Identity construction on Facebook: The use of implicit and explicit strategies

In this blog post, I reflect on my own online persona. We all know that the online world is not monolithic. As such, self-representations in the Internet vary greatly depending on the purpose of joining a platform and its audiences. Although I have profiles across several networking platforms, including professional sites, such as Linked In, I restrict my analysis to issues on identity construction in Face book—the most popular online social networking site. First, I discuss scholarly views on online identity construction in general, and that on Face book in particular. Next, I discuss the implicit and explicit strategies that I use for the development and maintenance of my own online persona.

Communication scholar, Alice Marwick, argues that our identity is a combination of three components: “… subjectivity (how we think of ourselves), representation (how different facets of identity are depicted in culture and media), and self-presentation (how we present ourselves to others)” (Marwick 2013, p. 355). Regarding subjectivity, I would describe myself as a woman, a mother of two youngsters, or a Muslim, who more than anything else, has a passionate love for mankind. To what extent, however, my online identity represents my ‘true self’ (i.e., who I ‘really’ am) and my ‘ideal self’ (i.e., the possible-self that I hope for)? This is the key question related to identity construction of any sort (Markus and Nurius 1986, p. 954)—be it online or localised. As Poletti and Rak (2014, p. 5) have argued, it is the ‘internet affordance’—the way a relationship between a human agent and her or his online environment is expressed—determines how that agent will behave and share personal information in social networks, such as Face book.

Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and his fellow students of Harvard College, Face book quickly emerged as the most popular social networking site in the United States and gradually, all over the world (Cassidy, 2006). Zhao, Grasmuk, and Martin (2008, p. 1824) identify three modes of identity construction on Face book: implicit, quasi-explicit, and explicit. Figure 1 summarises these modes. The implicit mode involves visual representation of the self. It involves the display of photos and pictures uploaded by the users themselves, and the pictures uploaded by others in their wall posts. This visual projection can be thought of as a strategy of “showing without telling” the audience about the depth of one’s social ties (Zhao et al. 2008, p. 1825). In the quasi-explicit mode of self-representation, Face book users engage in ‘enumerative cultural self-description’ by listing a set of cultural events that they believe define them through providing information on their hobbies and personal interests. For example, by providing information on the cultural events attended, the movies watched, or the books read, an individual signals her or his precise cultural taste. This approach is more explicit than posting photos, but still indirect, similar to saying that “see what I like/do/read/listen to” (Zhao et al. 2008, pp. 1825-1826). The explicit mode involves verbal descriptions of the self. In this mode, individuals provide narratives by writing in their own wall posts, and making comments on others’ posts. Poletti and Rak (2014, p. 8) emphasise that such narratives—as “presentation of information in a sequence of events”— directly introduce a person to the audience.

Figure 1: Modes of identity construction on Face book

Source: Zhao, Grasmuk, and Martin (2008, p. 1824)

I joined Face book in 2008. Since then I have been involved in relationships with 339 individuals. Some of them are friends and acquaintances whom I know in person; I use this platform to maintain close connections with them. However, I do not know many of my Face book friends in person. I developed intimate relationships with them to extend my social network. I use all the three modes, discussed above, to reveal my identity online. So far, I created 60 albums in Face book with more than 500 photos. These photos represent myself as a ‘social actor’ as most of them depict myself in context of my friends and neighbours. I frequently post information on the cultural events I attend in Melbourne. For example, I celebrated the Bengali New Year on the 14th of April, and posted colourful photos and videos on Face book, which was a great opportunity to describe my cultural taste in the social media. On the Valentine’s Day this year, I posted my poetry in Bengali, which drew attention of my Face book friends. However, on a continuum of identity construction modes, I prefer the most implicit mode of ‘showing rather than telling’, followed by revealing cultural preferences, and finally the minimum use of ‘about me’—type statements. This is consistent with what Zhao et al. (2008, p. 1826) found in a sample of 63 Face book of different age and socio-cultural background. As such, similar to most other users, I use Face book for selective, and more implicit rather than implicit, self-presentation. I have created a slide-share that summarises the process of my online identity construction. I also tweeted in my twitter account to update my fellow colleagues about this blogpost.

Screenshot of a video clip posted on Face book while celebrating the Bengali New Year

My Bengali poetry posted on Face book on the Valentine’s Day, 2018

Smith and Watson (2014, p. 74) have argued that online interactions are substantially influenced by the nature of the audiences. After all, we all are known by the company we keep. As such, I pay attention to the visual and verbal rhetoric that are deployed to engage the desired audiences. I carefully avoid rhetoric, which may create negative representations of my peers and acquaintances, and thus lower my self-esteem in the online community. Particularly, being a Muslim, I am aware of the negative image of my religious community. I take conscious steps to reveal myself as a secular person, who respects harmony, cultural integrity, and peaceful co-existence. I do not accept friend request from known or unknown individuals who might have implicitly or explicitly encouraged communal violence and extremism. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I have a passionate love for mankind, and I devote my attention and efforts to create an online persona that reveals my true-self.

References

Markus, H and Nurius, P 1986 ‘Possible selves’, American psychologist, vol. 41, no. 9, p.954.

Marwick, A 2013 ‘Online Identity’, in J Hartley, J Burgess & A Bruns (eds), Companion to New Media Dynamics. Blackwell Companions to Cultural Studies. Malden, MA: Blackwell, pp. 355-364

Poletti, A and Rak, J 2014, ‘Introduction Digital Dialogues’, in A Poletti & J Rak (eds), Identity technologies: Constructing the self online. University of Wisconsin Pres, pp. 3-22.

Smith, S and Watson, J 2014, ‘Virtual Me A Toolbox about Online Self-Presentation’, in A Poletti & J Rak (eds), Identity technologies: Constructing the self online. University of Wisconsin Pres, pp. 70-95.

Zhao, S, Grasmuck, S and Martin, J 2008, ‘Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships’, Computers in human behavior, vol. 24, no. 5, pp.1816-1836.