Friendship and online filtering: The use of social media to construct offline social networks

This article explores technologically integrated relationship practices among college students. Analyzing interviews of 52 participants at two very different US colleges, I explore how they construct, establish, and maintain technologically mediated social networks. This research focuses specifically on the practice of "doing homework," in which participants conduct social media investigations of potential friends and use that data to determine if a relationship continues. Findings suggest the establishment of offline relationships includes the use of social media profiles to collect social and political attitude data on potential friends. Participants report the use of such data as essential to their decision-making processes about friendship, resulting in a potential increase in social and political homogeneity within offline social networks. These findings contribute to our ongoing understanding of the role of informational echo chambers within a technologically integrated social environment.