Constructing Conviviality in Online Interaction

Abstract

Drawing in detail on the findings of the study, this chapter argues that online conviviality—the desire for peaceful co-existence through negotiating or ignoring difference and avoiding contentious debate—is an overarching principle for this particular type of social media encounter. This has significant implications for our understanding of how people manage their social interactions and their performance of identity in this kind of online context , and, by extension, our understanding of contemporary social relations. The results reveal that, for this ego-centred network of users at least, attitudes towards difference (in terms of opinion, attitude and ideological stance) stop short of any deep engagement with opposing political views or social practices, which indicates that in this case users’ perception of Facebook as a convivial space is unlikely to encourage the sort of mutual engagement and understanding across cultural, political and social boundaries which was imagined in the early days of the internet.