Computer Mediated Communication

I came across a reading by Zhao, Grasmuck & Martin (2008) called Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships.

http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0747563208000204

The study looks at identity constructions on Facebook, and explores the online environment. According to Zhao, Grasmuck and Martin (2008),

“As the corporeal body is detached from social encounters in the online environment, it becomes possible for individuals to interact with one another on the Internet in fully disembodied text mode that reveals nothing about their physical characteristics.”

An important characteristic of this emergent mode of identity production is the tendency for people to play-act at being someone else or to put on different online personae that differ from their "real life” identities (Stone, 1996; Turkle, 1995). They use the example of,

“in the online world, a man can pretend to be a woman, a nerd to be a star athlete, and an introvert to be an extrovert.”

The control users have over the privacy settings of their accounts enables them to separate their Facebook pages into many "back” and "front” regions (Goffman, 1959). This allows them to stage different identities for different audiences.

The topic on mediated identity was of great interest to me as it is sparking public concern in the world of Facebook and other forms of CMC. It is interesting to see first-hand how people manipulate their identities through CMC  like Facebook with the intention of creating a “socially desirable self”.

I agree with Zhao, Grasmuck & Martin (2008), “identities are what we convince others to think of us as; it matters not whether that happens online or offline, or whether they are anti-normative or socially desirable.”

Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday.

Stone, A. A. (1996). The war of desire and technology at the close of the mechanical age. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Turkle, S. (1995). Life on the screen: Identity in the age of the Internet. New York: Simon & Schuster.

Zhao, S., Grasmuch, S., & Martin, J. (2008). Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships. Computers in Human Behavior, 24, 1816–1836.