'Social theory' provides context

The study "Presence and the Design of Trust" wants to explore the influence of technology on the social structures that evolve from integrating mediated, natural and witnessed presence in social interaction. Social interaction is a complex process. Therefore social theory as formulated by Anthony Giddens will be the context of the work presented here. The tradition of 'social theory' implies the use of a variety of sources from a variety of disciplines (Giddens 1984).