Sandie Ramirez-Mayorga Summary/Response #4

Sandie Ramirez-Mayorga Summary/Response to:

Gilly, Mary C. Jensen Shau, Hope. "We Are What We Post? Self-Presentation in Personal Web Space." Journal of Consumer Research, vol.30, no. 3, 2003,pp. 385-404. JSTOR.
www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/378616

Summary

In the article, We Are What We Post? Self-Presentation in Personal Web Space, Shau gives four ways in which a person represents themselves online and the strategies they use in order to do so. The first strategy is constructing the digital self, which allows the profile creator to add what others want them to know about them which includes identifying themselves in means that separate things that make them look good with others that may have a negative perspective on their online persona as well as perceptions others may have on the profile creator's real life (RL) self. Although this may vary, the authors add that, "Consumers construct and post several personal Web sites as a form of conspicuous self-presentation whee every elements is chosen for its semiotic potential, The sites vary in complexity and approaches but across informants, we find constructing the digital self as a telepresence to be universal."(394) The second strategy is projecting a digital likeness, although they aren't putting up pictures of themselves, they are creating avatars in which users create a persona that is not always true, but it's how they see themselves. The authors solidify this strategy by adding, "Creating a specif telepresence, a digital self, means imparting a social presence whether it relates to the body or the intangible self-concept."(395) In other words, the avatars users are creating doesn't necessarily have to be true as long as what they share is more adhering to their RL identity. The third strategy is digital association,which the authors describe as "...digital likeness refers to web site creator' efforts to reference their physical bodies, digital association refers to efforts to reference relationships with objects,places and so forth. Digital stimuli are appropriated or manipulated to convey meaning." (396) Users not only have the freedom to share when they want, they also gain the freedom to identify themselves with different objects such as quotes, pictures of certain things and even brands. In a sense, they brand themselves with things that define who the are; whether they can afford them or not. Finally, the fourth strategy is reorganizing linear narrative structures, which allows a user to tell other users about themselves by using hyperlinking objects. Through using hyperlinked objects, users identify themselves with different things that help other users get to know them.

Response

I think Shau and Gilly really took their time to not only see the identity that some users decide to have in the online world, they noticed that branding is pretty much what a user does when they describe themselves in a certain way. I definitely agree with the notion that what we share in online places describes the type of person we are. For example, I could share a certain quote about struggling events in life. It doesn't necessarily mean that I'm going through such events, it just means that I can relate to it. I remember liking the Christian Lou Boutin page on Facebook and not having any pairs myself but by liking the page I kind of made a reference to the fact that I not only like the brand, but that one day I would have a pair of shoes. At the end of the day, we are perceived a certain way to the online world based on what we share, like or post and I believe Shau and Gilly did a pretty good job in defining that in this article.

Quotations

"The social actions required for self-presentation are consumption oriented and depend upon individuals displaying signs, symbols, brads, and practices to communicate the desired impression."(387)

"In essence, we may indeed be what we have self-presented, but we are also a great deal more. Web sites give consumers greater freedom to express their identities through digital association rather than ownership or proximity, Thus, consumers' ideal values may be revealed more clearly in personal Web space than in RL."(387)

"In cyberspace, meaning is communicated far beyond the people in proximity to the communicator; instead, the world is watching. The underlying assumption is that, by studying people's possession portfolios, other gain access to the possessor's intangible self."(388)

"We find that the reasons consumers self-present in personal Web space are similar to the reasons that they self-present off-line in many respects. In both RL and personal Web space, consumers desire to communicate constructed selves."(399)

"In RL, associations is limited; consumers often run up against financial, space, or proximal limitations in associating themselves with brands."(400)