claudia nir identity construction on facebook

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Identity construction on Facebook

Claudia Nir

BA (hons) in Photography 2012


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The Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire

School of Creative Arts

Identity Construction on Facebook

By

Claudia Nir

Supervisor: Dr. Justin Carville

Submitted to the Department of Art & Design in Candidacy for the Bachelor of

Arts Honours Degree in Photography, 2012


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Declaration of Originality

This dissertation is submitted by the undersigned to the Institute of

Art, Design & and Technology, Dun Laoghaire in partial fulfillment of

the examination for the BA (hons) in Photography. It is entirely the

authors own work except where noted and has not been submitted

for an award from this or any other educational institution.

Signed:_________________

Claudia Nir

Student Number: N00082850


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Abstract

The social networking site Facebookhas significantly impacted our daily livesand subsequently how we interact with one another and the world around us.Even people who are not actively using Facebookcannot avoid noticing itseveryday presence. Whether it is through an article in a Newspaper orMagazine, on a companys websites or whether it appears in a televisionadvertisement, the social networking site has permeated our culture. Despite thefact that Facebookstarted out only connecting student networks, the site hasbeen rapidly adopted by people worldwide as a communication tool and a newway of socializing. Photographs are a major component of how Facebookfunctions as people are choosing this social networking site as the preferredlocation for their consumption and dissemination of images. Moreover theportability of communication technology has given rise to an immediacy ofinformation and images whereby photographs are readily available at any timeand thus facilitate new ways of visual communication.

Examining the use of photography as a common form of identification ineveryday life, this thesis traces the role of the photographic image in identityconstruction to investigate its function on Facebook. This thesis discussestheories of identity construction, cultural identity and identity performance as aframework through which to investigate how Facebookusers utilize the profileimage to represent themselves on the site. An open-ended qualitative surveywas carried out to further identify themes and trends of why users choosecertain images over others as their profile image.


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Acknowledgements

This thesis is the result of encouragement, trust, and inspiration from many

people, several of whom have accompanied me through the four years of my

degree course. First and foremost sincere gratitude must go to my supervisorDr. Justin Carville for his support, advice, patience and encouragement

throughout the course of this research. I would also like to thank the staff in the

School of Creative Arts, IADT, Dun Laoghaire, especially Daniel de Chenu, Mark

Curran, David Farrell, Ian Mitton, Adrian Reilly, Jamie Maxwell and Anson

Cording for sharing their experience, providing me with insightful knowledge and

greatly influenced my thinking about photography. A thank you is also reserved

for the staff at the IADT library for their relentless assistance when so frequently

called upon throughout this process.

I wish to extend direct thanks to all the people, for their time and effortdedicated to filling in my thesis research survey. A special mention goes to

Alison Baker Kerrigan, who became a firm friend during my four years in college.

She has been both encouraging and inspiring throughout the years and I greatly

value our endless conversations concerning photography. Giorgia Pistoia also

deserves a separate accolade for her continuous encouragement day after day,

as she became my virtual flat mate during the last months of writing. Sincere

thanks also go to Miriam OConnor for her consistent encouragement throughout

this process and to all those friends who inquired on my progress during the

research phase of my studies. They all played an important part in getting me

here. Finally and most importantly I warmly thank my mother for heruninterrupted reassurance displayed on a daily basis. I am immensely grateful

for her support, her undivided believe in me and her incredible friendship.


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Contents

Abstract 1

Acknowledgements 2

Contents 3

List of Illustrations 4

Introduction 5

Chapter I: Literature Review 8

Chapter II: Ill see you on Facebook; Digitizing Identity 18

Chapter III: Tell me about your profile pic 31

Conclusion 39

Appendix 1: Survey Statement 42

Appendix 2: FacebookProfile Image Survey Summary 43

Bibliography 162


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List of Illustrations

Fig. 1http://laughing-trip.blogspot.com/, retrieved November 15, 2011

Fig. 2 http://bit.ly/rrRwzh, Accessed June 2, 2011

Fig. 3 Sample of a German Identity card

Fig. 4 Screenshot of a Facebookprofile page demonstrating the sign-up process

on Facebook, www.Facebook.com, created January 2, 2012

Fig. 5 Screenshot ofFacebookprofile page

www.Facebook.com/chrissie.schneider, created January 2, 2012

Fig. 6 The Guardian, [www], Photographer Clare Gallahers best photo,

Wednesday, February 8, 2012, http://bit.ly/zo3ZAe, Accessed February 8, 2012

Fig. 7 Screenshot, CBS News [www], http://bit.ly/dk01EN, Accessed February 8,

2012

Fig. 8, Screenshot, CBS News [www], http://bit.ly/dk01EN, Accessed February

8, 2012


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Introduction

Ever changing technological advances throughout history have changed the way

we communicate, and have substantially affected the way we socialize and

interact and, by extension, the way we maintain relationships. I am part of a

generation that still remembers floppy discs, cassettes and vinyl records and I

have fond memories of listening to music on my Sony Walkman. I also

remember the day when I opened my first e-mail account in order to keep in

touch with a friend who had moved away. Now multifunctional technologies are

combining internet access with the mobile phone, camera functions, music

players and global positioning devices. It is as easy to access the internet from

your phone as it is to take pictures with it. These new communication tools havebecome an integral part of our social lives and it is difficult to imagine how we

would cope without them.

In our fast paced environment the social networking site Facebookfacilitates

easier and more efficient communication with many people at the same time, by

connecting multiple audiences through one platform, ultimately enabling

fundamentally new forms of interaction. Facebooks popularity is reflected in the

changes made to new technologies, to accommodate an even easier access to

the site. Most mobile phones have incorporated direct links to the Facebooksite

into their software and nearly every company website on the internet has a so

called Facebookconnect button whereby Facebookmembers can share their

interests, likes and activities with the people they are connected with through

Facebook. Many internet services even give users the option to sign in with their

Facebookuser login. These are some examples that show how Facebookhas

permeated our daily lives. What started out as a platform to connect students on

college campuses, has now become a major communication tool and a new way

of socializing for people worldwide. In fact, Facebookhas become so big that if

compared to a country in relation to the amount of people using the service, it

would be the third largest country in the world, with currently over 800 million

active users. Photographs are a major element of how Facebookfunctions, as


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people are choosing Facebookas their preferred site for their consumption and

dissemination of images. Moreover, every action people perform on Facebook

or on other internet sites that are connected through Facebook, whether it is

sending a message, making a comment or simply reading an article online, is

always accompanied by the profile image the user chooses and the users

name. The image that people choose to represent themselves on Facebook

thereby becomes hugely important because it is seen as a representation of the

users identity.

Fig.1

The image above (Fig. 1) suggests that people present a version of themselves

on Facebookthat does not match their realistic self. Moreover, it gives some

indication to how accustomed we have become to the idea that a person is

adequately summarized in an image. However, identity a persons identity is

much more complex and is influenced by many contributing external factors that

will be discussed further within this thesis.


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When I first signed up to FacebookI simply used it to stay in touch with friends

after I had moved away from home to a different country. Initially, I had little

interest in getting deeply involved and the profile image did not have a huge

importance to me. It was only when I started to make professional contacts that I

was conscious of who I connected with and intuitively changed my profile image

to a more generic one.This experience made me much more conscientious of

how I represent myself on Facebookthrough the profile image and certainly

raised my awareness of having an audience following my performance and

potentially making judgments about my visual representation. This prompted my

interest to explore the role of identity construction and performance on

Facebookwith particular focus on how Facebookusers utilize the profile image

to represent themselves. By identity performance I simply mean a presentation

of self, reflecting the view that identity is not stable or singular, but rather shifts

and changes based on social context. This term is also used by Erving Goffman

as a dramaturgical metaphor to describe how people interact with each other in

everyday life and will be further elaborated on throughout the following chapters.

Chapter one of this thesis, lays out the theoretical framework for the study of

identity construction, drawing on symbolic interaction, especially focusing on the

works of Erving Goffman, Stuart Hall and Katherine Woodward. Furthermore I

broadly introduce the reader to the influences photographys discourse has on

our perception of identity. In Chapter two I contextualize Facebook, describing

the general format of the site and providing the basic information regarding what

the site is and how it works as a prelude to moving into further theoretical

discussions. Chapter three presents the findings of an open-ended qualitative

survey about the choices Facebookusers make when they choose a profile

image. With the study I attempt to identity themes and trends guiding Facebookusers choices of representation through the profile image and the meanings

invested in these identity performances. Many of the issues and themes

established in the previous chapters are recapitulated and discuss the findings

in relation to the relevant literature.


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Chapter I: Literature Review

Photographic documents are central to our culture and there are a variety of

ways in which photography is used in social relations. Photographic images of

ourselves are used in passports, library cards, student travel cards and other

forms of identification, in which the status and agency of our photographic

selves are continually verified. In this way photographs, as physical evidence, fix

the subject in the tangible world and evoke a verification of the imminent and

concrete individual. Having an identity is a tangible asset, with which we are

able to purchase goods and services, travel and enjoy civil rights. These forms

of identification are also used by the authorities when they interact with us and it

is this aspect of photography as a true document that allows the admittance ofphotographs as evidence in courts of law.

For instance, when a photograph is introduced as documentary evidence in a

courtroom, it is often presented as if it were incontrovertible proof that an eventtook place in a particular way. As such, it is perceived to speak the truth.1

Society did not automatically believe photographs to be realistic, but people

began to talk about them in those terms as if they were, subsequently

developing a discourse around the photograph, which claimed that it portrayed

reality. As David Green states:

The belief in the objectivity of the photographic process was the prerequisite to

photographys eventual success, but this was also dependent upon a series of

discursive and technical transformations which resulted from a unique

conjuncture of the natural and social sciences.2

Green shows that the idea of realism is something that is historically constructed

and has been placed alongside and within the readings of photographs.

1Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, Practices of Looking, An Introduction to Visual Culture,

Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 17

2David Green, Veins of Resemblance: Photography and Eugenics, Oxford Art Journal, Vol. 7,

No. 2, Photography (1984), pp. 3-16 (p.6)


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The predetermined element of photography is something that is never

questioned culturally.

Photographs have become an integral part of our everyday life and are a key

element in many social practices, from birthdays, holidays and weddings to

custom checks, providing proof of existence, experiences and relationships for

ourselves and for others. The photograph creates a physical relationship

between the thing photographed and the resulting image, whereby it relates

more to the sense of presence than realism. It testifies to the beingor existence

of something that was once before the camera.3 While this indexical quality of

the photograph is an element of how we form our beliefs in photographys

realism, it is more related to what we feel and value, whether realistic or not, it is

this belief that something exists and does or did exists, because it has been

before the lens. Together with the tangibility of the photograph this notion of the

indexicality of photography is a powerful combination; we hold, touch and feel

photographs, we carry them around in our wallets, they are circulated and

consumed within a given set of social relations; pieces of paper that changed

hands, found a use, a meaning and a value, in certain social rituals.4 It is

exactly this material mediation of the photograph which is significant, because

materiality precisely emphasizes the relational qualities of photographs in a

social context.5 The photograph thereby becomes a socially interactive medium

through physical engagement.

Even though these images are made for a very specific viewer and not meant

for a general audience, they are however intertwined and influenced by a wider

3Martin Lister, Photography in the age of electronic imaging, in Liz Wells (ed.), Photography: A

Critical Introduction, Oxon, Routledge, 2004, p.331

4John Tagg, The Burden of Representation, Essays on Photographies and Histories, Palgrave

McMillan, 1988, p. 164

5Elizabeth Edwards, Thinking photography beyond the visual, in J.J. Long, Andrea Noble and

Edward Welch (eds.), Photography, Theoretical Snapshots, Oxon, Routledge, 2009, p. 33


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cultural history.6 As Martin Lister reminds us, photographic images are

imbedded and contexted in other signifying systems [].7 This means that the

photograph can change its meaning, depending on the context it is viewed in.

The photograph thereby is not free standing as Lister points out, but is a small

element in a history of image production and a contemporary image world.8 It

is the basis of photographys intertextuality, whereby the photographic image

gains meaning by a continual borrowing and cross-referencing of meanings

between images.9

Taking this into consideration, it means that conceptions of identity are also

subject to historical or cultural change, depending on peoples experiences,

which could lead to a modification or reconstruction of identity, making the

production of identity a continuous process. Moreover it links cultural identity to

the development of personal identity as Stuart Hall outlines, Culture is about

feelings, attachments and emotions as well as concepts and ideas.10 Culture

and identity are therefore unavoidably linked, whereby culture provides the

framework for identity, creating groups and associations that might otherwise not

exist. From birth culture surrounds us, through the language spoken, the

traditions celebrated, the food eaten and the religion practiced. Therefore culture

is not something chosen by an individual, but rather something into which the

individual is born into, relying on heritage, nationality and cultural surroundings

in which one is raised. Furthermore culture is also defined by groups which are

formed by friendship, organizations, and common interests.

6Patricia Holland, History, Memory and the Family Album in Patricia Holland and Jo Spence

(eds.), Family snaps: the meanings of domestic photography, London, Virago, 1991

7Op.cit., Lister, Photography in the age of electronic imaging, p.320

8Ibid., Lister, Photography in the age of electronic imaging, p.320

9Ibid., Lister, Photography in the age of electronic imaging, p.320

10Stuart Hall, Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, Thousand

Oaks, Sage, 1997, p. 2


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Hall defines cultural identity,

in terms of one, shared culture, a sort of collective one true self, hiding inside

the many other, more superficial or artificially imposed selves, which people

with a shared history and ancestry hold in common.11

Hall further outlines, Within the terms of this definition, our cultural identities

reflect the common historical experiences and shared cultural codes12 .This

definition allows for an individual to identify with multiple groups on several

levels, including groups related to nationality and heritage as well as smaller sub

groups, that are associated with the individual interests, including for example

photographers or musicians. The presentation of these various components of

ones identity can be described as an exhibition of culture. As Hall explains,exhibitions are discrete events which articulate objects, texts, visual

representations, reconstructions and sounds to create an intricate and bounded

representational system. 13 Key elements of exhibition include clothing, jewelry,

food, and so on, which are providing a direct connection to the culture and often

sub culture, with which one identifies.

Kathryn Woodwards sociological model explores how identities are constructed

through representation. She argues that representation works symbolically to

classify the world and our relationships within it, suggesting that representation

in form of language, symbols and images is an essential part of the process by

which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture. This

positions the individual in relation to other people or images, which are changing

depending on different meanings produced by different symbolic systems.

Consequently, we are constantly conceptualizing identity against this

imaginative concept of identity that we project out, informed through text,11Stuart Hall, Cultural Identity and Diaspora, in Jana Evans Braziel and Anita Mannur (eds.),

Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader, Oxford, Blackwell, 2003, p. 223

12Ibid., p. 168

13Ibid., p.168


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discourse and visual representation, in order to reinforce our own. This is how

we manage to negotiate the world around us. These symbolic interactions

illustrate that people act and interpret objects and events because of the

meaning they possess and in turn generate meaning through social interactions.

This suggests that the sense of self is not inherent and therefore not fixed, as

opposed to the essentialists understanding of the concept of identity theory, but

rather gained from the perception of societys evaluation.

Even though it seems there is some essential core to identity, marking out one

group, it is also subject to the connection of political and cultural discourses and

particular histories, which are produced at certain points in time, suggesting that

identity is not fixed and therefore results in a constant shift and change in apersons identity. As cultural theorist Stuart Hall states, we should think of

identity as a production, which is never complete, always in process, and

always constituted within, not outside, representation.14 He does not reject the

idea that identity has a past with a shared history and culture, but argues that by

recovering the past, we reconstruct it and therefore undergoes constant

transformation.15 Hall further points out that the subject always speaks from a

particular historical or cultural position. Woodward describes this as a contingent

identity, outlining that it is a product of an intersection of different components,

of political and cultural discourses and particular histories.16 Since identity

seems to be depending on social and cultural influences, community plays an

important part in its development as relationships further serve to define cultural

identity. By choosing to associate with members of a particular culture, one

effectively aligns themselves with that culture and in turn adapts elements of that

culture, whether consciously or subconsciously. Drawing from sociologist Erving

14Stuart Hall, Cultural identity and Diaspora, in Kathryn Woodward (ed.), Identity and Difference,

London, Sage, 1997, p. 51

15Kathryn Woodward, Concepts of Identity and Difference, in Kathryn Woodward (ed.), Identity

and Difference, London, Sage, 1997, p. 21

16Ibid.,p.28


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Goffmans theory of the self, this suggests that one cannot perform identity

without an audience, as the individual is automatically influenced by the

structures of society. Goffman differentiates between front stage and

backstage identity performance. Front stage performances, in Goffmans

analysis, consist of scenarios in which a face is presented publicly, such as a

waiter working in restaurant serving customers, while backstage performances

take place in private spaces reserved for group members, such as the

restaurant kitchen.17 This relates to having multiple identities as we have to deal

and face a multitude of different situations in everyday life. We might be a

student, a mother, a teacher, a believer, a sportsperson and so on, which we

exchange according to the situation or environment we are in. Students for

example might present a front stage identity in class, but present a backstage

identity while hanging out with other students afterwards. We therefore perform

different roles in different settings and before different audiences. Thus a

performer tries to segregate his audience so that the individuals who witness

him on one of his roles will not be individuals who witness him in another of his

roles.18 This requires caution by the performer as the audience is always trying

to evaluate the sincerity of a performance, accepting all signs but possibly

misreading them.19 Consequently a performance serves to influence the

audience who is taking part in this performance, which implies that identity

cannot just be claimed or expected to be pre-existing, but rather must be

established by performing in a given situation. As a result, identity is created

through performance rather than performance being a result of identity. As

Goffman suggests, the shape a performance takes on, is socialized, molded,

and modified to fit into the understanding and expectations of the society in

which it is presented.20 Hence, when an individual presents himself to others,

17Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, New York, Anchor Books, 1959

18Ibid., p. 137

19Ibid., p. 58

20Ibid., p. 35


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his performance will reflect and incorporate societys values and expectations,

often avoiding or trying to hide actions that are inconsistent with societys

standards, while accentuating actions that are in keeping with those standards.

These theories support Halls cultural theory of identity as a continuous process

and a production whereby we are creating, refining and shaping our identity

constantly. While sociologist Anthony Giddens agrees that the self is made and

continuously worked and reflected on, he argues it does so by constructing a set

of biographical narratives. He believes that a persons identity is not found in

the reaction of others or in a persons behavior, but rather is an individuals

biography, integrating life events into an ongoing story about the self.21 A

similar theory is formulated by psychologist Dan McAdams with his life-story

model of identity whereby he proposes that identity is a life story which

individuals begin constructing, consciously and unconsciously, in late

adolescence. As such, identities may be understood in terms directly relevant to

stories.22

This suggests that we narrate our past in such a way as to confirm our identity

and thereby become the author and topic of this story, which makes us an

authority on our past.23 While I believe that photographs can represent part of

our life story I would argue that it is also a very subjective and fragmented life

story as the immediate question is raised of whose memories they are?

Photographs presented in the family album for example are informed and

influenced by the social environment and culture. Historically women have been

the keepers of the family album as they were the ones who decided what went

21 David Gauntlett, Giddens, Modernity and Self-Identity, in David Gauntlett, Media, Gender and

Identity: An Introduction, London, Routledge, 2008

22D.P. Mc Adams, Power, intimacy, and the life story: Personological inquiries into identity, New

York, Guilford Press, p. 57

23Celia Lury, Prosthetic culture: Photography, memory and identity, London, Routledge, 1998,

p.8


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into the family album or what pictures were framed and displayed. 24 Even

though a family album contains a wealth of information about hopes, values,

traditions and tastes in addition to specific evidence of the life story, it also

represents family life from a particular perspective as images are specifically

selected and arranged by one person. As Liz Wells states, an event or set of

circumstances, may have been experienced differently by different family

participant (or groups of friends), so the photographs as token may provoke

diverse recollections.25 This very much contradicts Giddens belief that a

persons identity is not influenced by others as it completely ignores that identity

is continually verified and constructed through representation. Goffman uses

the term performance to refer to all the activity of a given participant on a given

occasion which serves to influence in any way any of the other participants. 26

This means that people consciously and unconsciously define the way they are

perceived through emphasizing certain characteristics, such as the type of

coffee they drink, their hairstyle, through dress, behavior, speech and so on,

while purposely hiding other characteristics that could be perceived as flawed.

Even though our identities are all individual experiences they still adapt to a

wider template. Our passport photograph and personal information is pretty

much the same all over the world. We are growing up fitting into these

templates. Even the family photo album, though personal to each family is in a

way interchangeable when looking through the events. There are birthdays,

weddings, holidays, and so on, which are all part of the cultural template. What

differentiates us in our construct of identity is our performances as described in

Goffmans theory. In an online environment however, unlike Goffmans example

of the front stage and back stage performance, we are addressing multiple

audiences at once, which complicates relationships and while we are still24Liz Wells, Image and identity, Introduction in Liz Wells (ed.), The Photography Reader,

Routledge, Oxon, 2003, p. 376

25Ibid., p. 376

26Op.cit., Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self., p. 15


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performing an identity it is a networked presentation of ourselves. By selecting a

certain image over another the performance is mediated, trying to cater for

multiple audiences, as opposed to performing for a specific audience. In an

online environment people are able to select only information that present a

desired image, therefore presenting a highly selective version of themselves.

While it becomes easier through the rise of social networking sites such as

Facebookto maintain a variety of social ties, it simultaneously engages the

users in interpersonal and mass communication by presenting themselves to an

audience that is partly known and partly invisible or imagined. Therefore identity

exploration online involves explicit identity construction in order to present

oneself to a variety of interconnected audiences.

The sheer size ofFacebookand the possibility that anyone can view your

profile, how we present ourselves and how we construct our identity becomes

extremely important. There are both similarities and differences between the

way we represent or perform in front of others in an online environment and the

material world. While we are being identified in the physical world by the clothes

we wear, hair, behavior and speech, online we are also identified by how we

present ourselves visually. Although the virtual and the physical world containsimilar modes of performance and self-presentation, the information we share

online is much more self-controlled and self-constructed. The photograph itself,

which in the physical world is valued as a form of identification, looked at in a

photo album or carried as a personal possession in the wallet, becomes an

immaterial phenomenon, digital information, data code.

While the way we manage and perform the self is by no means a new trend as

Goffmans and other theories show, through the digitization of photography and

new emerging technologies, like the camera phone, taking photographs is

increasingly becoming a tool for not only an individuals identity formation, but

also a form of instant communication, opening up new ways of constructing

identity. Self-created, carefully chosen and edited images act as a stand-in for


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the creators physical self in an online environment. These shifts in information

and communication technologies have led to the development and permeation

of a digital culture, with a new self-curated digital identity, which is becoming

more and more integrated into everyday social practice. There is both less

material permanence and more temporal fluidity in the way in which we

consume imagery. I would argue that this subsequently changes the way we

construct our identity through the use of social networking sites, in particular

Facebookand the new ways in which it interacts with the self-image and

consequently how we use photographs to present ourselves online. Self-

presentation rather than self representation seems to have become more

important in the construction of identity in an online environment.


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Chapter II: Ill see you on Facebook; Digitizing Identity

At the time of writing Facebookis connecting over 800 million people, with

membership growing at a rate of about 700,000 people per day.1 An article in

Times Magazine2 summarizes that one out of every dozen people on the planet

has a Facebookaccount.3 The article further elaborates that ifFacebookwere

a country it would be the third largest in the world, behind only China and India.4

A similar comparison is illustrated in the following graphic (Fig.2).

What started out as a fun project in a college dorm has, in just eight years,

connected more than a twelfth of humanity into a single network, thereby

creating a social entity almost twice as large as the U.S. 5 Even though nearly

half of all Americans have a Facebookaccount, 80% of active monthly users are

outside the U.S. and Canada6, consequently not only merging Facebookwith

the social fabric of American life, but also with social structures of cultures

outside the U.S.

Whether people use Facebookto find old friends, keep up with family or plan

events or share special moments; the ability to connect and to communicate is

part of the social nature of humans. Other than socialeffects Facebookis alsohaving an economic effect.

1FacebookNewsroom [www],http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22 ,

Accessed January 12, 2012

2Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, founder ofFacebookwas named TIME's 2010 Person of the Year: For

connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them, for

creating a new system of exchanging information and for changing how we live our lives. in Lev

Grossman, Person of the Year 2010, Mark Zuckerberg, Time Magazine [www], Wednesday,

December 15, 2010, http://ti.me/ggMsVL, Accessed January 12, 2012

3Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010, Mark Zuckerberg, Time Magazine [www],

Wednesday, December 15, 2010, http://ti.me/ggMsVL, Accessed January 12, 2012

4Ibid., Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010


6Op.cit., FacebookNewsroom, http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22


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Fig. 2


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Companies are using Facebookto connect with their customers to advertise

more effectively.7 In fact Facebookpermeates every aspect of peoples lives,even if they are not actively using Facebook, they may have seen the logo in a

television advertisement or noticed traces of it across the Internet whereby

websites and online companies entice people to log in by using theirFacebook

ID. The Facebookmembership is becoming a tool for verifying ones identity

online. The Economistgoes as far as calling it the worlds de facto online

passport.8 And with more and more people joining Facebookevery day, it has

become a permanent fact of our global social reality9 and thereby a

communication tool of this generation. The word Facebookhas even been

entered into English dictionaries both as a verb and a noun, whereby people can

Facebooksomeone now and as the Oxford English dictionary editor Angus

Stevenson points out, the internet and social media have had a huge impact on

creating new words [], which reflect the society and era in which they enter the

dictionary.10As Time Magazine formulates it, We have entered the Facebook

age.11

The success ofFacebookis in some ways linked with the rise and use of

photography in everyday activity, and the fact that people now photograph all

sorts of banal and everyday activities, as photography is one element of how

7International research firm Deloitte has carried out an extensive analysis of the Facebook

economy across the EU27 countries. Their findings include that Facebookadds anestimated 15.3 billion value to the European economy and helps to support 232,000jobs across Europe [www], http://newsroom.fb.com/Whats-New-Home-Page/Measuring-Facebook-s-economic-impact-in-Europe-ae.aspx,Accessed January 12, 2012

8

The Economist, Facebook, A fistful of dollars, Volume 402, Number8770, February 4

th

10

th

2012, p.9


10Matthew Holehouse, Woot! Retweet and sexting enter the dictionary, The Telegraph [www],

August 18, 2011, http://tgr.ph/o87yCf, Accessed January 12, 2012



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these networking sites function. Development of new technologies, smaller

cameras and camera phones allow people to create images wherever and

whenever they want. In addition to being able to immediately view the images, it

is equally easy to post the images online, straight after they have been taken.

Images, which previously might have been discarded, are now acceptable to be

presented to a public audience. These emerging and ever changing digital tools

significantly affect the way people socialize and interact and, by extension, the

way they maintain and secure relationships.

When Facebookwas founded in 2004 by former Harvard student Mark

Zuckerberg it was meant to replace the Harvard Universitys house face books,

with a type of online yearbook. College yearbooks were hard bound books,

including a photograph of each students face, their name and information on

activities such as sports or hobbies. The photographs of the students were

typically taken by the college photographer in the first week of the students

arrival and often looked awkward and unflattering in addition to becoming dated,

once the students moved on to a higher level. The pictures were, similar to

photographs in the family album, freezing the person at that moment in time,

and while the photograph represents an event or a scene from the real world, it

only does it so far as it isolates, preserves and presents a moment taken from a

continuum12 as Hubert Damisch states. In that sense, the more dynamic digital

environment ofFacebookenabled students to upload a more up to date image

of themselves than the one that existed in the college yearbook, as the

technology simplified the process of substituting one image for another.

Students started to change their profile picture on a regular basis and Facebook

responded to the demand by adding a new feature in 2005, after the site hit five

Million users, that allowed people to upload more than just one picture of

themselves. This additional feature ultimately transformed Facebooks service to

12

Hubert Damisch, Five Notes for a Phenomenology of the Photographic Image in Alan

Trachtenberg (ed.) Classic Essays on Photography, Leete's Island Books, New Haven, 1980, p.

288


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become the largest photo-sharing site on the Internet, with around three billion

photos added each month.13 While photo sharing was one of the most

competitive markets on the Internet in 2005, including sites like FlickrorPicasa,

Facebookwas possibly the least functional photos product on the Internet14 as

Bret Taylor, Facebooks chief technology officer admits as there was no function

to organize the image in any way . However, Facebookhad one function the

others didnt have: It connected people and enabled them to interact with others

through their profile. This interaction between people is a foundation of how

social networking functions, thereby making the application a social experience.

A post on the Facebookdevelopers blog explains that this social design of the

site consists of three elements: identity, conversation and community.

Community refers to the people we know and trust and who help us to make

decisions,15 it says. Conversation refers to the interactions we have with our

communities. Identity refers to our sense of self and how we are seen by our

communities.16 It is interesting to note, that these elements, referred to on the

Facebookblog, relate to theories of identity construction outlined in the first

chapter. Goffman, addresses identity from a symbolic interactionist perspective;

His work emphasizes the importance of social interaction, group relations, and

context to explain the process through which identity is performed and

constructed in everyday life. These ideas are echoed in Halls and Woodwards

theories of identity construction, whereby identity is assembled from history,

experience and symbolic interaction. While these theories relate to identity

construction in the physical world, it seems that they are also applicable to the

online environment ofFacebook.

13David Kirkpatrick, the Facebook effect, Virgin Books, 2010, p.11

14 Op.cit., Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010

15FacebookDevelopers Blog [www] Core Concepts Social Design,

http://developers.Facebook.com/socialdesign/, Accessed January 15, 2012

16Ibid., FacebookDevelopers Blog, Core Concepts Social Design


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At first, when Facebookwas created at Harvard University, the universitys e-

mail address was required to set up an account, which meant that people could

only connect with people within their immediate college community. This meant

that the students who connected online could potentially take the same classes

or run into each other on the Universitys campus thereby making a connection

between the Facebookprofile online and the real person creating it. In so doing

Facebookprofiles can be thought of as an online embodiment17 of real people

using the site,18 whereby their relationships are anchored through friends or

mutual friends on the college campus. Once people become friends on

Facebook, their profiles are automatically linked, allowing the users to interact

with one another. While today everyone with a valid e-mail address can sign up

to Facebook, it still functions as a nonymous19 setting as opposed to an

anonymous online setting. In a nonymous setting, relationships are anchored in

a number of ways, through institutions, residence, or mutual friends, as

colleagues, family members, neighbors and other offline acquaintances also use

the site to communicate. Hence, if offline structures are being replicated online,

users have to adopt a presumably authentic identity. Essentially Facebookis

based on a real name policy; thereby any user signing up with his or her real

name is basically saying that they stand by the content of their profile. The real

name, accompanied by a picture, therefore establishes credibility and becoming

the digital embodiment of the self, whereby the profile is presumed to be

authentic. In other words, the online identity should outwardly map correctly onto

body, gender, location and so on, precisely because it is anchored in

17The term embodiment refers to the individuals representation in a computer mediated

interaction, which on Facebookis the users profile.

18

Danah Boyd, Friendster and publicly articulated social networks, Proceedings of ACMConference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York, ACM Press, 2004, pp. 1279-1282

19S.Zhao, S.Grasmuck, J.Martin, Identity construction on Facebook: digital empowerment in

anchored relationships, Computers in Human Behaviour, Vol. 24 (2008), pp. 1816- 1836, p.

1818


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relationships that exist in the physical world and thus maintain a variety of social

ties. While traditional anonymous online settings enabled people to leave behind

their job, gender, marriage, age, and so on, the nonymous setting ofFacebook

entices people to take all this information with them or as Time Magazine

phrases it: Facebookmakes cyberspace more like the real world: dull but

civilized. The masked-ball period of the Internet is ending.20 Though the

question is, how can we accept an interface, that is not tangible and fits into

something as small as a notebook as a representation of the real world or

indeed the embodiment of a real person?

The concept of embodiment is an essential characteristic of early portraiture as

the relational and material qualities of photographs exist through the

phenomenological approach of being in the world. The portrait photograph in

particular became a commonplace document of identity, shared in the intimacy

of the family home, in family albums and probably most prevalent in documents

of identification, such as the passport. In terms of representation the frontal pose

is characteristics of the passport image (Fig. 3), but also for early portrait

photography, that Tagg dates back to the 1880s, where it was the accepted

format of the popular amateur snapshot, but also of the photographic documents

like prison records.21 The term photographic document connotes a record of

somewhat official nature and permanence. As Tagg states, the portrait is

therefore a sign whose purpose is both the description of an individual and the

inscription of social identity.22 This means that the characteristics of the

passport image not only embodied a physical individual, but became an act of

social engagement through ritualized exchange. In view of this Edwards

observes that the photograph has always existed, not merely as an image but in

20

Op.cit., Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010

21John Tagg, The Burden of Representation, Essays on Photographies and Histories, Palgrave

McMillan, 1988, p. 37

22Ibid. p.37


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relation to the human body, tactile in experienced time, objects functioning within

everyday practice.23 Thus photographys status as a realist representation is

upheld by its very dominance within a cultural network of exchange.

Fig. 3

Furthermore, because the passport photograph is anchored in legal structures

and as such widely accepted as a way of official identification, it has played an

important role in how photographic images have been perceived as imitative

reflections of reality. Moreover, the photographic portrait is readily accepted as a

true representation of ourselves as it closely corresponds to the way we

recognize ourselves looking into a mirror; it is describing a spatially distant body

with a visual familiarity and therefore making the imagined real through the

photograph. Thus the portrait contributes to the embodiment for recognition as

23Elizabeth Edwards, Photographs as Objects of Memory, in Marius Kwint, Christopher Breward,

Jeremy Aynsley (eds.), Material Memories, Oxford, Berg, 1999, p. 228


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an individual. If related to the passport photograph or identity card, the uniform,

cellular space, in which the body is represented in form of a portrait, becomes a

universal thread of identity.

Examining the structure of the Facebookprofile page it has considerably similar

features to that of the contemporary passport or identity card and thereby

replicating its visual familiarity. When a user first signs up to Facebook, a

generic profile page appears (Fig.4) prompting the user to upload a photo from

their computer or to take a photo with their webcam. A text on the profile page

further explains that choosing a profile picture is important, so your friends will

know its really you.24 What is interesting here is that rather than coming up with

a different form to represent the profile image, Facebookuses this generic form

of identity and the way in which photography is embedded within that system.

Fig. 4

The outline of a persons face including neck and shoulders further gives the

users visual cues on what is expected to be entered into this space. The frame24http://www.Facebook.com/home.php?ref,Accessed January 2, 2011


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further indicates a portrait (vertical) as opposed to a landscape (horizontal)

image and thereby both the size and the shape of the predetermined frame

reflect the intertextuality of photography. By presenting the profile image this

way and relating it to the larger structure of aesthetics and sight of photography

the digital image is presented to the viewer as a conventional photograph.

Because the digital image continues to look like a photograph and thereby is

also tied to the predetermined elements of photography we accept it as a

traditional photograph. What changes online however, is that photography no

longer acts as a socially interactive medium through physical engagement with

the material object, but as an embodiment of a spatially absent person in an

online environment that represents the user in computer-mediated interactions.

The image thereby indirectly maps fragments of real world spaces into the digital

space ofFacebook.

The main profile picture, located at the top left corner of the page (Fig.5), could

hence be considered as a representation and first impression of the user, since

it is usually one of the larger elements of the profile. More importantly the

chosen profile image is being displayed alongside any activity or action the user

undertakes on Facebookand in fact on any other sites that are linked through

Facebook(Fig.6, Fig. 7), thereby functioning as a visual marker of the users

online identity beyond the actual profile. This means that when a user connects

for example to a Newspaper or Television Channel through Facebookwith a so

called FacebookConnect button (Fig. 8), all the users friends are able to see

this connection, which is typically displayed with the profile image and name of

the person, when visiting that site. Times Magazine called this Zuckerberg's

vision after the Facebookization of the Web: wherever you go online, you'll see

your friends.

25

On CBS News, you might see a friends reviews. In the guardian,you might see what articles friends read or see their comments first. Those

reviews and comments are made meaningful because we know who wrote them

and by the relationship to the author. They have a social context, whereby the

25Op.cit.,Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010


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Internet is reorganized around people. We are moving from the wisdom of

crowds to the wisdom of friends says Dan Rose, a Facebookexecutive. What

he means is that it does not matter whether 100,000 people like something. If

the three people closest to you like it, then you want to see it.

Fig. 5


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Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Fig. 8


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Because the profile image is attached to any action the user undertakes on

Facebookand also appears on other sites on the Internet as shown in Fig. 5 and

Fig. 6, the profile image is viewed much more frequently than any other

uploaded images and it is an important component of managing ones

impression and presenting ones identity online.

Since people tend to desire social acceptance, they seek this acceptance by

presenting themselves in the best possible light. Because Facebookusers are

connected with a multitude of audiences, for instance close friends,

acquaintances, co-workers and family members through the same profile they

are under pressure to choose more carefully how they present themselves to

these multiple audiences. However, while audience separation becomes more

complicated on Facebook, people are used to adapt the way they present

themselves depending on the situation and environment. Whether consciously

or unconsciously, when observed, we will inevitably act in such way that

whoever we presume to be watching us sees the image of ourselves we want

them to see. As Goffman suggests, presentations are continually adjusted

throughout the day, based on the environment and the reactions from others.26

On Facebookreaction from others take place in form of textual comments,

whereby people can comment on an image, subsequently making the picture

subject to a shared conversation. The images are given additional meanings as

friends inquire, Are you o.k.? compliment, You look beautiful, or criticize,

You are ridiculous! The images thereby become items of analysis, further

shaping the users online identity. Showing pictures as part of a conversation or

assessing pictures to validate social bonds between friends appears to have

become an important tool of presenting the self online. The self concept, as

outlined by Goffman, comes through experience with those around us and the

images posted on Facebookare providing proof of these experiences and

relationships for ourselves and for others.

26Op.cit., Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self


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Chapter III: Tell me about your profile pic!

This chapter sets out to explore whether the question of identity still plays a role

on Facebookor whether self-presentation rather than self representation

becomes more important in constructing identity online. In order to identify

themes and trends a qualitative survey was conducted, investigating users

interpretation of their self-presentation on Facebookwith particular focus on their

use of the profile image. Theories of identity construction, as outlined in chapter

one, provide the basic underpinning for interpretation of the survey results. The

online survey consisted primarily of open-ended questions, asking Facebook

users to comment on their reasons for choosing and changing their profile image

and whether they take into consideration who views their profileimage.27

Thesurvey was distributed via email, Facebookand Twitter28 and then utilized a

snowball sampling method by asking participants to pass on the survey to as

many people as possible, which resulted in a total of 403 Facebookusers

participating in the survey.

While the closed questions of the survey regarding age, gender and nationality

have not been analyzed further in this chapter, it is interesting to note that in

particular the responses to age and nationality confirm the concept ofFacebook

as a nonymous online environment.29 Whereas the survey counted an

overwhelming amount of over 30 nationalities, the majority of people (over 200

respondents) were Irish. As the survey originated in Ireland and was mainly

distributed to an Irish audience, this points to the concept of anchored online

relationships whereby the connections that exist on Facebookare grounded in

the physical world. Furthermore, the researchers age bracket lies within the

27For a full survey summary, please see Appendix, p.43 - 161

28Twitteris, like Facebookan online social networking service that enables its users to send and

read text-based posts

29Op.cit., S.Zhao, S.Grasmuck, J.Martin, Identity construction on Facebook: digital

empowerment in anchored relationships, Computers in Human Behaviour, Vol. 24 (2008), pp.

1816- 1836


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main age group of the respondents (31 and 40 years of age; 136 respondents),

which further enforces the theory that we connect with people on Facebook, who

we already know offline. Consequently, acknowledging that identity is shaped

and mediated by the physical world in which it is experienced, many of the

theories identified in the first chapter can be applied to the online environment of

Facebook. As outlined in chapter one, the sense of self is gained from the

perception of societys evaluation, which should mean that we choose how we

represent ourselves online does not only depend on how we see ourselves or

how we want to be perceived, but is strongly influenced by social relationships

and norms. As a result the visual representations through the users profile

image on Facebookare produced for and consumed by a particular group of

people.

According to an article in the Irish Times titled What does your profile picture

say about you?, Facebookprofile pictures are the visual projection to friends,

family and sometimes mere acquaintances () of who we are and what we are

like.30 , thus positioning the individual in relation to certain groups of people. It is

within this community context and exchange then that the image becomes

meaningful whereby visual codes that are identifiable in the profile image are

part of a system of exchange between those groups.

With this in mind, the discussion will focus on respondents comments to the

questions why they chose their current profile image, what the reasons are for

changing their profile and if they take into consideration who will view their

profile. The posed question: what are the reasons for changing your profile

image? raises an interesting point as we rarely change photographs in albums

or framed images. While the technological environment alone may encourage

more dynamic display practices, which seems to expect a certain degree of

change, the findings of the survey suggest that there may be underlying social

and cultural pressures and expectations that are prompting users to change

30Una Mullally, What does your profile picture say about you, Irish Times [www], Dublin,

Saturday, October 29, 2011, http://bit.ly/vV2ZNM, Accessed November 15, 2011


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their profile image. While many respondents reported that they change their

photograph to make it more recent: I have a new photo that is showing more

who I currently am, it is interesting to note that many people change their profile

image according to their mood or the current season: I want one that reflects

the season better; I dont like having a winter photo in the summer and vice-

versa. This suggests that users conform and are influenced by social and

cultural conventions and traditions of the physical world that dictate a particular

behavior online. It would for example be deemed inappropriate to leave

Christmas decorations on display for the entire year. However, during the

Christmas period we are surrounded by symbolic markers, which advocate

these cultural traditions associated with the season through visual

representation. This in turn infiltrates the realms of the Facebookenvironment

prompting respondents to change their profile image accordingly.

Other respondents commented that they choose their profile image depending

on the current mood they are in or named special occasions, such as birthdays,

wedding, sports events, current affairs and holidays as reasons for changing

their profile image. These photographs seem to provide a basis for narrative

work, with stories behind the photographs important to each individual who

posts them, illustrating visual fragments of their life and providing a way of

communicating who they are or what is important to them at a particular moment

in time and for a particular audience. For example: Ive experienced some event

that I want others to know about, whether a friend was in town, or I was able to

do something special out of the norm. or marking an occasion; latest is

arrival of newest grandchild. These experiences shared through the profile

image are part of our life stories to use McAdams terminology, which in turn are

part of our culture, underpinning the ideas outlined by Hall, that relate culture tofeelings, attachments and emotions. This in turn suggests that the users identity

is influenced by the social groups they interact with offline and it becomes

evident from the users responses that they seem to change their profile image

based on who their audience is. As outlined previously, Goffman is utilizing the

metaphor of the dramaturgical perspective, whereby he emphasizes the


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importance of social action, group relations, and context to explain the process

through which identity is performed and constructed in everyday life. Drawing on

Goffmans performance theory I would argue that Facebookusers seem to

change their images based on who their audience is or who they are performing

for, and depending on the environment and social structures in which the

interaction or performance takes place. Context and audience then become two

primary aspects that influence self-presentation choices and strategies.31 This

might explain why users choose certain images over others as they are faced

with multiple audiences and are therefore trying to represent a multitude of

social relationships and activities instead of displaying a more static individual

identity. As Woodwards concept of identity illustrates:

Consider the different identities involved in different occasions, such as

attending a job interview or a parents evening, going to a party or a

football match, or visiting a shopping mall. In all these situations, we may

feel, literally, like the same person, but we are differently positioned by

the social expectation and constraints and we represent ourselves to

others differently in each context. In a sense, we are positionedand we

also position ourselves according to the fields in which we are acting.32

As previously mentioned, this audience separation can become problematic on

Facebook, as people perform before multiple audiences. Despite the ability to

potentially reinvent oneself through the manipulation of digital images, judging

by the replies people gave, Facebookidentities are grounded in offline

relationships, thus bounding the extent to which users can create identities that

would conflict their offline social connections as friends, co-workers, family and

acquaintances viewing this information can verify its accuracy.

31Op.cit., Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, p. 239-240

32Op.cit., Kathryn Woodward, Concepts of Identity and Difference, p. 22


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For many respondents the question of who is looking at their profile has become

a paramount concern. Users tend to choose an image that is suitable for both

professional or work related contacts as well as for personal contacts as these

comments demonstrate: Because I have a mix of professional friends & social

friends on Facebook; it has to be suitable for both, I dont want to post any

images where Im seen in an unprofessional setting, because I dont want to

jeopardize my job. I also consider my family These responses illustrate that

users consciously make decisions on the type of image they choose to

represent themselves to others, often describing the chosen image as a first

impression of me to the rest of the world. This comment also illustrate that users

are aware that their profile image is not only visible on Facebook, but on any

other site on the Internet they connect with through Facebook. The profile

picture thereby becomes a representation of the user to an even broader

audience. Other comments relating to appearance and behaviors, such as: I

want to look good or: my picture cant be too wild as colleagues will see it show

that the images are also chosen according to a set of social rules and cultural

expectations. This means that people recognize the importance of looking right

on those occasions where pictures matter personally33 as David Bate points

out. Whether it is for a passport photograph, wedding or religious ceremonies,

Bate explains that how we are perceived in photographs matters, because we

know they are part of how people see each other.34

Some survey responses confirm that people may adjust their image to present

what they deem most appropriate in any given situation: I wouldnt put up a

photo that my parents or family would consider inappropriate. People also draw

from the situational and interpersonal contextual cues around them, for example

through perceiving reactions from others: usually the image is humorous so Ithink about the reaction Ill get. Through experience, people learn to associate

33David Bate, Photography: Key Concepts, Oxford, GBR Berg Publishers, 2009, p. 67

34Ibid., p. 67


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particular aspect of their identity with specific roles, environments or contexts

and as result only represent a fragment, or facet, of their identity.

Despite being able to present an obscure image or segment off certain aspects

of visual identification markers , interestingly many respondents see it as vital

that they are identifiable in their profile image: I want to be recognizable if

someone meets me in the street, I simply want people to physically identify me.

Other comments, such as I want to show the real me or the image I use is

intended to give some indication of who I am, suggest that photographs exert a

powerful hold on our conceptions of identity, even though they rely on

observable, physical characteristics to represent inner states of the self. As one

user explains: similarly to why I dress a certain way I suppose I want to project

an image of who I am (or think I am).

Hence, the photographs people choose as their profile image on Facebook

function on many levels. As the author Fred Ritchin observes, we have faith in

the photograph not only because it works on a physically descriptive level, but in

a broader sense because it confirms our sense of omnipresence as well as the

validity of the material world.35

It is interesting to examine, based on the responses in the survey, that

Facebookusers make associations with the photograph as a true representation

of who they are. Responses such as I want to show the real me or The image I

use is intended to give some indication of who I am point to the indexical nature

of the photographic image, which refers to a relationship to the real, specific to

the photographic image. Even though the images on Facebookare presented in

digital form, photographys status is upheld by its very dominance within a

cultural network of exchange. Furthermore photographys placing in legalstructures, has played an important role and continues to play an important role

35Fred Ritchin, In Our Own Image, The Coming Revolution in Photography, Aperture, New York,

1990, p. 132


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in the way photographic images have been perceived as imitative

representations of reality, and thereby fixing the modern conceptions of identity.

The majority of responses confirm that users choose an image that represents

them as accurately as possible to reflect their physical selves, while consciously

omitting some flaws of which they believe others will disapprove or deem

inappropriate. Though the survey findings show that the profile image carries

varying degrees of importance for the user; for some users it seems significant

to choose a profile image based on the assumed reactions from their audience.

For others however, the photograph needs to suit a multitude of audiences and

therefore needs to be less specific or descriptive, but rather more generic.

For example, users present a different, namely more professional side of their

identity in environments associated with work. However, in order to accurately

present themselves, users are aware of the feedback from their environment

and adjust their self-presentation accordingly. This awareness and controlled

presentation are integral aspects of negotiating social interactions and although

very simplified, people engage in such negotiations in everyday life. In this

perspective the profile image becomes not only a space of expression, in which

people are able to manage how they are perceived, but also an important

vehicle for communication, which in turn contributes to the fabric of social

relations.

In terms of Goffmans front and back stages metaphor,36Facebookoperates

almost entirely in the front stage, filled with cues, norms, and contexts about

relationships, the environment, and personal presentations. Since the profile

picture is connected with each action the user performs on Facebookand other

sites that are connected through Facebook, it creates an even broader audienceand therefore the Facebookprofile image must conform to values that include all

social groups within the users network. I would therefore argue that self-

presentation rather than self representation is fore grounded with most users

36Op.cit., Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life


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on Facebookas they are always performing in one way or another. The findings

of this survey, then, support identity literature that suggests that our identity is a

social construct, shaped through experiences with those around us.

This in turn underlines the non-essentialist theory of identity whereby the sense

of self is not fixed or inherent, but is rather constantly shifting and changing

through the perception of societys evaluation. The survey results did not reveal

any tendencies of users displaying an inauthentic identity. Because Facebookis

anchored in offline relationships, presenting a different identity on Facebookdid

not seem to be an option any of the surveys respondents considered. Users

create groups and use symbolic props, much like they do in face-to-face

interactions.


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Conclusion

The foundations of identity do not drastically change in the realm ofFacebook.

Identity is both a personal self-definition, but also a definition in relation to the

environment. In this way culture and identity work in a dialectical interplay and

our identity becomes a product of our relations. While Facebookmakes it easier

to communicate with many people at the same time through one platform,

ultimately enabling new forms of interaction, it also makes certain aspects of

identity performance more complicated. However, just because we are

presenting ourselves differently to our colleagues than to our family, does not

mean that we are leading a double life; it is just a normal social function not to

play out certain aspects of ones identity in some situations.

Identity is dynamic and fluid, which also makes it very complex and Facebooks

static interface does not allow for this. Facebookputs everybody together onto

one platform friends, colleagues, partners, the neighbour who moved away ten

years ago and so on. Hence, we are forced to present our professional self and

our personal self, our past self and our present self, in a single generic self. On

Facebookthe natural process by which old friends fall away over time is

suspended and instead there is only one kind of relationship that Facebookcalls

friendship, and we have it with everyone we are connected with online. You are

friends with your spouse, your favourite band, and you are friends with your

plumber. The way we connect with one another and with the institutions in our

lives is evolving. Our sense of identity is more variable, while our sense of

privacy is expanding. What was once considered intimate is now shared among

millions with a keystroke. Many of the survey respondents were aware of this

and subsequently drew consequences as to how they represent their identity on

Facebookby adjusting their profile image accordingly. Respondents who wereconnected to family members on Facebookwere very aware of the potential for

their profile image to be inappropriate. This concern is not futile as even people

who do not have a Facebookaccount of their own can see the image on any

Internet site the user connects to through Facebook. Furthermore information

can get back to them from other people that are using Facebookand are


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connected with that particular person. This means that Facebookusers are

unable to act only in the context of their friends. They must also act in the

context of their family, colleagues, acquaintances and any other group with

potentially conflicting norms. This means that even though the online

environment ofFacebookand the environment of the physical world contain the

same basic forms of self-representation, the version of us that we present on

Facebookis much more self-controlled.

We have become so accustomed to accept the photograph as a means of

representation, that we forget the extent to which we identify people by other

means like their clothes, hair, mannerisms, and their use of language. While the

identities presented to authorities in form of the passport image or identity card

are physical descriptions in form of a facial photograph and are very much

reductions of the complex, ever-changing entirety of our self, they still hold a

power over how we perceive photographs of ourselves. This is utilized on

Facebook, by replicating the visual familiarity of the passport or identity card that

we carry with us. The Facebookprofile page thereby invokes a metaphor that

triggers a set of ideas we are all familiar and comfortable with.

On Facebookpeople are also identified by language in what they write, and how

they choose to visually represent themselves. However, regardless of the

information provided on the Facebookprofile in textual form, the users profile

image is automatically seen as a representation of the physical person who

created it. I would argue that this relates to the indexical nature of the

photographic image and the discourse around photography that claims its

proximity to the real. While images on Facebookexchange the tangible

photograph with digital data code, the image still maintains the familiar forms

and nature of the photographic image we recognize. The changing function of

photography is part of complex technological, social and cultural

transformations, which means that the change from material to digital becomes

a cultural rather than a purely technological process.


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Considering the amount of people that frequent the site, I am aware that my

survey is in no way representative of all Facebookusers. A final observation

about my findings is concerned with the generalization of cultural and social

norms. Although some of the norms and behaviors I discovered might be

shaped by the nature of the computer mediated communication itself, many are

presumably socially and culturally constructed. Therefore it is important to take

into consideration that most respondents were located in Ireland and Europe,

and the responses could indicate that parts of the norms and behaviors on

Facebookrelate to social and cultural norms in the respondents offline

environment. Facebookusers with different cultural and social backgrounds

might have responded differently. For instance the tendency, examined in the

survey, of respondents changing their profile image according to the Season,

might be less relevant in other countries. Lastly, different age ranges might also

have different norms and values than younger or older populations and it is likely

that a comparative study between more distinct age ranges would show different

norms and behaviors as well.


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Appendix 1: Survey Statement

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Claudi Nir and I am currently

undertaking a BA(Hons) in Photography at the Institute of Art, Design &

Technology, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland (IADT, www.iadt.ie).

The goal of this study for my thesis is to investigate user interpretation of their

self-presentation on Facebook, with particular focus on their use of the profile

image. I would therefore very much appreciate if you can take a few minutes to

answer the following questions and encourage you to provide as much detail as

possible.

This survey is absolutely confidential and the results of the questionnaire will not

be used for commercial purposes or disclosed to any third party. For any

questions you might have you can contact me directly at [email protected]

Please pass this survey on to as many people as possible!

Thank you for your time & participation.


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Appendix 2: Facebook Profile Image Survey37

37This survey was conducted through the online service Survey Monkey,

www.surveymonkey.com. The survey was created on November 12, 2011


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7/30/2019 Cl

claudia nir identity construction on facebook

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