Deborah Chambers draws on the metaphor of friendship as a strategy for exploring contemporary changes in informal social ties. She traces the shift from fixed and permanent ties of family, neighbourhood and community to fluid and transient ties typified by computer mediated communication.
Deborah Chambers draws on the metaphor of friendship as a strategy for exploring contemporary changes in informal social ties. She traces the shift from fixed and permanent ties of family, neighbourhood and community to fluid and transient ties typified by computer mediated communication.
Acknowledgements Introduction Changing Ideas about Social Ties Freedom and Choice in Personal Relationships Hegemonic Masculine Identities and Male Bonds Feminine Identities and Female Bonds The Decline and Rise of 'Community' Network Society Virtual Intimacy and Online Sociality The Politics of Social and Personal Relationships References Index