice of a third area, that of play which expands into creative living and into the whole cultural life of man. This third area has been contrasted with inner or personal psychic reality and with the actual world in which the individual lives and that can be objectively perceived. I have located this important area of experience in the potential space between the individual and the environment, that which initially both joins and separates the baby and the mother…Attention is drawn to the fact that this potential space is a highly variable factor (from individual to individual), whereas the two other locations—personal or psychic reality and the actual world—are relatively constant, one being biologically determined and the other being common property. (p. 371) This lengthy but necessary definition serves to illustrate the particularly amorphous boundaries of potential space, as well as the dire significance of it in the facilitation of transition between periods of separation and independence. This study, focusing on emerging adult development, found that Facebook is used mostly in this way as an elaboration of transitional phenomenon or as a location of cultural experience.

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Based on the participant data, I theorize that Facebook is most valued as an object/space for optimal experience, vitality, and enjoyment when it is used actively for creation and contribution to the cultural pool at large. Participants reported more vitality, aliveness, and enjoyment when they reported experiences that indicated the use of this space for personal elaborations, creativity, socializing, or contributing to the culture in various forms of “play.”

All of the participants used Facebook as a space for play (with one exception).

Bea uses Facebook as a cultural space to engage in entertaining discussions, educate herself on social and political topics, and join sub-groups where ideas are exchanged and humorous play ensues. A specific example of this process is discussed below.

Bea is a member of a specific group named “YRMEN?” Bea laughingly relayed the information that this group is dedicated to sarcastic interactions, comedic exchanges, and commentary about men. This is a place/space where women (and men) can vent, collaborate, and find commonality in their various experiences. Bea says, We just make fun of men, that is what we do. We joke about how men are trash because there’s lots of trash men out there, and um the men, there are men in the group. They understand we don’t actually mean all of the men…but if you don’t understand that, people get upset.

Bea goes on to cite a particular experience of receiving negative feedback. She had posted a picture of a gift her friend made her. It was a cross-stitched circular pendant (hand sewn) with a street sign picture of a man throwing away garbage, between two roses, with the caption below stating, “Men are Trash.” Furthermore, this friend proceeded to create a business (named “Sew Fucking What?”) of selling similar items

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based on the popular response to Bea’s post. This example illustrates the value of such groups for their potential to be playful, although they may be misunderstood as offensive.

Shooter admits that he does not go on to Facebook seeking specific things, but rather as a cursory endeavor to scan for interesting updates, shares, or meaningful content. Ultimately, through this process, he ends up exploring more than he originally intended. Although he does have specific groups he visits such as his MBA class page, his use of Facebook in this way mostly represents a launching point for further exploration whereby he clicks on links, stories, and videos, which take him to other websites. It is in this process of internet surfing that Shooter allows his intuition to guide him, ultimately landing on unexpected websites, visiting diverse content, and then realizing, “This is when I get lost on the internet.” This kind of derivative use fittingly portrays the quality of Facebook as a portal for further exploration and object selection.

Like Shooter, Stephanie reported that she does not go on Facebook with any particular intent, but does find herself discovering positive and self-enhancing experiences via sub-cultural groups such as her “Catholic mom groups,” “Chicago moms group,” “breastfeeding resource page,” and a “baby and kid garage sale site group.”

These groups are not only indicative of her idiom as a mother, but also represent Stephanie’s relationship to Facebook as one that functions as a space where she can post questions, learn information, and become more connected to the specific culture of motherhood at large.

Sloane uses this space as a way to add to the cultural pool by sharing funny memes, gifs, and pictures. Sloane’s use of emojis and other nonverbal communicators characterize her form of play with those with whom she has relationships in real life,

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outside of Facebook. Sloane also uses her relationship with Facebook as a space for cultural experience by posting neuroscience articles, watching Tastees videos, catching up on news about her favorite baseball team, the White Sox, or perusing with no particular aim in mind.

These examples all share the common theme of one’s relationship to Facebook as characterized by the experience of sharing, exploring, and suspending the tensions inherent in real-life, face-to-face interactions outside of Facebook. It is only when the reality of the material and experiences in this space are questioned that it becomes unsatisfactory, tense, and anxiety producing. For example, when the topic of politics is raised, or fights emerge arguing the “realness” of the topics or content, the space collapses and is usually avoided.

Cultural symbols and images for communication of shared meaning.

A common finding throughout this study was that participants used Facebook as a means to communicate via signs and symbols of shared meaning, rather than or in addition to the text itself. There was no exception to this within the individual cases.

Specifically, Facebook as an object lends itself to certain types of non-verbal communication, which are not only idiosyncratically conveyed and understood at times, but mostly shared understandings and formed through cultural trends. Furthermore, a unique aspect of this study was the semiotic analysis or visual analysis of the participants’ profiles. This added a dimension of data to the study, a dimension that was necessary given Facebook’s power as a visual media center.

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Palombo (1992) defines semiotics as, “the discipline that deals with theories of signs and sign systems of which languages, mathematics, music, American Sign Language, are examples…These signs are endowed with meanings by the culture in which they arise” (p. 256).

Using this understanding in application to Facebook, one can see how there are many signs that are produced through this culture that have symbolic meaning. For example, “likes” on Facebook are a commonly used vernacular that describes, usually a quantity (“I received this many likes,” etc.), but sometimes a quality (“he or she liked this”), in reference to the reaction to a post, picture, or information that was shared.

Sloane reports that the content she shares is always accompanied by an expectation of the number of likes she will receive—obviously, the more likes the better she feels. The visual icon for a “like” is a “thumbs up” indicating approval. Even Ted, the most averse to Facebook use, reported that when he posted pictures of his marriage ceremony it was “a good feeling” to see all the people who “liked” them.

Facebook is full of such semiotic examples, in various forms and meanings, “likes” simply constituting one major type. Other semiotic symbols include emojis or emoticons. These symbols are icons used to denote a particular emotional reaction, be that joy, sadness, grief, shame, anger, confusion, disapproval, or endless others. Bea and Sloane taught me there are ways to use emojis to communicate sarcasm and other forms of meaning, which becomes difficult to assess when removed from real-time, face-to-face interaction. Specifically, they said an upside-down smiley face represents sarcasm, an important signifier when writing text over Facebook, as without this symbol, the sarcasm would most likely be lost in translation.

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Furthermore, every participant except Ted discussed the significance and meaning that can be conveyed about someone via the pictures they post. Stephanie felt that she is not interested in people who post more narcissistically inclined photos, such as those with “duck lips” or other poses that try to convey superficial impressions. On the contrary, she seeks depth of meaning and authenticity over the medium. She finds this quality in the way that people post, but also the way they may respond to other people’s posts. I presume that she looks for a particular type of aesthetic form, communicated through mostly non-verbal means, providing an indication of the person’s character.

Sloane, Ted, and Shooter also speak to the importance of these visual communications. Shooter believes that you can get a good understanding of “who that person is” by viewing their Facebook and scanning for quality of posts, pictures, and other material. Shooter, like Ted, states that Facebook profiles and pictures are often used as sources of data for hiring practices, illustrating their perceived value in determining character. Sloane uses pictures to communicate shared meanings through anchored relationships (relationships she has outside of and prior to Facebook), which may be inside jokes or other contextually understood experiences. In addition, Sloane enjoys viewing pictures posted by those with whom she has anchored relationships, in order to get a sense of that person, the mood of the events in relation to how she knows them. In this sense, her use of signs is more intertextual30 (Rose, 2001).

There is such a large degree of symbols and signs to be used in this way that discussing them all, and in full, falls outside the scope of this study. However, these few general examples illustrate the idea that there is a powerful iconic attribute to Facebook

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“Intertextuality refers to the way that the meanings of any one discursive image or text depend not only on that one text or image, but also on the meanings carried by other images and texts” (Rose, p. 136).

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use, one that is beyond language, and yet a definite feature with interpersonal implications. Furthermore, the ways that emerging adults find meaning on Facebook via the use of culturally or intertextually shared symbols is an interesting subject for further research and discussion, as it certainly shapes intimate relations and the capacity for intimacy.

Peer media as an influencer of adult identity status.

Both Shooter and Bea reflect ambivalence about their adult identity status. Bea describes how she behaves as an adult by paying bills, completing higher education and being relatively independent, a process she and her friends have comically transformed into a verb they refer to as “adulting.” However, she says, on the other hand, she feels she is not an adult, which she ascribes to being, “not even close to being in a romantic relationship, let alone sharing a bathroom with somebody.” Furthermore, she says she believes achieving “adulthood” becomes concrete when one gets married and raises children. The participants’ feelings about their own adult identity status vary depending on what their fantasy or ideal of adulthood is, and how they measure when compared to that ideal. Their relationships with Facebook seemed to have at least partially reinforced their particular beliefs accordingly, both in fantasy and in reality. Bea says: I have a lot of friends who are starting to get married and have babies and am seeing these people who bought houses and have children and are like real adults, because like in my mind that’s what a real adult is. But I learned a foreign language, moved to another country and got my master’s degree…so it’s hard for me, because on the one hand, I guess I’m sort of an adult, I don’t know….I have

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that internalized notion of an adult. Even though I have an unmarried parent, for me, adulthood is like when you get married, buy a house, and have children.

Those are the adults, and I’m not what that is, so it’s very…I have that in my brain and I’m very aware of how socially constructed it is, but it’s still there, it’s super ingrained that that’s what an adult is. Even though I have a job and pay taxes, and I do the things basically, but I’m not an adult because I’m not close to buying a house, getting married, or having children.

Shooter, like Bea, demonstrates this internal feeling of not being an adult, despite having similar adult-like responsibilities and accomplishments, including financial independence, obtainment of graduate education, employment, and a close romantic relationship. He says that he goes on Facebook and sees everyone getting married, even having children, and that this has slowly made him realize that he is “getting there” as much as he may not feel that way internally.

Ted reported a similar feeling, except he mostly interpreted the pictures of weddings, baby announcements, and the like as an indication of him “getting old.” Ted is recently married, graduated, and newly employed. Ted was clear about his internal adult status when he said, “Ever since college, I have been a pretty mature person.” Besides this meaning, however, Ted’s use of Facebook as a transitional object was minimal, corresponding to the level of affect he felt on the medium: almost none. For Ted, Facebook had lost most of its meaning through a combination of his own needs and use, as well as features of the website that allowed more public space and less intimate connectivity. Perhaps, based on his feeling of frustration, he has all but foreclosed on the use of Facebook as an emotionally compelling object to provide the depth and intimacy

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he seeks at this point in life. When asked what his feeling is generally when using Facebook, he replied with, “boredom.”

Ted’s representation of his internal object of Facebook is characterized by a lack of emotional valence, fitting with his overall experience of Facebook as an external object. As a transitional object, Facebook has served its purpose for his emerging adult years, no longer holding the psychological utility it once had. At this point, Facebook as an external object is deadening, which, by Winnicott’s argument, leads to the foreclosure of the corresponding internal object. Winnicott (1951) posits: The infant can employ a transitional object when the internal object is alive and real and good enough (not too persecutory). But this internal object depends on its qualities on the existence and aliveness and behavior of the external object.

Failure of the latter in some essential function indirectly leads to deadness or to a persecutory quality of the internal object. After a persistence of inadequacy of the external object, the internal object fails to have meaning to the infant, and then, only then, does the transitional object become meaningless too. (pp. 237-238) It is possible that Ted, the oldest participant in the study, represents the age at which Facebook is no longer valued as a transitional object. Close to, if not within adulthood proper, he looks for other objects beyond Facebook to fulfill his needs for depth and intimacy of close friends and family, rather than the shallow posts of a thousand acquaintances.

Ted made several remarks regarding how Instagram was more valuable than Facebook at this stage as far as being a meaningful object. Perhaps a future study may explore adult uses of Instagram. With relevance to this study, however, is the fact that

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Ted was the only participant to use Facebook as a transitional object to a minimum degree.

Sloane, the youngest participant, reported enjoying using Facebook to explore what other people her age with whom she had once been closer were doing in this stage of their lives. She reported that many people were graduating with advanced degrees (like herself), posting pictures of various explorations around the globe, and conveying more of their professional identities and idiomatic pursuits: I think it’s definitely nice in that aspect, seeing what people are up to, and not even like your close friends but like acquaintances as well. There are so many people who are traveling around the world and getting engaged and all of this different stuff, moving across the country. So it’s cool seeing what people you know are up to.

As the youngest participant, Sloane represents the outer edge of early adulthood, where the content she views, experiences, and selects parallels understood tasks, including experimentation, exploration, object-interest, and early identifications with career paths.

Furthermore, she reports that seeing these kinds of pictures has begun to impart a growing sense that she is “past the college years,” as content on Facebook reflects a higher level of maturity beyond the type of content that she was accustomed to seeing just a couple of years prior. “Past the college years” seems to be a meaningful statement concerning where she is in the post-adolescent schema. College, for many people, was, and still is, a significant temporal marker for developmental status. College (or high school) provides the last concrete indicator of developmental status before one enters the

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more ambiguous and ill-defined aspects of emerging adulthood, where there is no such structural system in place to give each step of development a discrete unit of measurement. Every participant compared who he or she was now to some reference point in college, especially in terms of their Facebook use.

Stephanie, as a mother of two children, states how her use of Facebook has changed so much by becoming a mother that it may be unrecognizable compared to her profile of just a few years ago. She reports the advertisements she is inundated with on Facebook reflect her current developmental phase as a parent, specifically consisting of children’s health products, diapers, maternity gear, and infant supplies. Furthermore, the majority of photos on her Facebook are now of engagements, marriages, and children as well, reinforcing her perception of being in this new phase of life.

All of these participants are using Facebook as a transitional object in their own right, specifically as an object that helps facilitate their continuity and change of identity as they develop in all of these respective regards. In other words, Facebook can be understood as an adult type of transitional object equivalent to the small child’s blanket or significant toy.

Like a child’s blanket, Facebook is something they can “carry” with them as they enter into uncharted territory and various new experiences of self and other, providing a necessary continuity of being despite radical changes in responsibilities, relationships, and functions. In this regard, it is ideal for these purposes, as they each have had a profile reaching as far back as early adolescence or adolescence. Therefore Facebook acts to hold many of their experiences of self and other in that time frame, creating a condensed (and literal) object for archival use, historical reflection, retrospection, and developmental

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logging; all necessary and helpful functions as they individuate further and integrate aspects of who they were with who they would like to become.

Furthermore, Facebook offers a source of developmental mirroring, as it allows them glances into their immediate circles of friends and family, as well as, since the participants each have over 800 friends, glimpses of aspects of the broader culture.

Facebook as a secure base for emerging adult separation, individuation, and differentiation.

Generally, this study found that each participant demonstrated a distinct relationship with Facebook as an object in itself. By checking in with the object, via logging in, multiple times per day over the course of many years, this object was transitional in many senses. One of the most striking, however, was the way in which their relationship with Facebook represented aspects of the separation and individuation phases, respective to emerging adults. Checking into Facebook, whether it was looking for updates, cursory scanning, or specific searches, appeared to function as a way emerging adults in this study could check in with the social world. In fact, it seems that Facebook is used primarily in a habitual manner, often inspired by a daily ritual and tendency, which over the course of years has become a safe base where the emerging adult can “check-in” with society (peers, etc.) either to be recognized, and to bear witness to or recognize others, or both (Karen, 1994).

For example, it seems that Facebook in and of itself represented a type of holding environment for the self, a secure base, or a symbolic significant other with whom one can practice elements of differentiation, separation, and individuation (Blos, 1967).

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Historically, this age range (22-29) is understood as an “in-between” (Arnett, 2008) time, existing beyond the second separation-individuation (adolescence) but in most cases, prior to the third (parenthood). The findings from this research lead me to believe that processes of this second stage are very present during the years of emerging adulthood, albeit in a refined form, better suited for the individual idiosyncratic developmental elements of life in the twenty-somethings.

For example, Bea’s relationship to Facebook was the most intense of all the participants, as she says she is “attached to the hip” with it. It acts as a secure base, but also an exploratory domain, where she can seek comfort, but also new experiences and transformation.

Shooter’s relationship to Facebook can be understood similarly, as Facebook provides a kind of secure base for emerging adult development. He keeps Facebook open as a unique tab on his desktop all day, and checks it for notifications upon waking and prior to sleep. In this way, his use has become a type of custom or ritual whereby he gains access to this alternate world, which although dream-like, has become so familiar: If your question was, “What’s your intent for checking Facebook?” then I guess it would be to check in with the world—like this world that is kind of like in the clouds and on Facebook in this like cyber world. So yeah, trying to find out what’s going on and who’s doing what.

Shooter’s relationship to Facebook seems to represents another form of a secure base, where he can check in with others, whether they are his friends, acquaintances, or family back home. In a way, the relationship represents a single unit that connects him to various important others, to the extent that if he is not on it for a long time, he begins to

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feel anxiety, possibly a type of separation anxiety. As a more developmentally appropriate abstract object, it represents meaning in that it is the source of connection to his family of origin and best friends, from whom he has since long separated physically.

In these ways, Facebook as an object is endowed with meaning similar to that of a secure base. Although far past that point developmentally, these emerging adults may experience Facebook as an adult equivalent of a parental field. Rather than having the mother and or father as the base, they use Facebook as a more abstract and maturational substitute. This object relationship provides them with the control necessary to decide on comfortable distances of exploration, reunion, and other actions regarding separation and individuation.

This time of brief “temporal calm” (Blos, 1967) may evoke loneliness, but also the opportunity for “practicing” in regards to negotiating distance, closeness to peers, family, and others as independence is developed.

Most of the participants used Facebook in varying ways to practice exploring and individuating. As mentioned earlier, Facebook provided Bea with a safe space to educate and explore social issues as well as ways in which she individuated her sense of self as an adult. Sloane seemed to be engaging in repetitive behavior of seeking and represented a more conservative aspect to this process of separation, as she preferred to engage with well-known others like family and old friends. Although Ted reported not enjoying Facebook, it still possesses some meaning as he was learning the kinds of things he does not identify with, nor want to become, as he encounters them through his use of Facebook, and differentiates himself accordingly.

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Lastly, Shooter uses Facebook for both separation and individuation practice. For example, Shooter uses Facebook to feel connected to his family back home, as he does not often get to visit with them in person. He says that by looking at their Facebook pictures, he can see how much his younger cousins have grown and how his relatives are doing, providing him a sense of comfort and security. Shooter also uses Facebook as a way to explore and deepen his identity, as he remains open to new experiences, experiences that usually surprise him on Facebook and lead him to more in-depth understandings about his values and identity, such as those mentioned in his case.

Shooter uses Facebook to deepen his experiences, inviting the opportunities for exploration as they emerge: I’d say I probably run into something that evokes an emotion or is meaningful every 1 out of 10 or 1 out of 15 times I log on. I don’t log onto Facebook expecting these things, but am always glad when they happen.

Facebook use as collapse of potential space: A theoretical discussion of the unconscious relationship between the poster and the audience.

Potential space, defined several times throughout this study, is a relative potential usually understood in a relational context. The positive form of this concept is expressed in mutual recognition, trust, and the facilitation of intersubjective relating. However, when this space is collapsed, it becomes what I refer to in this study as a type of negative space, a void if you will, where absence displaces presence. It is negative in two discrete, yet sometimes overlapping senses. First, it is negative in the sense that either one or both individuals in a relationship are thwarted in their attempts to recognize or be recognized

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by the other, thereby foreclosing any potential for idiomatic elaboration. This represents the interpersonal aspect of the phenomenon.

The second way I will use this concept is in regard to the individual. In another sense, negative space represents the lost potential for true self-striving, or the “death of desire” (Lantz, 1996). This is also sometimes referred to as “negative narcissism,” or “narcissism of death” (Green, 1999). It is not understood as a destructive desire as much as it is a foreclosure of subjective strivings and forward action.

Constriction of psychic space and breakdown of mutual recognition.

The recent (2016) presidential election became a thematic finding from this study, representing the complexity of interpersonal phenomena, unconscious communication, and experience transmitted through the medium of Facebook.

Ted iterated that his MBA program started a live group discussion feed on the presidential election, one that became so hostile and contentious that he ultimately avoided it all together. He felt Facebook was used by some people to express more radical views on politics and religion in such a way as to not allow for a more productive, reasonable, and reflective discussion: So during the election last year, we had some classmates who were very adamant about one side or the other. We had a class group meet (on Facebook), and after the first two weeks of being in school and seeing how annoying it was and how low value-add it was, I just got rid of it…it’s become a platform for expression, and if you’re extreme and proud at one end, whether it’s politics or religion or whatever, it can be a powerful message, but then again if you put something completely inflammatory or stupid you’re either dumb, or you don’t care or

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you’re trying to get attention or something like that, where there’s a motive behind it.

This political example was just one of several ways he found that Facebook gave rise to more shallow bickering and less reflective discussion, an experience that I believe led him to feel disconnected.

I interpret this example to be another form of projective identification, whereby individuals on either side of the spectrum may disavow aspects of identity corresponding to the “other” aisle,31 something Altman (2005, cited in Geffner, 2004) refers to as the “socio-cultural unconscious.” With regards to Ted, as well as other participants, the feelings may have originated from an interpersonal pressure to “pick a side,” thereby reinforcing the split rather than allowing for independent expression, reflection, and mutuality.

Sloane and Shooter both reported negative experiences on Facebook during the presidential election as well, feeling that it was a highly charged and contentious atmosphere. Both participants began deleting or “unfriending” people who posted things that appeared on their newsfeed. Sloane says this was mostly done to the people who expressed varying views from her own.

Shooter admitted that he even had to “hide” content posted by his own family members during the election, even though he agreed with their political positions, as the environment became too hostile, and he experienced intense pressure to “pick a side.”

Fearing the retribution of offending the wrong person, he decided to avoid it all together.

Furthermore, Shooter felt a kind of provocation to express himself on this platform and

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Geffner proposes that the left and right wings of political parties disavow certain aspects of experience and attribute them to each other, leading to a role-responsiveness cycle.

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pick a side of the split, and by not doing so, he was not adequately participating in politics. However, had he done so, he would likely have been criticized by the other “half” with whom he did not agree. This feeling was a common denominator within the participants’ experiences, and I interpret this sensation of tension and action of avoidance as a way to deal with the breakdown in potential space and presence of splitting during this time on Facebook.

Shooter also reports the presence of internalized representations of Facebook. He reflects the qualities of this internal object when he comments on Facebook’s intrusive demands for accommodation. Specifically, he reports how people expect him to respond to Facebook posts immediately, and when he cannot, he usually is nagged by significant others (his mother particularly), via text or phone call, to respond. He communicates that his mother will anxiously text him if he has not responded to a post, in fear that his nonresponse was an indication of his perceived disapproval. However, in reality, he states, he is simply busy at work and has not had time to check his Facebook. Over time, this repeated scenario has ingrained in his psyche the felt social imperative to act and respond to Facebook posts quickly, an experience that generates anxiety even outside of Facebook use, reflecting the presence of an internal object representation that displaces potential psychic space.

Escapism and self-estrangement as both feature and effect of use.

Based on the participants’ experiences of themselves and others through their relationship to Facebook, it is clear that certain behaviors are encouraged, whether implicitly or explicitly, consciously or unconsciously, through this medium which is a significant venue for cultural experience (Winnicott, 1967).

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As noted earlier in this chapter, Facebook can be understood as a nexus uniting the personal with the interpersonal, the private with the public, as a true representative of the 21st century cultural milieu. Within this new conception of interpersonal space, lies behavior that seems to fuse, or confuse, the personal with the interpersonal, creating a more convenient place to “trans/re-locate” aspects of one’s identity (Hinshelwood, 1995).

This study has found that, at the very least, there is such relocation being experienced on the personal level, and I infer that it results from both the individual’s receptivity to the information as well as the cultural milieu at large. Splitting, projection (projective identification), and introjection are the concepts used to link the experiences of the participants to the category of meaning, specifically, the experience of a manic defense against depressive feelings and psychic reality in general.

As noted in the literature review, the concepts of the paranoid/schizoid and depressive positions depict two general modes of experiencing the world, beginning in infancy and dependent on the situation, emergent throughout life. Essentially, the paranoid-schizoid position represents a distrust of the external world and a splitting of the good from the bad “objects” such that what is good is perceived to be inside of the self and what is “bad” is perceived to exist in others outside of the self. The depressive position is the result of an integration of the good and bad into a whole representational object.

The depressive position represents a (subjectively) newfound concern for others, and guilt over possible previous transgressions. One common form of defense against the depressive position is the manic defense, which can be characterized as a “flight into action as opposed to thought” (Altman, 2005, p. 330). Another important attribute of this

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defense is that it uses splitting, projective identification, and denial as ways to experience people as “others” in a way that potentially strips them of their own subjectivity and agency. Furthermore, this “othering” has the effect of attributing perceived negative aspects of self onto these “others,” who are then imagined to embody these attributes (Altman, 2005, p. 330). The effect is two-fold, however, as the projector loses aspects of their own subjectivity, thus estranging themselves from self-experience in the process of attributing it to others.

As one can see, this process is of vital sociocultural concern, as splitting can occur on mass levels, whether it takes the form of racism, sexism, ageism, or homophobia, in which “others” are seen as “part objects” only and are perceived to hold the negative attributes in a way that perpetuates subjugation of entire groups of people.

Every participant noted that to some degree they felt Facebook as a space discouraged the expression of the more realistic experiences, images, and events in daily life, and that it instead encouraged the elicitation of the most beautiful, glamorous, entertaining, distracting or alluring. While this may not be a problem in and of itself, it becomes concerning when it infringes on or influences how individuals collude with a seemingly manic culture, disavowing feelings and experiences that are more realistic, including sadness, loss, longing, depression, anxiety, and genuine concern for others.

Furthermore, the culture of Facebook at large, gleaned through the experiences of these participants, suggests and reinforces this theory. For example, the sense of omnipotence a user feels may enhance the disavowal of concern for others, as well as the genuine development of intimate anchored relationships. Specifically, every user in this study had more than 800 friends on Facebook. Similarly, every participant in the study

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literally laughed at the idea that these numbers reflected the amount of actual relationships they have. It is rather comical to think that one could even have 800 relationships that are worthwhile, much less intimate.

This raises the question as to why such vast numbers of Facebook “friends” are collected and maintained. Although the obvious answer, which may also be true, is social status and social capital, the less obvious answer is the “taboo” of deleting friendships.

Ironically, being seen as rude, apathetic, and uncaring seems to be the only reason to keep friends, as deleting them would inspire the perception of the former.32 This is ironic, because, as admitted, there is no way they could be genuinely concerned, nor intimate with the lives of all of these people at one time; therefore, they are exhibiting the behavior that forms the very rationale of their inaction.33 Most importantly, the aversion to “deleting friends” confirms the deflection of feelings of aggression, vulnerability, separation, and loss. These exact feelings were the ones most noticeably absent from participant experiences (with a few exceptions).

Facebook’s enticing allure exists in its implicit promise to deliver fantasied omnipotence and therefore illusory mastery and endless domination of the more unpleasant and uncomfortable aspects of psychic reality, an admittedly tempting proposal to anyone. In this way, it is a means of escape.

Additionally, it seems the capacity for concern for others, a major aspect of the depressive position, can also be limited to the extent that others are seen as exactly that.

With more friends on Facebook than in real life, much of the audience may be others, or

Not the only reason, as having large numbers of friends also allows more access to viewing the lives of people, even access into cultural trends of the times.

33 As a caveat, I must say that every participant also admitted to “pruning” their Facebook friends at certain points, thus reducing their number of friends; however, based on the large numbers of friends remaining, it seems the pruning was an insignificant percentage in relation to this point.

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“othered” as a way to disavow and/or project undesirable attributes of the self. For example, much of the Facebook culture seems to be imbued with a classist attitude, where activities usually only accessible to the super-rich are given expression as a suggestion of social class. Posting pictures of oneself on extravagant adventures across the globe, boarding a Lear jet, or posing at a black tie event may implicitly convey the possession of class status, and simultaneously, the disavowal of the financial limitations of real life, perhaps to the audience, or perhaps to oneself.34

Passive consumption and active projection/evacuation as dual ends of interpersonal dialectic on Facebook.

These findings would explain a common form of experience reported by participants when they are only browsing and not posting content. The passive versus active theory of Facebook use has been researched extensively (Kramer et al., 2014; Kross et al., 2013; Lin, Sidani, Kraut, & Burke, 2015; Rains & Young, 2009; Ryan, Chester, & Reese, 2014; Sagioglou & Greitemeyer, 2014; Shensa, Radovic, Miller, Colditz, & Primack, 2016; Steinfeld, Ellison, & Lampe, 2008), and thus far the only supported indicator of Facebook use as a function of wellbeing is the relationship of passive versus active use. Active users report more positive experiences that those who

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Of course, this argument rests entirely on the validity of the concept of projection. In the spirit of exploring alternative explanations, it is necessary to include H.S. Sullivan’s conceptions of similar phenomenon. Sullivan (1953) conveys the attitude that projection is a normative, perhaps necessary, phenomenon for interpersonal functioning or empathizing with another. He argues: To begin with, we project in all interpersonal relations. We attempt to foresee action: we foresee it as the activity of embodied others; and that in itself is projection. (p. 359) Furthermore, within his interpersonal framework, such behavior is not necessarily concerned with the transfer of mental content, attitude, emotions, etc., but rather the disassociation of interpersonal states brought about by selective inattention. In this way, through this alternative explanation, the argument can be made that Facebook may be used to attend to certain more favorable aspects of the self, whatever they may be.

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use Facebook passively. This could be viewed through the lens of being an audience member, who is assumed to (unconsciously) “contain” the disavowed elements of “without class status.” This would further explain the common report from participants in this study of feeling, “intimidated,” “jealous,” “envious,” “lonely,” and “depressed” when passively using Facebook.

Based on the participant experiences, active usage tends to lead to more satisfaction and passive usage to less satisfaction, which is congruent with previous research. However, the exact mechanism behind this difference remains unclear. One could argue that passive versus active usage informs one’s role responsiveness with unconscious communications. Specifically, while being passive, one is more inclined to use Facebook to “consume.” In contrast, the active Facebook user may desire to “project” or “evacuate.” Together they form a relational whole, two major parties engaging in a role performance, albeit an unconscious one.

Furthermore, the sensation of projecting may be more gratifying than consuming that which is projected. However, if one assumes that the feeling of psychic hunger or emptiness is intolerable, then any “food” will do, even if it is not “appetizing.” It follows that the feeling of jealousy, depression, or any other negative introjection is favorable to the experience of nothing.

Using the argument that splitting between good and bad is predominant on Facebook, one may understand the passive observer to be the recipient of the disavowed, thus exacerbating the feeling of boredom, lifelessness, and “without.” The active poster, then, would assume the role of the projector, as mentioned earlier, who is able to evacuate unconscious and unpleasant aspects of the self onto the audience, who is then

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perceived to embody them. This would entail the evacuation of the depleted or enfeebled aspects of the self, leaving the remaining experience to be that of manic exhilaration, vitality, and pleasure.

Visual Representation of the Across-Case Findings Across-Case Category of Meaning 1.

I. Emerging Adult Object Relationship to Facebook as Facilitator of Narcissistic Space for Elaboration and Experience of Self i. Ego Ideals, Solidarity, and Maintenance of Narcissistic Equilibrium. ii. Medium for Idiomatic Elaboration and Communication iii. Social Awareness, Negative Comparison, and Self-Evaluation iv. Facebook Experienced as Both Gratifying and Frustrating Object for Whole Object Perception Across-Case Category of Meaning 2.

II. Emerging Adult Use of Facebook as Cultural Object/Space for Transitional and Developmental Purposes i. Intermediate Space for Suspension of Reality Testing a. Cultural Symbols Used for Nonverbal Communication of Shared Meaning iii. Peer Culture as Influencer of Adult Identity Status iv. Secure Base for Practicing: Separation, Individuation, and Differentiation

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Across-Case Category of Meaning 3.

III. Facebook Use as a Collapse of Potential and Psychic Spaces: A Theoretical Discussion of the Unconscious Relationship between Poster and Audience. i. Constriction of Psychic Space and Breakdown of Mutual Recognition ii. Escapism and Self-Estrangement as Both Feature and Effect of Use. iii. Passive Consumption and Active Projection as Dual Ends of Dialectic Role Performance

Summary of the findings.

The findings of this study are represented by three major categories of meaning, containing multiple themes of emerging adult Facebook use across cases. The first category of meaning is the Emerging Adults’ Object Relationship to Facebook as a Facilitator of Narcissistic Space for Elaboration and Experience of Self. Within this category are themes relevant to the overall title, yet more specifically tailored to the experiences and interpretations it reflects. These are: Ego Ideals, Solidarity and Maintenance of Narcissistic Equilibrium; Medium for Idiomatic Elaboration and Communication; Social Awareness, Negative Comparison, and Self-Evaluation; and Facebook Experienced as Both Gratifying and Frustrating Object for Whole Object Perception.

The second category of meaning is titled: Emerging Adult Use of Facebook as Cultural Object/Space for Transitional and Developmental Purposes. Its themes include Intermediate Space for Emerging Adult “Play” and Suspension of Reality Testing;

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Cultural Symbols Used for Nonverbal Communication of Shared Meaning; and Peer Culture as Influencer of Adult Identity Status.

The third category of meaning and major finding of this study is Facebook Use as a Collapse of Potential and Psychic Spaces: A Theoretical Discussion of the Relationship between Poster and Audience. This discussion about unconscious interpersonal and personal processes includes the following themes: Constriction of Psychic Space and Breakdown of Mutual Recognition; Escapism and Self-Estrangement as Both Feature and Effect of Use; and Passive Consumption and Active Projection as Dual Ends of Dialectic Role Performance.

Limitations of the study.

One relatively unique limitation of this study exists due to the incredible acceleration of technology, or potential thereof. Fifteen years ago, there was no Facebook. Fifteen years from now, it is likely that another, perhaps more advanced, form of technology will replace or add to it. Therefore, the findings here are presumably only useful for a finite period of time. Specifically, the value of the findings is directly related to the amount of time Facebook remains technologically relevant and popularly utilized, as it is currently.

This research was also limited in regard to the mostly homogenous sample, which did not represent any ethnic, racial, and/or social diversity. Furthermore, the sample was exclusively (by chance) Caucasian, educated (4 out of 5 participants held master’s degrees, all had bachelor’s), and emerging adults. This limited the construction of theory,

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in so far as Facebook use is not bound by a single homogenous group in the overall population of emerging adult users.

Clinical implications.

The findings of this study may be valuable for clinicians working with this population in several ways. One of the strongest findings of this study was the idiosyncratic ways in which emerging adults used Facebook. If we understand narcissism to be a positive expression and use of space for development, then one can understand the realms of Facebook to offer a place for this progression and experience to occur. As a powerful visual and non-verbal (as well as verbal) discourse, it allows emerging adults the opportunity to express themselves in more illustrative, even preverbal manners. In this way, they can communicate potential longings, relational experiences, and historical narratives, which may not be so easily accessible nor publically exhibited through use of words or text alone, much less in person.

This study may act as a contemplative object for clinicians to use as they think about their patients, and as another source for extra-countertransference data (Sandler, 1993). Clinicians may be able to use Facebook as another source of information about a patient, which they can discuss and describe in session, perhaps even having patients share pictures or meaningful content on their phones with the clinician if they express a desire to do so. The visual data analysis component of this research was the most revealing in terms of one’s idiomatic communications.

Furthermore, Facebook was used most clearly as a transitional object/space for the development of identity and processing issues of separation, individuation, and

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differentiation as well as engaging in significant adult versions of “play.” Most significant of the findings, perhaps, was the value of Facebook as a space for suspension of reality testing, elaboration of idiom, and exploration and creation of oneself amidst new “spaces.”

Cited as a time of feeling “intra-psychically alone” (Blos, 1967), this research may help clinicians further empathize with their emerging adult clients and better comprehend the strategies and maneuvers used in life to navigate this time period, with its own respective challenges, goals, fears, and desires.

The findings in this study reflect the degree to which Facebook is a location of unconscious interpersonal processes, a dynamic cultural field, and space. Clinicians may be able to use this information, specifically the unconscious effect on audience members and posters, as it forms their experiences of self. In addition, it may be valuable for clinicians to learn the ways in which Facebook use affects subjective experience in general, or, more specifically, through the phenomenological continuum of experiences ranging from vitality and excitement to boredom and frustration.

In addition, one major finding of the across-case analysis was the use of Facebook despite negative experiences and personal feelings about the platform. It would be understandable for one to wonder why, then, would someone use this website, despite recurring unfavorable experiences? It is possible that clinicians can benefit from this finding as they may use this question as a way to engage in a conversation with their clients about various personal relational patterns, cycles, and behaviors relevant to their treatment.

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Finally, and perhaps most applicable in terms of the value of the findings, is the use of this information for clinicians as they try to empathize with clients of this generation. Assuming most clinicians are only slightly familiar with this technology in comparison to younger generations, this study may help orient clinicians of previous generations to the significance of Facebook use in the lives of young adults. Rather than being viewed as a superficial environment for the manifestation of pathological behavior and trivial interpersonal engagement, this study has found that it has the potential to be used in deep, psychoanalytically normative, and meaningful ways, highly relevant to the development of identity and health.

Research implications.

A fundamental objective of this study was to fill in the large void in the literature regarding emerging adulthood and use of technology by exploring the ways emerging adults relate to and use Facebook for idiomatic expression, experience, and formation of self, relevant to developmental tasks and personal aesthetics. This objective was accomplished largely due to the chosen methodology, namely, the use of a case study methodology and psychoanalytic theory.

The findings implicate the importance of subjective inquiry in regard to determining the quality and purpose of individual use. This further reinforces the need for similar research that explores the subjective and idiosyncratic nature of an individual’s particular use, as opposed to nomothetic approaches, which strive to use personality variables in order to assess macro-trends of aggregate use. Although certainly valuable

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for specific goals, this approach may unwittingly reduce the value of the uniqueness of individuals.

On the contrary, the use of a qualitative case study allowed for a deep immersion into the subjectivity of the participant, denoting the nonverbal and un-quantifiable characteristics which proved so valuable in co-creating meaning and are so important when striving to preserve the ethical ideal of researching “human experience” (Hoffman, 2009). This characteristic was valuable as it gave flavor to the findings, depth and diversity to the insights, and an opportunity to convey the rich personal attributes of each participant in a literary style.

Furthermore, psychoanalytic theory proved most useful in accordance with this celebration of subjectivity, individuality, and idiom. Ultimately, both the depth and the breadth of conceptual underpinnings, permitted through psychoanalytic discourse, were most valuable in ensuring categories of meaning within the individual cases were coconstructed in ways that enhanced and verbalized the meanings while simultaneously preserving the uniqueness and complexity of the participants.

In addition, the use of psychoanalytic theory allowed for the depth of inquiry and co-creation of meaning which was initially desired and ultimately obtained. By fusing the raw data with theoretical notions, the meanings became fruitful co-creations of experiences and constructs. Through attention to the nonverbal elements of the interviews, including the visual analysis, deeper and perhaps more un/non/pre-conscious meaning was produced.

In general, this led to an overall holistic impression of the participant and the experience with them, an invaluable source of data that was perhaps the most useful in

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capturing the aesthetics of idiomatic communications presented in the more subtle and yet intangible realms of non-verbal communication, behavior, and interaction. In this way, psychoanalytic theory proved reciprocally beneficial with the use of a case study design, as each seemed to reinforce the other in the generation of depth of meaning via various sources of data, including the breadth of psychoanalytic concepts.

Conceptual implications.

By taking the developments of theory from this study, future research may be able to elaborate on the issues raised in the theoretical discussion section. Furthermore, one of the essential meanings produced through this study is that emerging adults use Facebook as a multifaceted space, reflecting aspects of growth and cultural immersion, as well as barriers to the elaboration of self via the collapse of potential and psychic spaces. Future studies may glean valuable information from building on this spatial framework in efforts to create a more comprehensive theoretical base of identity formation on Facebook. For instance, it would be interesting to explore the nature of unconscious communication in digital mediums, especially its impact on self-experience and meaning on identity.

Further investigations into the unconscious relationship between viewer and poster, and passivity versus activity, may help build on the relatively minimal amount of psychoanalytic theory in the literature field about individual use, development, and identity, within and amongst digital environments. Particularly, a study may use triangulation to explore the experiences of people in a relationship in this environment, by interviewing both subjects in a relational dyad, thus further elaborating on the meanings of unconscious communication and role-responsiveness. Overall, as the

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relationship between emerging adults and their technology (devices or applications) becomes more substantial, complex, and omnipresent, further theoretical explorations are imperative to adapt theory to include these monumental changes in culture.

Opportunities for future research.

This study’s interview questions revolved solely around Facebook use; however, a future study may benefit from gathering information about participants’ life and developmental history (outside of Facebook) in a way that would allow for the construction of deeper personal meanings within this context, perhaps enabling more connections to be made between developmental events and Facebook use. By gathering an in-depth report of the participants’ history, family, and development, meaningful information in this regard may help build an associated theory.

Another future study may want to include a diverse sample of participants, or a specific group, in terms of race, ethnicity, sociocultural, and economic factors. This may allow the creation of unique and disparate meaning.

Finally, based on the meaning derived from the participant experiences, it seems that most participants (4 out of 5) felt obligated to sign up for Facebook, as their social circles migrated towards the platform, leaving them very little felt choice. The other participant, although he joined on accord of his own personal motivation, now feels that he must keep it, as it represents a social necessity. Therefore, the implication is that technological determinism may be a valid and important philosophical issue for further exploration. Although this study was limited to the relationship between technology and the individual, further research may benefit from inquiring into the ways in which

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technology does indeed shape human experience and represents a perceived necessity rather than an individual movement (Ellul, 1964). The participant experiences in this study indicate that this is an issue worthy of further research.

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Appendix A Recruitment Flyer

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Appendix A Recruitment Flyer EMERGING ADULT PARTICIPANTS My name is Brendan D. Sullivan and I am a PhD candidate at The Institute for Clinical Social Work in Chicago. I am working on a dissertation as part of the requirements to earn my degree.

The dissertation is titled: “Emerging Adult Facebook-Use: A Psychoanalytic Case Study.”

Feel free to send this information to anyone who may be interested in participating.

Interested participants can text, call or email me to set up an initial phone call for a brief screening interview. Referrals can also be directly provided so long as they have expressed an interest in participating.

I am looking for 5-7 total participants who meet the criteria below.

Qualifying Criteria: Currently between the ages of 22-29 Has had an active Facebook account, open for the past 5 years Checks his/her Facebook profile on a daily basis Does not have any direct personal associations with this researcher (must be a degree of separation) Is willing and able to meet for 3-5, 60-90 minute interviews Is comfortable being audiotaped Is psychologically-minded, reflective and comfortable discussing Facebook use

Once I receive a message about a potential referral, I will contact them by phone to conduct a short screening interview (around 30 minutes) and schedule the meetings, if eligibility is met.

There are no costs to participating, besides time spent for the interviews (approximately 4-7.5 hours not including potential travel). All information will remain confidential and

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all identities will be disguised. Participants will be compensated for their time with a $10 gift card for each interview attended, received at the beginning of the interview.

You can contact me at (847) 650-7340 or bsullivan@bdspsychotherapy.com.

Thank you!

Brendan

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Appendix B Script for Brief Screening Interview

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Appendix B Script for Brief Screening Interview

After a potential participant makes contact with me and expresses interest in participating, I will call them to conduct a brief screening interview. The purpose of this call is to ensure they meet the criteria needed to participate and to assess their fit for the study. The dialogue below is the verbatim script I will use on the telephone call.

“Hello, my name is Brendan Sullivan, and I am a doctoral at the Institute for Clinical Social Work. I am completing this dissertation as part of the requirements to earn a PhD in clinical social work.

First, thank you for your interest in this research, I appreciate your willingness to participate. Before we move forward, there are a few things I need to confirm.

First, are you between the ages of 22-29?

Do you use Facebook on a daily basis?

Have you had an active Facebook account, open for the past 5 years?

Are you comfortable being audiotaped?

Are you willing to meet 3-5 times for 60-90 minutes each meeting?

Where would you like to complete the interviews? I am willing to drive to you, so long as the location provides a private place to talk. We could also meet on Skype if face to face meetings do not work for you.

Ok great! You may or may not know that I am studying how emerging adults use Facebook. Specifically, I am exploring the deeper meanings within emerging adult Facebook-use. This study will include in-depth discussions and reflections on your personal experiences with the platform.

Is there anything you feel would make you emotionally vulnerable to participating (potentially traumatic experiences directly related to Facebook use)?

Do you feel like you are able to reflect on your experiences using Facebook?

Great- you meet the criteria for participation! The next step is to plan where and when to meet so I can explain the consent process in more detail and begin the interviews.”

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Appendix C Script for Informed Consent

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Appendix C Script for Informed Consent

Once the potential participant arrives at the office, the informed consent process will begin. This process will include an explanation of the study’s purpose, the possible risks and benefits of participation as well as the length of the interviews. Primarily, participants will be made clearly aware that they will have no costs, that their information is strictly confidential and that it is their right to terminate the consent and stop the process at any time. The script located below will be read aloud to the participant.

Following this I will ask the participant their understanding of the consent. If they convey an appropriate and clear understanding, and agree, they will sign the consent to participate in the research.

“The purpose of this study is to explore how emerging adults use Facebook.

Specifically, it will explore the psychoanalytic meanings of emerging adult Facebookuse, with particular context being placed on the developmental tasks of this stage in life-including identity development. I am personally interested and motivated to study this topic because current emerging adults are the first generation to go through this stage in life while maintaining a strong relationship with a virtual environment (social media). I aim to explore how emerging adults use Facebook for various developmental and idiomatic functions. Despite copious amounts of information about gross trends in social media, there is very little known about the subjective experience of the emerging adult using social media. This research could help social workers, therapists and other mental health professionals understand and possibly better treat young adults. This research may also add theory to the literature on emerging adulthood and interactions with technology.

You will be asked to participate in 3-5, 60-90 minute interviews. I can travel to a location you suggest so long as it is quiet and respects your privacy. If this is not feasible, interviews by Skype will be permitted. You will be compensated for your time with a $10 gift card at the beginning of each interview attended. There are no other known benefits to you from this study.

Possible risks for participation in this study are not known at this time, however, may include the inconvenience related to either travel, time spent on the interviews or any negative emotional reactions to the interviews themselves. In the event that you do experience negative responses to the interviews, appropriate referrals will be provided along with a de-briefing by this researcher. Furthermore, if you experience any such negative responses you do not have to continue in the study. You have the right to stop the interviews and withdraw your participation at any time. There are no known costs to participating.

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All information shared will remain confidential. No identifying information will be included in the research and will be located in a separate, locked location from other data. The only people who have access to the raw data are myself and my committee members. The information that is shared, once complete, will be disguised as to preserve your anonymity. Audio recordings and all documents related to the study will be password protected. After the mandatory 5 year post graduation period has been met, I will personally destroy the records by shredding all paper data and deleting all electronic data.�

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Appendix D Informed Consent Form

235

236

237

238

Appendix E Demographic Questionnaire

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Appendix E Demographic Questionnaire

Study Assigned ID ______

Date ______/______/______

Name _______________________________________

DOB ______/_______/______ Age_____ Ethnicity ___________________

Gender______________

Education Level ___________________

If college graduate what was your major? ________________

What is your current profession? __________________

Marital Status:  Single  Married  Widowed  Domestic Partnership  Separated  Divorced  Common Law  Other

Do you have any children?  y  n If so, how many? ________

How long in years have you had a Facebook Profile? ___________ How did you get started using Facebook?

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On average, how many times per day do you visit Facebook? ______

Is there a particular time of day when you use Facebook most often? _____________

How many hours do you spend on Facebook per day? ____________

Where do you usually visit Facebook (home, car, work, etc)? _____________

Are you usually alone when using Facebook? __________

If no, whom are you with? _________________

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Appendix F Interview Questions

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FORM A DISSERTATION INTERVIEW GUIDE SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

RELATIONSHIP WITH FACEBOOK How would you describe your relationship with Facebook (in total)?

How did you get started using Facebook?

Who were you with? How did it feel? How old were you?

How has your Facebook use changed over time?

Where are you physically when you use Facebook most often?

Which device do you prefer to use to check Facebook?

What comes to your mind when you think about Facebook?

What at your feelings towards Facebook right now?

What is your most meaningful memory/experience using Facebook thus far?

What kind of efforts do you make to “curate” your profile?

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-How do you feel about using Facebook?

-What are your most memorable moments or experiences using Facebook thus far?

-How has it changed? Do you remember when this was, and how it came about?

-How do you use Facebook for getting to know people/others/friends/family?

-How do you envision other people perceiving you on Facebook?

-How do you want to be seen on Facebook?

What kinds of things do you post on Facebook?

When you post things, images, material on Facebook, who do you imagine the audience to be?

What are the characteristics of this audience?

How do you envision your audience to respond to your posts?

Are there certain hoped-for responses, impressions?

What do you believe are the meanings behind these motivations?

What is your experience with “liking” things on Facebook?

What is your experience with other people “liking” your shared content?

How do you interact with your family members (parents/siblings/grandparents) on Facebook?

What do you imagine, would make Facebook more useful to you?

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