Face-work on Social Media: The Presentation of Self on Renren and Facebook
This paper examines how the characteristics of interactional venues of social media and the Chinese “face” culture influence self-presentation on different types of social media. In-depth interviews have been conducted with 45 mainland Chinese students who are studying in Hong Kong and online observations are carried out. The findings reveal that while the students use both Renren and Facebook, they are much more frequently and intensely engaged with the former. Although Renren and Facebook are similar in terms of technical settings, the students present themselves in very different ways. The strategies of self-presentation are based on the careful determination of perceived relative status, both that of themselves and the other parties involved. Many have found that the best way to claim face on Renren is to maintain a low profile and align their emotions and actions with those of Hong Kong and mainland China students, while on Facebook, they maintain a relatively high profile to compete with international students. This study contributes to the literature by showing that self-presentation on social media is shaped by both the technical affordance and local culture of interpersonal relations (in this case, the Chinese “face” culture).