Final answer:
The statement linking the liminal digital self specifically to the use of social media for maintaining or developing relationships is false. Social media impacts self-identity and social relationships broadly, including both strengthening existing ties and forming new ones.
Step-by-step explanation:
False. The statement 'According to Thomas, Orme, and Karrigan (2020), the liminal digital self is the distinction between using social media to maintain existing relationships and using it to develop new ones' is not an accurate reflection of what the liminal digital self concept entails. The liminal digital self is a term that can be used to describe how people manage their identities and personal boundaries within digital spaces, but it is not specifically about the distinction between maintaining existing relationships versus developing new ones. The use of social media and digital technologies indeed affects how we present ourselves online and how we form and maintain social ties, which can include both existing friendships and the creation of new ones.
Sociological studies suggest that social media platforms like Fb are used not only to keep in touch with existing friends but also to explore and establish new connections, defining one's social identity and even participating in high-risk activism. The concept of 'weak ties' and 'strong ties' in social movements, mentioned by scholars such as McAdam and Brown, explains how social media can both facilitate broad networks of acquaintances and, in certain circumstances, help strengthen these connections into more substantial relationships.
Moreover, scholars like Miller have theorized that smartphones and digital devices act as personal avatars expressing and enacting the user's specific social identity. Digital sociality encapsulates how these tools are changing the structure and dynamics of our social interactions, friendships, romantic relationships, conflict management, self-identity, and group affiliations in the digital era.