Digital Identity Narrative Through Online Sharing

Online sharing                                          

Online sharing is a pretty customary thing that almost everyone does if they have some sort of social media account. Due to the digital world being so vast, there are simultaneous events of every sort when it comes to sharing online. Anyone who is on any type of social media account like Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, or anyone asking a question on Google is bound to a digital identity that may or may not reveal whom a person is. Through online sharing, others can react to your shares and learn from them as well. Anything from a like or share on social media can determine who you are and what you may be like.

Why do we share?                                                                                   

There are many reasons as to why a person might share on social media, and there truly isn’t a correct answer to why we share, but one article argued, “Consumers construct and post several personal Web sites as a form of conspicuous self-presentation where every element 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.”[1] 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 any sense, they sort of brand themselves with things that define who they are or who they aspire to be.          

Another study shows that online sharing is more of a performance because it’s like a person’s second nature to share certain things.  This article stated, “…maintaining an ideal-authentic balance in light of frictionless sharing and pervasive documentation means not only posting identity-affirming content but also engaging in documentable identity activities.”[2] In other words, some people usually prefer to be a part of an online community because reactions don’t really have to be tied to a person, especially if online avatars that misrepresent their true selves mask the person’s online identity.

Online sharing creates a narrative                                                        

Goffman has done a lot of research on why individuals create second life personas to use in social media. Through his theories, a series of studies have been done in correlation to his findings. The reality of social networking sites is that although its taboo if you lie about who you are, it’s not something that doesn’t occur, in fact it happens way too often. In a study of a group of people who have online personas, some inquired that they would never lie to their readers about anything since they’re trying to uphold an image of who they are without disclosing too much information.[3] Although others didn’t have the same response, whether it was changing their online avatar to resemble someone they would like to look like, or they simply disclosed opinions that would not be appreciated if spoken, some online users described that being true to their suppressed voices was the reason for their anonymous persona.[5] Whether individuals share because they like what they're sharing or they can relate to certain things, this gives readers a chance to determine an image of the person sharing such things, whether they are people who physically know them or just people they meet online.

Teens and online sharing                                                                        

Other studies have shown that the most digitally active population is among teenagers with about 95% of teens in America participating in some kind of social networking sites. Although adults are also present on social networking sites, it has been proposed that teens share more willingly and without fear of what social networking sites can lead to or affect in their future. Through this study, it is seen that although teens share almost the same things, girls took more time in filtering what they share online rather than boys who just post whatever they want without any repercussions. Girls were also more adamant as to what profile picture they shared while guys didn't really care as much. However, the authors of this article found, "Girls' greater concerns about prove y and identity disclosure on social media sites may predispose them to interact with individuals they already know and trust."[4] So even though teens are more willing to openly share, they only openly share among those who already know them.

See also                      

Digital Identity

Digital Narrative

Identity

Online Sharing

References                                  

[1]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

[2]Davis, Jenny L. “Triangulating the Self: Identity Processes in a Connected Era.” Symbolic Interaction, vol. 37, no. 4, 2014, pp. 500–523. JSTOR, JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/symbinte.37.4.500.

[3]Bullingham, Liam. Vasconcelos, Ana C. "'The presentation of self in the online world' : Goffman and the study of online identities." Journal of Information Science, vol. 39, no.1, 2013, pp. 1-12, doi:10.177/016555150000000

[4]Herring, Susan C., Kapidzic, Sanja. "Teens, Gender and Self Presentation in Social Media." International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2015. 2nd Ed.Oxford:Elsevier

[5]Zhao, Shanyang. "The Digital Self: Through the Looking Glass of Telecopresent Others." Symbolic Interaction, vol.28, no.3,2005, pp. 387-405. JSTOR, JSTOR,
www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/si.2005.28.3.387

Picture: https://www.opengovasia.com/articles/7888-australia-posts-identity-platform-to-be-adopted-by-businesses-and-government