Referring to Livingstone (2008), how do people use social networking services to construct their identities, and how do social connections form part of those identities?

Personal identity can be what makes you different and unique from others, the way you define yourself, or it could be the network of values you follow. Many people have more than one identity, an online identity and a real world identity. Social networking sites are all about showing off who you are and what you do. You create a profile, add, accept or block persons, follow certain people or groups, upload pictures and videos and constantly engage in conversation.

Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook are basically virtual biographies that display a person’s created identity. It does this by exhibiting an individual’s lifestyle; their interests in music and fashion, pictures, groups and communities of interest, where they work, who they follow and who is in their social network of friends. Livingstone (2009) states “It seems that for many, creating and networking online content is becoming an integral means of managing one’s identity, lifestyle and social relations”. Livingstone (2009) mentions that the affordances of social media sites enables communication among an ever widening circle of contacts. She refers to the new generation of teens and youth that use these online social network sites as a culture. They use these sites as a place to express themselves locally and globally.

Livingstone’s study showed many different ways that peers express their personal identity using an online platform. For some, it was about what was on the page for people to view, for others it was about what was written in their interests and lifestyles pages. Some had the view that social networking sites were just a front to their identity while many relied on the online platforms to establish their positioning within their peer groups and friends.

Thomas (2007) came to the notion that identity is about the body, bodily states and desires of being, becoming, belonging and behaving. She believes that the roles we adopt across the social spheres that we inhabit, play an integral part in forming ones identity. “ Identity is characterised by aspects of self, others and community”. (Thomas 2007) The online identity we create Thomas (2007) considers to be an edited ‘shadow’ of one’s self. “ it’s me, but minus the things I don’t like about me” (Thomas 2007) The reasons social connections play such an important part in creating ones identity can be explained though the social identity theory. According to Trepte (2006) “Social identity theory focuses on the ‘groups in the individual’ and assumes that one part of the self-concept is made up of our belonging and social groups”. 

The individual will engage in social connections to assert one’s self and place in their social status. Online social networking assists in intergroup behavior by providing expansive social connections and multimedia platforms. These multimedia platforms give the individual routes to construct their social identity though creative expression and social connections.

References:

Livingstone, S, 2008. Taking Risky Opportunities in Youthful Content Creation: Teenagers’ Use of Social Networking Sites for Intimacy, Privacy and Self-Expression. New Media & Society 10(3), 393-411.

Thomas, A, 2007. Youth Online: Identity and Literacy in the Digital Age. 1st ed. New York: Peter Lang.

Trepte, S, 2006. Social Identity Theory. Psychology of entertainment, [Online]. XVI, 255-271. Available at: https://www.unihohenheim.de/fileadmin/einrichtungen/psych/Dateien/Laufende_Projekte/Social_Identity_Theory.pdf [Accessed 22 September 2013].


Images:
myspace profiles