Facebook and dramauthentic identity: A post-Goffmanian theory of identity performance on SNS

First Monday ◽  
2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Wittkower

Early and persistent scholarly concerns with online identity emphasized the ways that computer–mediated communications have allowed new, inventive, and creative presentations of self, and the lack of connection between online identity and the facts of off–line life. After the ascendency and following ubiquity of Facebook, we find our online lives transformed. We have not only seen online identity reconnected to off–line life, but we have seen, through the particular structures of social networking sites, our online lives subjected to newfound pressures to unify self–presentations from various constitutive communities; pressures different from and in some ways greater than those of off–line life. After describing identity in computer–mediated communications prior to Facebook, and investigating the kinds of changed conditions brought about in social networking sites, I put forth a dramauthentic model of post–Facebook online identity. This model is comprised of three methods of exposure through multiply anchored self–presentation (mixed, agonistic, and lowest–common–denominator) and four strategies of interaction (spectacular, untidy, distributed, and minimized), each of which are employed non–exclusively and at different moments by most social networking site users.

Normas ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 168
Author(s):  
Carolina Figueras Bates

This paper presents the results of a content analysis of 1000 personal profiles posted on a pro-anorexia (pro-ana) group from the social networking site Xanga. Applying methods of computer-mediated communication discourse analysis, the visual and verbal strategies of self-presentation in pro-ana members’ profiles were examined. Competence, ingratiation, exemplification and supplication emerged as the main self-presentation strategies identified in the text-based profiles. In contrast to other online self-presentations (such as personal home pages and weblogs), new contents and meanings related to a pro-ana social identity were assigned to these strategies in the group. The analysis of the profile pictures revealed that pro-ana users of the site tended to remain visually anonymous, resorting to images of models and celebrities, and reproducing the thin ideal. Based on these findings, this study advances some conclusions about how the pro-ana identity is constructed in social networking sites.


Author(s):  
Wincharles Coker ◽  
Stephen Kwame Dadugblor

A decade ago, Susan C. Herring (2004) urged scholars to study discoursal patterns of computer-mediated communications and not simply their microlinguistic features. This chapter contributes to the literature by examining the rhetoric of visual humor on Facebook. The purpose of the study is two-fold: (a) to develop a conceptual framework for understanding uses of humor on Facebook, and (b) to show that humorous texts on this social networking site are argumentative in focus. Using ideas from Aristotelian rhetoric, Barthian semiotics, and Saidian discourse analysis, the work contends that Facebook visual humor tends to perform four main functions. They can be gubernatorial, institutional, cultural, or grotesque, and often ridicule societal problems in either overt or covert ways. The findings are useful for developing a conceptual framework for studying the complexities of human culture in digital spaces.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Zhichao Cheng ◽  
Yang Pan ◽  
Yuan Ni

We examined how orientation of self-determination affects the use of online self-presentation strategies among social networking site users. Participants were 374 young adult WeChat users (age range = 18–22 years; 166 men, 208 women) who completed the self-report measures of the General Causality Orientations Scale and the Online Interpersonal Communication Strategies Scale. The results indicated that an autonomy orientation of self-determination was positively related to the use of automatic ingratiation strategies; a controlled orientation of self-determination was the most active motivational orientation and was related to the use of the online self-presentation strategies of ingratiation, self-promotion, exemplification, and supplication; and an impersonal orientation of self-determination was primarily associated with use of the supplication strategy of self-presentation. These novel insights regarding self-determination could help to explain individual differences in online self-presentation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 4553-4570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Alice Baker ◽  
Michael James Walsh

Social networking sites are important platforms for visual self-presentation online. This article investigates how content producers present their gender identities on the social networking site, Instagram. We draw upon and develop Goffman’s analytic framework to understand the self-presentation techniques and styles users employ online. Conducting a visual content analysis of clean eating–related top posts, we examine how users deploy clean eating hashtags and how the architecture of Instagram constrains and enables certain identities around shared lifestyles and commercial interests. Our findings reveal the symbolic significance of hashtags for group membership and the degree to which gender identities on Instagram are configured around platform interfaces.


2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 418-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niels van de Ven ◽  
Aniek Bogaert ◽  
Alec Serlie ◽  
Mark J. Brandt ◽  
Jaap J.A. Denissen

Purpose Job-related social networking websites (e.g. LinkedIn) are often used in the recruitment process because the profiles contain valuable information such as education level and work experience. The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether people can accurately infer a profile owner’s self-rated personality traits based on the profile on a job-related social networking site. Design/methodology/approach In two studies, raters inferred personality traits (the Big Five and self-presentation) from LinkedIn profiles (total n=275). The authors related those inferences to self-rated personality by the profile owner to test if the inferences were accurate. Findings Using information gained from a LinkedIn profile allowed for better inferences of extraversion and self-presentation of the profile owner (r’s of 0.24-0.29). Practical implications When using a LinkedIn profile to estimate trait extraversion or self-presentation, one becomes 1.5 times as likely to actually select the person with higher trait extraversion compared to the person with lower trait extraversion. Originality/value Although prior research tested whether profiles of social networking sites (such as Facebook) can be used to accurately infer self-rated personality, this was not yet tested for job-related social networking sites (such as LinkedIn). The results indicate that profiles at job-related social networks, in spite of containing only relatively standardized information, “leak” information about the owner’s personality.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 205630511770440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Santarossa ◽  
Sarah J. Woodruff

The aim of this study was to investigate whether problematic social networking site (SNS) use (i.e., degree of dependent relationship with SNSs), total SNS time/day, total SNS friends, and specific SNS activities were related to body image (BI), self-esteem (SE), and eating disorder (ED) symptoms/concerns. A sample of young adults ( N = 147) completed an online survey which measured SNS usage, problematic SNS use, BI, SE, and ED symptom/concerns. The findings revealed that females and males spent 4.1 ± 3.9 and 2.9 ± 2.8 hr on SNS, respectively, with the majority of time spent lurking (i.e., looking at another users’ profile but not actually communicating with them). Furthermore, problematic SNS use was found to be related to BI, SE, and ED symptoms/concerns. Moreover, SNS activities, such as lurking and posting comments on others’ profiles, were found to be related to BI, whereas SNS total time was found to be related to ED symptoms/concerns. Overall, this study demonstrates the possible correlational influence of SNSs on BI, SE, and ED symptoms/concerns.


Author(s):  
Hamed Qahri-Saremi ◽  
Isaac Vaghefi ◽  
Ofir Turel

Prior studies have primarily used "variable-centered" perspectives to identify factors underlying user responses to social networking site (SNS) addiction, their predictors and outcomes. This paper extends this perspective by taking a person-centered approach to examine (1) the prototypical subpopulations (profiles) of users' extent of SNS addiction and responses to it, (2) how affiliations with these profiles can explain user behaviors toward SNS use, and (3) how personality traits can predict affiliations with these profiles. To this end, we propose a typological theory of SNS addiction and user responses to it via two empirical, personcentered studies. Study 1 draws on survey data from 188 SNS users to develop a typology of users based on the extent of their SNS addiction and their responses to it. It further examines the relations between affiliation with these profiles and users' SNS discontinuance intention, as a typical behavioral response to SNS addiction. Study 2 uses survey data from 284 SNS users to validate the user typology developed in Study 1 and investigate its relations to users' Big Five personality traits. Our findings shed light on a typology of five prototypical profiles of SNS users-cautious, regular, consonant, dissonant, and hooked-who differ in their extent of SNS addiction and their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to it. Our findings also demonstrate how Big Five personality traits can predict user affiliations with these prototypical profiles.


2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-74
Author(s):  
Franciska Krings ◽  
Irina Gioaba ◽  
Michèle Kaufmann ◽  
Sabine Sczesny ◽  
Leslie Zebrowitz

Abstract. The use of social networking sites such as LinkedIn in recruitment is ubiquitous. This practice may hold risks for older job seekers. Not having grown up using the internet and having learned how to use social media only in middle adulthood may render them less versed in online self-presentation than younger job seekers. Results of this research show some differences and many similarities between younger and older job seekers' impression management on their LinkedIn profiles. Nevertheless, independent of their impression management efforts, older job seekers received fewer job offers than younger job seekers. Only using a profile photo with a younger appearance reduced this bias. Implications for the role of job seeker age in online impression management and recruitment are discussed.


IFLA Journal ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 203-222
Author(s):  
Deirdre McGuinness ◽  
Anoush Simon

This paper explores the use of social networking sites amongst the student population of a Welsh university, with particular respect to information-sharing and privacy behaviours, and the potential impact of social networking site checks by employers on future use of these sites. A mixed-methods research design incorporating both quantitative and qualitative approaches was employed to investigate the research question. Results demonstrated that participants were concerned with maintaining privacy online, and were careful with regards to posting and protecting information on social networking sites; however, protective measures were imperfect due to human and system errors. Most respondents were aware of social networking site surveillance, with many noting that this would have an impact on their future use; however, users are active in protecting their privacy through a combination of use of privacy settings and varied levels of information disclosure dependent on context.


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Brewer ◽  
Michael Habegger ◽  
Ruby Harrington ◽  
Lindsay H. Hoffman ◽  
Philip Edward Jones ◽  
...  

AbstractVoters and political candidates increasingly use social networking sites (SNSs) such as Facebook. This study uses data from an online posttest-only experiment (N = 183) in analyzing how exposure to supportive or challenging user comments on a fictional candidate's Facebook page influenced participants’ perceptions of and willingness to vote for the candidate, as well as whether candidate replies to each type of user comments affected these outcomes. Participants who viewed a page with supportive comments and “likes” reported more favorable perceptions of and greater support for the candidate, relative to participants who viewed a page with challenging comments. Thus, the appearance of interactivity between a candidate and other users on the candidate's Facebook page can shape the responses of those viewing the page. However, exposure to candidate replies to either supportive or challenging comments did not lead to significantly more favorable perceptions or a greater likelihood of voting for the candidate.


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