Have you ever had to think twice about posting something on social media due to unwanted criticism?
Have you ever posted something for digital praise?
Perhaps question one’s online identity when you know them in real life?
Maybe you’ve had to present yourself differently depending on the social app?
If you have answered yes to either question or even had a slight thought towards them, this is what we call ‘The Construction of Identity In a Digital World’.
As we know today, the internet has created such a massive space for society to showcase their personality online, and with this being such a key factor in the way we consume/perceive various levels of mediums, it has somehow made it more and more common for our identities to be questioned and somewhat challenged due to concerns of dishonesty. However, before I go into further detail, it’s important to understand the concept of identity and what makes us who we are, and why we do certain things that shape us as not only individuals but members of society. Subsequently, if we know who we are, naturally we’re going adopt the same mindset towards other people such as friends, family, and even celebrities. However, with that being said, I am increasingly noticing that we are also adopting this mindset to digital personas, who most of the time, we do not know at all, which I believe is immensely damaging to society as well as causing a slight disconnection between what is real and what is fake.
Goffman (1959), conceptualized an idea called the ‘impression management theory’ whereby he outlined various factors on how we perceive ourselves to audiences in our ‘front stage’ (our impression on others/performance depending on action/environment/situation/appearance) and ‘back stage’ (how we feel/behave before the front stage performance that may or may not correlate with our front stage behaviour). In a general sense, Goffman explains that perception is strategized and managed in order to convey a particular image with the end goal of reaching social targets. Although Goffman’s theory was clearly geared towards classic human interaction (considering the date of when it was published), it’s definitely not far-fetched to relate this within the digital realm of today.
With regards to Goffman’s theory, I’d like to go back to one of the presented questions at the beginning of my blog: “Maybe you’ve had to present yourself differently depending on the social app?“. In total, there are about 5 main social media apps that we use on a day-to-day basis: Twitter (now called “x” for whichever reason thanks to Elon Musk but I’ll save my rant for another time), Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn and within these apps, there is a distinct yet expected style and behaviour amongst the users. For example many will interact with Instagram for informal use with friends, posting, and commenting with informal language, making the app environment very comfortable and inviting. Presenting your “real self”. Whereas LinkedIn for example, is known for focusing on professional networking and career progression. Now ask yourself this question, would you translate your Instagram persona onto LinkedIn? Arguably, you may do so and it might work. Not to say that you can’t be honest, however, due to societal norms, its clear that our personas are not interchangeable here. We obviously want to be seen as professionals to get our “dream jobs” resulting in us changing our front stage impression to obtain the end goal.
References:
Nickerson, C. (2022). Impression Management & Self Presentation (Goffman). [online] www.simplypsychology.org. Available at: https://www.simplypsychology.org/impression-management.html.
I really enjoyed the way you explained ‘Impression Management Theory.’ The way you broke it down into the parts within helped a lot to understand as a reader. I agree with how the digital atmosphere is creating a new space for identity, and can even add how maybe this is something everyone should be aware of before using the internet. Do you agree?