Teoría clásica de tests

A number of different Facebook uses and activities among participants were identified. One respondent (RP10) described his involvement as: “I like to share funny stories and

the work of comedians, particularly Persian ones like Omid Djalili. This is because I like to share new things that people may not have experienced before. I use Facebook every day just as I use my email.”

Another participant (RP8) gives the following account: “I use Facebook tocheck on the status, photos and comments. Sometimes I play Farmville with my sister who also uses Facebook. I do not really play the other games, I get invited from friends to join in but I

100

would rather not, it is time consuming. Sometimes I comment on other people’s posts and ‘Like’ a post.”

Another interviewee classified himself as “just a user” because in his own words, “I

don’t really do content posting”. However, unlike the above interviewee, he did participate in commenting on friends’ posted content and actively involved himself with other Facebook pages from businesses and organisations around the world; in his own words he (RP17) stated: “I use Facebook more for myself to have a fun time and to get

information about everything really, I like to enjoy it the ways I want, seeing the other pages from other countries”.

Another participant (RP22) suggested this function for Facebook: “In Iran we don’t have

a celebrity gossip magazine with shiny pictures like those in the UK so Facebook fills this gap in a way with the difference, here ordinary people are their own celebrities, it was fun to see what everyone is doing, where they have been, I get a lot of information from Facebook about others, that I didn’t know before. I also like the other pages and get information from them, for example, there is the page I ‘Liked’ about health and I have learned very important things from it.”

This interviewee (RP22) was also involved in the management and maintenance of a Facebook page for fashion and Iranians’ celebrity gossip in the Farsi language. She stated that she was involved with three Facebook public pages, but then suggested that it was mainly one now and her own personal profile page. Interestingly, this interviewee was also rather reserved when classifying her involvement and use, as it later emerged from the participant observation phase that there were several other pages which she had previously managed as admin. She stated: “I think if it wasn’t for sharing online I

wouldn’t capture all these photos and updates, I’m not sure where all this desire to share came from, maybe it’s my ‘i’ technology (referring to her iPhone and iPad) which made it easy to share.”

A number of respondents described Facebook as a useful tool for staying connected to others. One participant (RP5) stated: “Facebook is a very useful tool for people living

overseas or far away from their community and family. For me it provides a way to be in contact regularly as it’s difficult with phone and Skype calls.” This was confirmed by

101

reason when I started using it and I checked it every day. Only when I got the iPad I started logging in every day.”

Another participant (RP7) had this perspective: “I use Facebook to update family and

friends on the ‘adventure’ of living overseas. I’m using Facebook to be in touch with my family in Iran as a family, we are living away from home in the UK where there are different expectations and lifestyles. I guess my use of Facebook is more about justifying the move to family, that by posting about the current achievements at university etc. it allows them to be a part of my day to day life.”

Facebook’s purpose was described in a similar way by this participant (RP27): “I use Facebook at home because I have a VPN installed on one computer, I don’t have it in my mobile. I have joined Facebook because my wife wanted to join, we have one account and we both use it. She wanted to see in general what my friends are up to, also to see what our friends living abroad post and how they live really, in Facebook I can see and learn more about foreign countries than if I go for holiday to those places.”

One participant commented (RP1): “I use Facebook as a communication tool. I share photographs. With Facebook, it is easier to be in touch with people you know and keeping updated with their life, this helps me keep ties very strong from a distance with friends and family back in Iran.”

As one interviewee, who was involved with several Facebook pages as both a user and page administrator, put it(RP22): “Facebook is a social tool for me to touch base with friends that live far away so I still feel like part of their lives and share photos and updates on what we are doing. I also love reading links attached by others such as music, news, events, it keeps me in touch.”

4.2.3 Digital Skills and Engagement with Audience via Information Sharing and