Research Showcase Washington State University 2009

Methods

Our proposed method of research is to create an analog version of Facebook via a five step process of interaction. These will all, of course, be manipulated variables executed by group members without the knowledge of our interlocutors.

The first step of interaction is to formally request friendship from the interlocutor in question by using the exact phrase “will you be my friend?” Data will then be collected based on three probable outcomes to this question: yes, no, or other. The other category will contain in-direct responses to the question. Answers such as “I don’t know,” “will you be my friend? ,” or “for what reason?” will all be considered other for the purposes of our experiment.

The second step will then be to formally request a picture of the interlocutor with the exact phrase of “can I take your picture?” Responses will be categorized as yes, no, or other as with step one. Our group is anticipating a number of obvious other responses from the interlocutor in this instance. Questions such as “why?” and “what will you be using it for?” must be answered using the exact neutral phrases of “because we are friends now,” and “because I have pictures of all of my friends” respectively. Any other responses will categorized as falling into the other category.

The third step is then to offer the interlocutor a sticker via the phrase “can I give you some flair?” Responses here are labeled either yes or no, as there are no other variables to consider because only the action of acceptance or denial of the sticker is important here. 1

The fourth step is to then invite the interlocutor to a staged event. Responses are to fall into categories of yes, no, or other. As with step two, anticipated other responses are to be answered with specific responses. To the question of “what is the event for?” the group member must reply “it is a get-together with all of my friends.” Dates and times will be given to the interlocutor as necessary. 2

The fifth step is to greet our friends at the event reception. 1 Data will be logged as to how many friends were invited to the event and how many actually showed up. At this point the experiment ends, and all participants are debriefed. 4

There are a number of rules applicable to each step. If the interlocutor at any time answers with a series of two other responses, the experiment must end and all collected data must be logged. All no responses result in an instant ending of the experiment as well. All yes answers will result in the group member proceeding to the next step with the interlocutor.

Each group member is expected to interact with at least ten interlocutors over a period of four days. This will result in a data pool of 60 students. Exact data must be collected as to the number of yes, no, and other responses. This data will then subsequently be used in a number of graphs pictorially detailing the “success” rate of such an approach to social interaction. A “successful” interaction is considered a full completion of all five steps. 1

As with any sociological experiment, manipulated, responding, and constant variables are all taken into account. The manipulated variable must be considered to be the broken social frame of interaction. The responding variable is the interlocutor’s response to these actions. The constant variables are the steps of interaction, the anticipated responses, and the general rules of interaction. 1

The number of yes answers to each step out of 60 will depict how successful an approach to interaction based on the rules of Facebook is. A success rate of half or more will be considered adequate to disprove our hypothesis. It is likely that larger numbers will be seen among the early steps of the process, with a tapering success rate among the later steps. 2

Conclusions of Facelife Experiment

The Facelife project began with the question “where do we draw the boundaries between social networking websites and real life?” In other words, how far have we allowed social networking sites to permeate our daily lives? Our experiment began with the theory that the interactive framework of social networking sites have not assimilated into our analog lives to a large extent. Our results have shown this to be the case. The social framework of becoming friends with someone on the social networking sites translates from the digital world to the analog world at a 61.1% success rate, showing that although the subject may find the process to be awkward or uncomfortable, they understand what the asker is inquiring of them.

As we delve further into the social framework of social networking sites, the subjects become increasingly uncomfortable or wary of the process. When the asker requests to take a picture of the subject, the subject appears to be taken slightly aback, and they ask more questions. Clearly, people are aware of the possible ramifications associated with having a person they have just met take their picture. “What are you going to use it for?” and “Why do you need my picture?” were the two most asked questions in our experiment. The overall percentage of respondents who allowed the picture to be taken was also an indicator of this wariness.

It is clear that the social framework of sites like Facebook and MySpace have begun to impose their way into the daily lives of people. However, it is also clear that we remain a society that views the analog world as different, and the social framework that we accept as the norm in the analog world will be resistant to the intrusions of the digital world.

Results of Facelife Experiment

Our team was able to amass a study group of 54 subjects on the campus of WSUV. The experiments took place between March 15 and April 2.
• Step one of the experiment was to ask each subject the question “will you be my friend?” 61.1% or 33 of the 54 of total respondents answered in the affirmative. This caused the testers to move on to step two. 38.9% or 21 of the 54 of total respondents answered either in the negative, or with two consecutive questions of the tester, which caused the tester to end the experiment.
• Step two of the experiment was to ask each subject the question “can I take your picture?” 54.5% or 18 of the remaining 33 respondents answered in the affirmative (33.3% of total respondents). This caused the testers to move on to step three. 45.6% or 15 of the 33 respondents answered either in the negative, or with two consecutive questions of the tester, which caused the tester to end the experiment (66.7% of total respondents).
• Step three of the experiment was to ask each subject the question “can I give you some flair?” 83.3% or 15 of the remaining 18 respondents answered in the affirmative (27.8% of total respondents). This caused the testers to move on to step four. 16.7% or 3 of the 18 respondents answered either in the negative, or with two consecutive questions of the tester, which caused the tester to end the experiment (72.2% of total respondents).
• Step four of the experiment was to ask each subject to attend a staged event. 73.3% or 11 of the remaining 15 respondents answered in the affirmative (20.4% of total respondents). This caused the testers to move on to step five. 26.7% or 4 of the 15 respondents answered either in the negative, or with two consecutive questions of the tester, which caused the tester to end the experiment (79.6% of total respondents).
• Step five of the experiment is to take place on April 9th during the Research Showcase in the Firstenberg Student Commons. The remaining 11 respondents have been invited to attend the event, where we will be presenting the experiment and our findings to the academic community.
• Overall, 20.4% of total respondents successfully made it through all 4 steps of the experiment.

Facebook in Real Life Video

BBC Three Show "The Wall"

Welcome!

Blogging is an all new experience for me, so I am extremely excited to work on my first blog.

Keep checking in for updates!!