The Construction of the Virtual Self on MySpace

Vol.4,No.1(2010)

Abstract
Social networking Internet sites are transforming the ways youth engage with others in their social worlds. This qualitative study examines communication processes of identity construction within social interactions among emerging adults using MySpace. One-on-one interviews in front of a computer monitor were conducted with five female and five male college students who were active users of MySpace. Participants were videotaped as they gave interviewers a tour of their MySpace profile. Participants reflected on their own profiles to answer questions about online communication and self-presentation. Analysis of the interviews and the profiles was carried out to understand communication on social networking sites, focusing on how features of MySpace are used as tools to construct social identities. Results revealed three major themes: 1) Visual metaphors are employed to display and solidify connection with others. 2) Through photos, users create a visual narrative of social identities connecting past and present social selves. 3) Visual images and multimedia become integrated in the sense of self as the line between advertisement and self-promotion disappears.

Keywords:
social network sites; self-presentation; online peer interactions; identity; commercialization
Author biographies

Goldie Salimkhan

Author photoGoldie Salimkhan graduated with Psychology and Latin Honors from UCLA in 2008 and is a researcher at the Children`s Digital Media Center in Los Angeles. This article is based on the honors thesis for her B.A. degree in Psychology. She will be attending Pratt Institute's MFA program for communication design in the fall of 2010.

Adriana M. Manago

Author photoAdriana Manago is a doctoral candidate in developmental psychology at UCLA and a researcher at the Children’s Digital Media Center@Los Angeles. She studies adolescent gender and identity development and the transition into adulthood in different cultures, including in the context of social networking sites and in a Maya community in Chiapas, Mexico. She is also the first author of "Self-Presentation and Gender on MySpace" published in Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology in 2008.

Patricia M. Greenfield

Author photo Patricia Greenfield, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Psychology at UCLA and Director of the Children’s Digital Media Center @ Los Angeles, is author of Mind and Media: The Effects of Television, Video Games, and Computers (1984), subsequently translated into nine languages and released as a classic edition in 2014; coeditor of Effects of Interactive Entertainment Technologies on Development (1994); coeditor of Children, Adolescents, and the Internet: A New Field of Inquiry in Developmental Psychology (2006); coeditor of Social Networking on the Internet: Developmental Implications (2008); and co-editor of Interactive Technologies and Human Development (2012). Her empirical research on the developmental implications of interactive media has included action video games, massive multiplayer online role-playing games, teen chat rooms, social networking sites, and YouTube. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she has received the Bronfenbrenner Award for Lifetime Contribution to Developmental Psychology in the Service of Science and Society from the American Psychological Association (2010) and the Distinguished Contribution to Cultural and Contextual Factors in Child Development award from the Society for Research in Child Development (2013).
References

Acar, A. (2008). Antecedents and consequences of online social networking site behavior: The case of Facebook. Journal of website promotion, 3, 62-83.

Arnett, J. J. (2000). Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist, 55, 469-480.

Arnett, J.J. (2004). Emerging adulthood: The winding road from the late teens through the twenties. New York: Oxford University Press.

Back, M.D., Stopfer, J.M.,Vazire S., Gaddis, S., Schmukle, S.C., Egloff, B., & Gosling, S.D. (2010). Facebook profiles reflect actual personality, not self-idealization. Psychological Science, 21, 372-374.

Bargh, J.A., McKenna, K.Y.A., Fitzsimons, G.M. (2002). Can you see the real me? Activation and expression of the true self on the Internet. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 33-48.

Baumeister, R., & Tice, D. (1986). How adolescence became the struggle for self: A historical transformation of psychological development. In J. Suls & A. Greenwald (Eds.) Psychological perspectives on the self (pp. 183-201), Vol. 3, Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Baumeister, R. (1987). How the self became a problem: A psychological review of historical research. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52, 163- 176.

boyd, d. (2006). Friends, friendsters and MySpace top 8: Writing community into being on social networking sites. First Monday, 11.

boyd, d. (2007). Social network sites: Public, private, or what? Knowledge Tree, 13. Retrieved March 22, 2010, from http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au/tkt2007/?page_id=28.

boyd, d., & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1).

Buffardi, L.E., & Campbell, K.W. (2008). Narcissism and social networking web sites. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 1303-1314.

Burhmester, D., & Prager, K. (1995). Patterns and functions of self-disclosure during childhood and adolescence. In K. J. Rotenberg (Eds.), Disclosure processes in childhood and adolescence (pp. 10-56). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Clark, L. S. (2005). The constant contact generation: exploring teen friendship networks online. In S.R. Mazzarella (Ed.), Girl wide web. Girls, the Internet, and the negotiation of identity (pp. 203- 221). New York: Peter Lang Publishing.

Comscore (2010). The 2009 U.S. digital year in review: A recap of the year in digital marketing. Whitepaper downloaded on March 30, 2010 from http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/...

College Board and Art & Science Group (2009). Social networking sites and college-bound students. Student Poll, 7. Retrieved June 13, 2010, from http://professionals.collegeboard.com/data...

Cooley, C. H. (1902). Human nature and the social order. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

Derlega, V.L., Metts, S., Petronio, S., Margulis, S. T. (1993). Self-disclosure. London: Sage.

Donath, J., & Boyd, D. (2004). Public displays of connection. BT Technology Journal, 22, 71- 82.

Erickson, E. H. (1959). Identity and the life cycle. New York: Norton.

Erikson, E.H. (1968). Identity, youth and crisis. New York: Norton.

Folch-Lyon, E., & Trost, J. F. (1981). Conducting focus group sessions. Studies in Family Planning, 12, 443-449.

Goffman, E. (1959). Presentation of self in everyday life. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor Books.

Greenfield, P.M. (1993). Representational competence in shared symbol systems: Electronic media from radio to video games. In Cocking, R., & Renninger, K.A., (Eds.), The development and meaning of psychological distance (pp. 161-183). Hillsdale. N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Greenfield, P. M., Camaioni, L., Ercolani, P., Weiss, L., Lauber, B. A., & Perucchini, P. (1994). Cognitive socialization by computer games in two cultures: Inductive discovery or mastery of an iconic code? Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 15, 59-85.

Greenfield, P.M., & Subrahmanyam, K. (2003). Online discourse in a teen chat room: New codes and new modes of coherence in a visual medium. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 24, 713-738.

Greenfield, P. M., Gross, E. F., Subrahmanyam, K., Suzuki, L. K., & Tynes, B. (2006). Teens on the Internet: Interpersonal connection, identity, and information. In R. Kraut, M. Brynin & S. Kiesler (Eds.), Information technology at home (pp. 185−200). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Greenfield, P.M., & Subrahmanyam, K. (2003). Online discourse in a teen chat room: New codes and new modes of coherence in a visual medium. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 24, 713-738.

Grisso, A.D., & Weiss, D. (2005). What are gURLS talking about? Adolescent girls’ construction of sexual identity on gURL.com. In S. R. Mazzarella (Ed.), Girl wide web: Girls, the Internet, and the negotiation of identity (pp. 31–49). New York: Peter Lang Publishers.

Gross, R., Acquisti, A., & Heinz, J. H. (2005). Information revelation and privacy in online social networks. Proceedings of the 2005 ACM Workshop on Privacy in the Electronic Society (pp. 71-80). New York: ACM Press.

Grotevant, H. D. (1987). Toward a process model of identity formation. Journal of Adolescent Research, 2, 203–222.

Harter, S. (1999). The construction of the self. New York: The Guilford Press.

Ibrahim, Y. (2009). Social Networking Sites (SNS) and the 'Narcissistic Turn': The politics of self-exposure. In S. Rummler & K. B. Ng (Eds.), Collaborative technologies and applications for interactive information design: Emerging trends in user experiences (pp. 82-95.). Hershey, PA: Idea Group Inc.

Jones, H., & Soltren, J. H. (2005, December). Facebook: Threats to privacy. Retrieved March 25, 2010, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Web site: http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/ 6805/...

Kramer, N.C., & Winter, S. (2008). Impression Management 2.0. The relationship of self- esteem, extraversion, self-efficacy, and self-presentation within social networking sites. Journal of Media Psychology, 20, 106-116.

Lampe, C., Ellison, N., & Steinfield, C. (2006). A face(book) in the crowd: social searching vs. social browsing. Paper presented at the proceedings of the 2006 20th anniversary conference on computer supported cooperative work.

Lewis, K., Kaufman, J., & Christakis, N. (2008). The taste for privacy: An analysis of college student privacy settings in an online social network. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14, 79-100.

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, 339-411.

Manago, A., Graham, M., Greenfield, P., & Salimkhan, G. (2008). Self-presentation and gender on MySpace. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 446-458.

Marcia, J.E. (1966). Development and validation of ego-identity status. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 3, 551-558.

Marcia, J.E. (1980). Identity in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 159–187). New York: Wiley & Sons.

Markus, H. & Nurius, P. (1986). Possible selves. American Psychologist, 41, 954–969.

Matsuba, K.M. (2006). Searching for self and relationships online. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 9, 275-284.

McKenna, K. Y. A., & Bargh, J. A. (2000). Plan 9 from cyberspace: The implications of the Internet for personality and social psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4, 57-75.

Mead, G.H. (1934). Mind, self, and society. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Merskin, D. (2005). Making an about-face: Jammer girls and the World Wide Web. In S. R. Mazzarella (Ed.), Girl wide web: Girls, the Internet, and the negotiation of identity (pp. 51–67). New York: Peter Lang Publishers.

McAdams, D. P. (1993). The stories we live by: Personal myths and the making of the self. New York: William Morrow.

McLean, K. C., Pasupathis, M. & Pals, J. L. (2007). Selves creating stories creating selves: A process model of self-development. Personality and Psychology Review, 11, 262.

Nurmi, J. (2004). Socialization and self-development. Channeling, selection, adjustment, and reflection. In R. Lerner & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 85−124), 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Pempek, T.A., Yevdokiya, A.Y., Calvert, S. L. (2009). College students’ social networking experiences on Facebook. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30, 227-238.

Sheldon, P. (2009). "I'll poke you. You'll poke me!" Self-disclosure, social attraction, predictability and trust as important predictors of Facebook relationships. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 3, article 1.

Siibak, A. (2009). Constructing the self through the photo selection - Visual impression management on social networking websites. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 3, article 1.

Smith, J. A., & Osborn, M. (2003). Interpretive phenomenological analysis. In Smith, J. A. (Ed.), Qualitative Psychology: A practical guide to methods (pp. 51-80). London: Sage.

Stern, S. R. (1999) Adolescent girls' expression on web home pages: Spirited, somber and self- conscious sites. Convergence: The Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 5, 22-41.

Stern, S. R. (2004). Expressions of identity online: Prominent features and gender differences in adolescents’ world wide web home pages. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 48, 218-243.

Strano, M. M. (2008). User descriptions and interpretations of self-presentation through Facebook profile images. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 2, article 1.

Subrahmanyam, K., Kraut, R., Greenfield, P. M., & Gross, E. F. (2001). New forms of electronic media: The impact of interactive games and the Internet on cognition, socialization, and behavior. In D.L. Singer, & J.L. Singer (Eds.), Handbook of children and the media (pp. 73–99). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Subrahmanyam, K., Greenfield, P., Kraut, R., & Gross, E. (2001). The impact of computer use on adolescents’ development. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 22, 7-30.

Subrahmanyam, K., Reich, S., Waechter, N., & Espinoza, G. (2008). Online and offline social networks: Use of social networking sites by emerging adults. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 29, 420-433.

Thelwall, M. (2008). Social networks, gender, and friending: An analysis of MySpace member profiles. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 59, 1321-1330.

Thorne, A. (2000). Personal memory telling and personality development. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4, 45-56.

Tikhomirov, O. K. (1974). Man and computer: The impact of psychological processes on the development of psychological processes. In D. E. Olson (Ed.), Media and symbols: The forms of expression, communication, and education (pp. 357−382). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Tufekci, Z. (2008). Can you see me now? Audience and disclosure regulation in online social network sites. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 28, 20-36.

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

Twenge, J. M., Konrath, S., Foster, J. D., Campbell, W. K., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Egos inflating over time: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality, 76, 875–901.

Utz, S., & Kramer, N. (2009). The privacy paradox on social network sites revisited: The role of individual characteristics and group norms. Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace, 3, article 2.

Valkenburg, P.M., Jochen, P., & Schouten, A.P (2006). Friend networking sites and their relationship to adolescents well-being and self-esteem. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 9, 584-590.

Vie, S. (2008). Digital Divide 2.0: “Generation M” and online social networking sites in the compositional classroom. Computers and Composition, 25, 9-23.

Vybiral, Z., Smahel, D., & Divinova, R. (2004). Growing up in virtual reality: Adolescents and the Internet. In Mares, P. (Ed.) Society, reproduction and contemporary challenges (pp.169-188) . Brno, Czech Republic: Barrister & Principal. Retrieved June 13, 2010, from http://www.terapie.cz/materials/czech-adolescents-internet-2004.pdf

Walther, J.B. (1996). Computer-mediated communication: Impersonal, interpersonal, and hyperpersonal interaction. Human Communication Research, 23, 3-43.

Walther, J.B., Van Der Heide, B., Kim S. Y., Westerman, D. Tong, S.T. (2008).The role of friends’ appearance and behavior on evaluations of individuals on Facebook: Are we known by the company we keep? Human Communication Research, 34, 28-49.

Waterman, A. S. (1999). Identity, the identity statuses, and identity status development: A contemporary statement. Developmental Review, 19, 591−621.

Waterman, A.S. & Archer, S.L. (1990). A life-span perspective on identity formation: Developments in form, function and process. In: P.B. Baltes, D.L. Featherman and R. M. Lerner (Eds.), Life-span development and behavior (pp. 29-57). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

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

Metrics

7259

Views

8246

HTML views