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Dissertation Information for Lori Sue Kendall

NAME:
- Lori Sue Kendall

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Sociology

SCHOOL:
- University of California, Davis (USA) (1998)

ADVISORS:
- None

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- None

MPACT Status: Incomplete - Not_Inspected

Title: Hanging out in the virtual pub: Identity, masculinities, and relationships online

Abstract: In this ethnography of an online text-based social hangout known as "BlueSky" (a pseudonym) I begin by familiarizing the reader with a type of online forum known as "muds" (of which BlueSky is an example). I then discuss the demographics of BlueSky participants, pointing out in particular the ways in which a middle-class background facilitates online participation. People on text-based forums must deal with the potential identity ambiguities inherent in the absence of social cues such as facial features, gestures, and tone of voice. Because of these ambiguities, online groups can be vulnerable to disruption by hostile outsiders. I discuss some of the BlueSky participants' strategies for dealing with potential identity ambiguity and social disruption and examine the close relationships which they have successfully maintained for several years through various life changes. I look at the benefits they derive from their online connections, including assistance with work and employment problems as well as emotional and personal support. I also examine issues of identity performance online. Previous research suggests that online identity performance can significantly change people's experiences of offline identity and their understandings of the constructedness of identity. However, in contrast to such accounts, I argue that online participants bring offline understandings of identity to their online identity performances (and to their perceptions of others' performances) and therefore often perpetuate hierarchical relationships based on identity. I give examples of participants engaging in online identity "masquerades," and demonstrate ways in which they cordon off such identity play from understandings of their own identities. While some people of color and women participants benefit from their participation on BlueSky, the limited demographics of BlueSky and other similar venues suggests that such online forums may serve as little more than exclusive enclaves for the relatively privileged.

MPACT Scores for Lori Sue Kendall

A = 1
C = 3
A+C = 4
T = 1
G = 1
W = 1
TD = 1
TA = 0
calculated 2012-07-30 12:45:38

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