Importance of identity work through representation online

Importance of identity work through representation online

            Social media, a sea of data waiting to be fished through for answers about societies most pressing problems online. As online media grows so too does the importance of social media with its growing influence with each growing generation, from new uses of ads for marketing to the most minute things as taking up the majority of our personal time since its introduction with smartphones the skies the limit with what social media could do next. Social media is beginning to define lives in society today especially with social validation from others being at the top of the list for many using these sites, it makes for a very pressing matter and that is our identity both online and offline. Though it is hard to define this identity being created by social media first, it becomes clearer as one is given the correct theories and phenomenon’s to piece together what it truly means to be yourself not just online but offline as well. Using data driven by these theories like George Herbert Mead’s “I” and “me” as well as phenomenon covered by Lee Humphreys in her book called The Qualified Self, selected participants posts and photos can be separated into categories allowing for trends to materialize. This data can then be cross referenced by answered questions by the participants giving a deeper understanding of what it means to identify oneself online through the phenomenon and

relate it back to the already existent dominant culture defined by the participants answers of what identity/representation is as a whole both online and offline.

            To simplify how I came to this important issue as being my research project we must first go through the method section of how the project was laid out at first and how it had shifted as the research went on. Starting off with four participants and adding two more to the end of the time period of the data collection for the project, there was six participants who had volunteered and allowed me to look through their social media accounts and take fifty posts from photos, posts, reposts, and comments/likes. These fifty posts were laid out across three social media sites varying from linkedin, Facebook, and Twitter. The data was then broken down categorized groupings, which gave information on the ratio of posts to the fifty specified showing the least to the most giving a better idea of what each participant was actively doing with each post. (Being for groups, selfies, or interests. Etc...) After analyzing the data from the fifty post for each participant an outlined idea of what the participant was interested, was active in, and was apart of allowed for an identity to visibly rise for me a peer (apart of the “me” in Mead’s theory) of their accounts. This was then compared to the answers being given from the same questions given to each participant. Through the two parts of the research a conclusion could be drawn making an argument for the importance of identity work/representation for not only society as a whole but for the participants showing how similar my peer representation of them was compared to their own representation in the questions given to them. In the overall purpose of the method drawn out in the research I have done, this new research is to show the need for identity online especially for a society focusing on it to move into the future.

            Think about it Social media is a large part of our society today, making it one of he fastest growing outlets that people have at their disposal to share content with others around the world. Though there is a catch, with sharing this content there are many issues that come from it. These issues ranging from overproduction in marketing, addiction to these platforms, and the overwhelming shift of face-to-face conversations moving to texts seen on screens. These issues stem from problems that were unseen at the creation of social media, one being the process of identity work/performance. This process or theory of how we define ourselves through our cultural performances has been around since the beginning of mankind but what is making this a problem is the way social media has molded this theory, the representation of identity online stated by Lee Humphreys in The Qualified Self in part has led to most of these problems. The problem of how identity work/performance is made on social media has become a very pressing matter especially in young adults the primary users of these social media platforms. If left unchecked this mediation of traces creating representation of identity can lead to some very negative side effects that people find on social media today, things like identity crisis leading to suicide or scamming of users by misleading accounts. How a person is represented online is an important theme to understand if one is to be on social media in today’s society without it these negative outcomes will just continue to grow if not treated and acknowledged by users. Approaching this problem from a data driven study of posts and textual transcription of interviews and giving a better explanation for this theory to users is the best way to combat this problem at this given moment in time. In a world filled with fake news and other online phenomenon plaguing social media timelines, one can get lost in a constant influx of ideas and content without proper guidance and data driven research. Through the use of online traces of posts and photos this data can then be categorized into possible representations the user is going for and later determine with a deeper analysis through answers given about the representations shown from the mediation of their profile and prior posts. To understand this approach further here are the sources used to determine this approach as being the one with the highest chance of successfully applying and understanding the idea of identity work/performance online. These sources include the The Qualified Self, Stand out of Our Light, Why Our Screens make us Less Happy, Fandom Identity/Fandom as Identity, We Need to Talk About This Unhealthy Social Media Behavior, Who Are You Online, What is ‘Catfishing’, and YOUR INSTAGRAM IDENTITY. All sources having one thing in common and that is the theory of identity work being an important factor online and through the sources information brings us to the research and data already collected in my given project and leading to an outcome of identity work/performance through representation online being a important theme for not only my participants in my research but also all users of social media online. Achieving the main goal of being online, performing your identity and sharing it with others.

            The best way to start understanding the magnitude of the given problem with identity work, George Herbert Mead’s theory of the “I” and “me” has to come first in explaining the meaning of identity in the first place both online and offline. “The "Me" is what is learned in interaction with others and (more generally) with the environment: other people's attitudes, once internalized in the self, constitute the Me” (“I” and the “me”, 2018). The “Me” is the overall identity created for us by our peers while the “I” is the opposite. “The "I" acts creatively, though within the context of the me. Mead notes that "It is only after we have acted that we know what we have done...what we have said” (“I” and the “me”, 2018). These two pieces of Mead’s theory are what shape the foundation of the identity work/performance found being represented by traces and mediation online arguing the point that just as we are judged by our peers in society face-to-face we are also judged by the opinions of our peers via our photos and posts representing us a certain way online giving us a certain “me” online, thus giving me the ability to create representations of my participants through data collection of the fifty post and giving my data analysis meaning by giving me their “me” while the “I” is generated through the answers given by my participants. Identity work/performance through representation follows this theory allowing for my data to lead to a conclusive outcome of this phenomenon. Social media virtually is the definition of Meads theory where the “I” is the posts and photos we get to chose all the time to share on a users account and the “me” being the opinions we get from the likes and comments one gets from sharing that content with them. This analysis of George Herbert Mead’s theory allowed for Lee Humprhey’s to piggyback off it where she states that, “When people perform their identities through media accounting, they create representations. The media traces they write or create become texts which can be read by themselves and others” (Humphreys, pg. 104). Representations as Lee Humphrey theorizes are what make up the same “me” we find in our social world just in a different manner created via mediation of traces created by old posts and photos. This theory is the backbone of the research I have been doing on linkedin, facebook, and twitter. Every participant with each site can show different identities depending on their use of the sites, breaking down the same theory Lee Humphreys was trying to incorporate into what it means to be online. This is furthered by the definition of what it means to be online in our social world by James Williams talking about his own personal run in with what it means to identify oneself on social media talking about the push to pursue social validations.

“In my own life I saw this pettiness, this imprudence, manifesting in the way the social comparison dynamics of social media platforms had trained me to prioritize mere “likes” or “favorites,” or to get as many “friends” or “connections” as possible, over pursuing other more meaningful relational aims. These dynamics had made me more competitive for other people’s attention and affirmation than I ever remember being: I found myself spending more and more time trying to come up with clever things to say in my social posts, not because I felt they were things worth saying but because I had come to value these attentional signals for their own sake. Social interaction had become a numbers game for me, and I was focused on “winning” – even though I had no idea what winning looked like. I just knew that the more of these rewarding little social validations I got, the more of them I wanted. I was hooked” (Williams, pg. 109).

Although showing that pettiness and imprudence are a large part of social media now, he also proves a point by showing that our representation we make of ourselves online is following the same idea of the “me” stated by Mead’s theory that we want to seek that given approval and opinions of our peers even if it takes away from the “I” at times. This quote gives deeper meaning to why identity work/performance is an important subject to study. Keeping this thought provoking movement found on social media virtually made up the approach determining that the “me” plays a large part in the representation process of traces of users building the categories that would eventually place the participants in their own placement through their own representations of themselves through sharing posts and photos. Understanding this shift from the “I” in social media to the “me” is a vital piece to my research in that it shows what identity is now but also what it was before. It is important to follow the trend and shift to a split reality online through separating identities via different representations of oneself offline and online bringing different ways to interpret what it means to identify oneself and why some may see a split between the two and others seeing it as being the same. Alexandra Samuel in her Ted Talk approaches this new movement with this quote that,

“My very first reason you can stop apologizing for your life online which is this idea that when you go online when you say I’m not Alex today I’m a W Samuel that you’re somehow hiding your self that when you’re online you’re using a pseudonym or a username or an avatar or maybe even anonymous that somehow you’re doing that because you’re hiding well nothing could be further from the truth in fact I would argue that when you’re online you are often more real more authentic than you might be offline” (TEDxVictoria, 2012)

Although the way we use these sites have changed to social validation of our followers online, the idea behind what we post online representing who we are is still the same. We might be posting things that are not necessarily ours for example like the source What is ‘Catfishing’, but we are the same person we are in the real world just mediated more by what we say and do online than in the real world due to the textual traces we leave behind. Although there are some issues with identity being represented online, in the form of fake representation. Some might say it roots out any possibility of representation of identity work being a possible theory or an important one due to the many ways someone can represent themselves in a way that does not represent themselves in society.

Though to crush any opposition to my research and the theory of representation in identity work, the definition of catfishing is needed. ““Catfishing’ refers to a scam where someone, the ‘catfish, creates a fictitious online identity and seeks out online relationships” (What is ‘Catfishing’, 2018). Although catfishing can be seen by some as a way to get around representation of identity work/performance, these catfishers fall under the same identity performance found in the real world such as people identifying themselves as scammers or bullies, these users are still performing the same identities just in this case online. Though this can be debunked with the help of Adam Alter’s Ted talk where he states the amount of time we consume now with social media, making a simple prognosis like catfishing appear in the scheme of the identity representation online. Breaking down the overall day of a person Adam Alter makes a good point that we spend more time online in our personal time than ever before. “We sleep roughly seven- and –a- half to eight hours a day” (Alter, 2017). Then adding in work, “We work eight-and-a-half to nine hours a day. We engage in survival activities’ – these are things like eating and bathing and looking after kids—about three hours a day” (Alter, 2017). That leaves at most three hours of personal time which is an important time slot due to it dealing with us expressing ourselves whether that be doing something offline or online, which we usually are online. “What’s interesting about these—dating, social networking, gaming, entertainment, news, web browsing—people spend 27 minutes a day on each of these” (Alter, 2017).  If you multiple all six by twenty seven and divide by sixty minutes, you virtually get 3 hours (2.7). That is almost all of our free time meaning if we can not express ourselves and our identity offline then being a human we express our identities online making representation of identity work/performance and my research on it that much more important to clarify the complex way we want our image and the image our peers make for us now online. That the use of representation of identity work/performance online is the future of identifying oneself, being no different than how we use to identify ourselves via face to face with others in society.

            Applying this to situations and problems outside social media or that stem from social media, my research and the theory being followed can shed some light on serious matters in society. These include young adults and teenagers dealing with suicide, and interests. All of these matters depend on the subject of identity work and the representations made online, costing some their lives, and others their chance to do what they love. Through the use of the prior sources and how important identity through representation is and how much time we consume on our social media accounts with it taking most of our personal time up, it shows how important it is to apply this to these matters of the image you make for yourself online and the interests you share with others.  That identity can be found in the posts we make and the photos we share (if collected like data). By finding a happy medium we can achieve this identity. Seen in Harnish and Davis’ article on unhealthy social media behavior it helps give a better example to set forward when there is too much representation of identity being made online that it becomes negative to the user of the account. A count in the article that sums it up nicely is by a doctor Jill Walsh saying, “It is definitely changing how we grow up and figuring out who you are. Teens are always having to manage the highlights reel of their life. That’s really hard because they’re trying to think about audiences they don’t even know” (Harnish & Davis, 2017). This outside of the research and theory is the outlier of the identity work and representation trying to be made online of sorts that is the best way to describe this idea because it is not the intentions of the theory to do this but in special situations the “me” can override the “I” and become so influenced that it becomes toxic to the person online. This application is the negative spectrum of the theory with the interest application being the positive side where identity can be broken into parts of culture and represent it in that manner like Fandom in Keidra Chaney’s article. Quoting her stating that, “ Fan culture can be more than just a community, it’s also identity, a tribe of sorts and often those identities are connected to cultural, racial, ethnic, gender, class distinctions and presumptions” (Chaney, 2015). Keidra Chaney shows the amazing splits representation can go into to formulate ones identity online by sharing the groups and things they enjoy doing. These two pieces of representation shows how dynamic identity work/performance via representation has come and where it will go in the future with growing methods of research to follow such as categorization of posts through groups, interests, and sharing with friends to the smallest of things like comments and likes on posts showing both positive and negative sides, giving my research project a lot of data and categories for each of my participants to fall into making for some interesting finds to follow like what they do, their interests, and their character towards others, to even the most minute things like being extroverted or introverted online. This theory is by far the most important when it comes to understanding how social media works and operates for a given user as well as users, giving sufficient data on why identity work/performance online through representation can lead to what it means to be yourself both online and offline in society.

            Through the many articles and data revolving around identity work/performance, there is an important theme that can be seen throughout social media that has never been approached with a data driven researched approach, although there have been a few TED Talks here and there like Alexandra Samuel’s TED talk there has been no clear data describing this phenomenon clearly of identity work/performance being created by representations of users online. By using specific data taken from posts of users by a peer or centralized peer like myself, I recreated the way identity is created in the mediation of traces seen in Lee Humphreys definition of how a representation works, in doing so I created the representation made by the peers and connected it to the answers of the participants of what they thought represented them creating an outcome in the data that has never been researched. Answering the research question of whether or not identity work/performance through representation of oneself online is one in the same as the identity work/performance we partake in our everyday lives? Through the data I collected there was a trend that linked the participants to this question pushing my research into uncharted territory and projecting that there is a correlation between the two and that representation online is just as impactful as offline identity work/performance.

            The best way to start off the data analysis of my research is by comparing the data representation I was able to make from the categorization of posts from each participant and comparing it to the answers each participant had given defining who they are or in my research it would be considered their identity representation. Going in an order comparing the “me”(my representation of their traces of photos) and the “I”(their own interpretation of their representation) as George Herbert Mead stated in his theory, participant one and participant two both fell into similar categories of representation where with the majority of their fifty photo posts falling into categories dealing with interests and groups. Participant one’s twitter posts had twenty-eight in groups and twenty-one of the fifty falling into the interests category. While participant two’s photo posts six of fifty dealing with groups and forty-three of fifty falling under interests. Although sharing similar in the majority of their posts falling into these categories participant two had more posts in the interests category. This representation found by the photos chosen in my research created a better idea of these two participants identities online that they wanted represented by their traces. Where participant one’s photos of teams and interests like working out represented him perfectly. Comparing it to the question dealing with ten things that represented him, the two sources of data matched up perfectly. Where he stated that ten things that represented him were, “Sports, TLU, family, friends, TLU Baseball, fitness&health, animals, money, and music.” This was the same case with participant twos coinciding answers where his representation made by his photos alone were a majority about interests which he states in the ten things that represent are, “Sports, working out, socializing, video games, family, work, fishing, hunting, guns, God.” Just as his photos represented him through interest he also stated the majority of things that represented him were interests (hobbies,sports,music). Now for the next two participants three and four they had similarities with each other as well in their representations of themselves. Although varying in the number of posts in each category both had the majority of their photos on twitter fall under the categories of relationships and interests. Where relationships for participant three being sixteen and interests being twenty three compared to participant fours thirteen in relationships and thirty six in interests. Participant three with her answer to ten things that represent her describes the two categories with, “big sister, family, friends, intern, humor, thoughtful, caves (I love caves), dog mom, iced coffee, While some of these “define” me I feel that the majority are representative of what I associate myself with. Although interesting answer by her stating that she comprehends the differences between representation and defining herself she falls into the two categories perfectly with an emphasis on relationships like big sister and family. Participant fours answer to the question was on the same lines by stating that he is, “1.) Family oriented 2.) Politically opinionated 3.) Ethical 4.) Outgoingly reserved 5.) Loyal 6.) Travelled 7.) Work focused 8.) Teacher & Mentor 9.) Friendly 10.) Quiet Charisma 11.) Faithful.” Following the same relationship and interest representation he is going for especially when talking about being politically opinionated due to most of his interests photos being about politics. Last was participants five and six in the use of photos and due to them not having an active twitter at the time or for the last six years, I could not compare these until I got to the Facebook photos. Going into detail with these two participants though on Facebook like the ones on twitter the photo posts had the same similarities to the answers given to the question over the ten things that represented them. Participant five only having five photos due to her Facebook being relatively new there were only five photos with the majority being split between relationships (2 of 5) and interests (2 of 5), tiny in scale to the seventy-seven photos participant six had. He had the majority as well in relationships (30 of 77) and interests (36 of 77). It was amazing to see across social media sites that the same trend was occurring, with participant fives answer matching with the representation data gathered from her photos where she stated her ten things that represented her as being, “Occupational therapy student, daughter, sister, friend, HBU softball alumni, reader, traveler, Christian, Hospice volunteer, coach.” Although only five photos the four in the categories of relationship and interests shared these images with her being with her brother and family in two and the other two being of traveling and softball. The same goes for participant six just like five in her answer participant six writes to me saying that, “Biology, Medical, Discipline, Calm, Music, composing, basketball, introverted, anxious, caring,” are the ten things that represent him. Taking away the emotions and characteristics you see that the majority of his representation of himself being interests like hobbies of basketball and studying at medical in photos connecting to his answer of interests being basketball and biology. Just alone without the rest of the data dealing with comments and posts/reposts of each of the participants you can see the steady trend of representation being used both by my data collection of the participants and the participants own identity being represented by specific things like sports, politics, or loved ones. The way identity work/performance operates in the real world is just the same as the representation we make online through our posts and photos allowing for an argument to be made that maybe our understanding of identity from online to offline has no variation to it but one singular phenomenon we use in both realities.

            Through the duration of the accumulation of my data I continued to look at linkedin as well but due to most of my participants not having one or being inactive, I only got a small amount of data through their profile photo as well as their overall profile description representing for every single one of them a professional background or identity for themselves online. This in mind breaking off and going into the differences in categories between the majority of posts and comments/likes found on twitter and Facebook another trend was found giving way to seeing how we perform our identities offline is no different than that of representation of identity we make online. Just like any other identity we perform the one represented online follows the same path as Mead’s theory of the “I” and “me” but instead of around different people out in public it is based on the social media platform this identity is taking place on and what peers or others are there watching. Best described where George Herbert Mead states how, “the “I” reacts to the self which arises through the taking of the attitude of others” (“I” and the “me”, 2018). This taking of the attitude of others is the mediation of traces talked about earlier with Lee Humphreys’ explanation of representation where, “Thumin argues that the mediation of those traces matter because unlike performances which may be fleeting, representation is defined by mediation” (Humphreys, pg. 104). Following the idea of self-representation on top of representation we get the trend that is found within the data collected in my research where the “I” works with the spectrum of the “me” knowing what the “me” is and working around it in a way that can clarify why there is a difference between all three of the social media sites and data collected. By quoting some of the answers by the participants you can see this mediation and self-representation being accomplished with each one knowing the boundaries they have for each site and what each site is best for in representing their identity. Three answers by participants state this with participant two saying, “Yes in a sense, I am more open on what I say or retweet on Twitter bc it’s more casual social where to as LinkedIn it is more business/work social so I try to stay professional on there.” Followed up by a close second by participant 3 quoting her saying that, “I post differently depending on what social media site I am using. Facebook is where I am more mature and post minimally. I feel that my active friends on facebook are mostly adults, former teachers or relatives.” Both of these quotes pointing to the different representation they make of themselves on each site. Participant five sums it up simply by stating that, “I’m currently only using Facebook but when I did have Instagram I did post some things on there that I would never post on Facebook (i.e. pictures of my friends and I going to the bar/a party).” All of these participants point the same interesting theme of mediation of their own traces as well as the mediation of others on their traces plays a big role in their identity not just online but also off talking about certain people you would rather not be seen by when you are doing something unprofessional or political. Just like there is a time and place for certain identities to be performed it is the same online when representing these identities. Looking at the number of posts in each category as well as the comments/likes of all the participants on all three sites can help explain this further. Where linkedin had no likes and posts, to twitter with seventy-one posts on popular trends, and Facebook only having six dealing with popular trends. While Facebook was the exact opposite to twitter where most of their posts going to connecting with post personally an sharing it compared to twitter where the most of posts were in the interest of sharing with friends like sports videos and memes. Although a lot of Facebooks posts fell under interests as well (86) the posts seemed to be more meaningful to the participant with them actively connecting with it and their friends. Where the differences were found was in the comments/likes of the two main social media sites where the most was ninety-nine for twitter falling under interesting to user (memes, politics, sports, trends) and hundred and twenty-two for Facebook for the use of connecting with friends (commenting on photos and other shared links wit friends). From the data collected in the number of posts and comments alone there was a definite shift in the uses of the two sites where one was meant to socialize and get ones identity out there to be represented by social validations and the other Facebook being primarily to connect with old friends and represent the already present identity they had been representing since their first use of Facebook. Wrapping it up between the two like this guides my research to the point being made that social media society is the same as the society we live in offline. Alexandra Samuel in her TED talk explains this in detail just because one changes their name doesn’t mean they are truly changing who they are it’s just a different representation of their identity but instead online for others to mediate. Comparing it to how we identify ourselves dependent upon our peers like friends, teachers, professors, and bosses during face to face time with them in society it is the same thing online.

            Although it was split down the middle for the participants when asked if there was a difference between online identity representation and the identity work/performance there was one that stood out the most and it was participant four’s answer where he says that, “For me, I feel they are the one and the same. If there are any differences, it is in the perceptions one can make/not make in absence of any visual cues. A conversation online might be different in the visual cues I give off or receive from the person I interact with. They might also be “read” and misinterpreted differently through, but clarified or interpreted differently if it was in a one on one situation/group setting. But in general, the identity of the person you see online and the person I am in real life, in my opinion, are one in the same.” Some of the participants may have agreed to this answer but looking through all of their data and answers all of them recognized the importance of identity representation on the impact it has on people who use social media in society with the beginning of participant six’s long answer where he states that, “What I've been noticing dude is like that line between private life and public life, "back stage" vs. "front stage," that line is falling apart. Everyone is very public very open about their opinions, about their personal life, about what they dream, about private stuff, and it's insane that everyone is so open now. The reason I don't use social media so much is because I really want to keep my life private you know, it feels isolating and counterintuitive, but I'm happier and the things I enjoy are for myself, not for others to watch as well.” The impact of representing yourself online can be counterintuitive at times and make for an identity some people just don’t want to have like some of my participants and that is why some have inactive accounts on certain sites. If you’re less active on social media then you are performing your identity offline but for those especially young adults representing identity online can be one in the same concluded by my research. It may take a lot more research to figure out the positives and negative a little more on representing identity online, the data collected so far has shed some light on the growth and use of representation for those constantly online everyday to perform their own identity work/performance.

Work Cited

“'I' And the 'Me'.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 26 July 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'I'_and_the_'me'.

Alter, Adam. “Why Our Screens Make Us Less Happy.” TED: Ideas Worth Spreading, www.ted.com/talks/adam_alter_why_our_screens_make_us_less_happy/up-next#t-18350.

Keidra, et al. “Fandom and Identity/Fandom as Identity.” The Learned Fangirl, 20 Oct. 2015, thelearnedfangirl.com/2013/08/fandom-and-identityfandom-as-identity/.

Harnish, Amelia, and Ariel Davis. “We Need To Talk About This Unhealthy Social Media Behavior.” Transgender Experience Awkward Ted Talk Jackson Bird, Refinery29, www.refinery29.com/2017/03/146733/identity-crisis-causes-social-media-fake-world ….

Humphreys, Lee. The Qualified Self: Social Media and the Accounting of Everyday Life. The MIT Press, 2018.

Samuel, Alexandra. “Who Are You Online? A 360-Degree View.” Harvard Business Review, 23 July 2014, hbr.org/2012/01/who-are-you-online-a-360-degre.html.

TEDxTalks. “TEDxVictoria - Alexandra Samuel: Ten Reasons to Stop Apologizing for Your Online Life.” YouTube, YouTube, 6 Jan. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ui2ZwO-efo0#at=29.

“What Is 'Catfishing'?” Findlaw, consumer.findlaw.com/online-scams/what-is-catfishing.html.

Williams, James. Stand out of Our Light: Freedom and Resistance in the Attention Economy. Cambridge University Press, 2018.