Bouvier, Gwen
(2012)
How Facebook users select identity categories for
self-presentation.
Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 7 (1).
pp. 37-57.
ISSN 1744-7143
Abstract
This paper focuses on the display of identity on Facebook, and more specifically
on how undergraduate students in Cardiff, Wales, say they express identity on
their profiles. The theoretical context of this study is observed processes of change
in the way we play out identity through what have been described as globalisation,
deterritorialisation and the rise of lifestyle consumer society. The paper is based
on an analysis of responses from a questionnaire and interviews with 100 students
from Media and Communication degrees at the University of Glamorgan. The
data collection is designed to indicate what kinds of self-categorisation are used.
These data are analysed using Social Actor Analysis developed by Machin and
Van Leeuwen. The paper shows that we find a range of identity categories, some
that are based around a biological model of national identity, while others focus
on a belonging to a territory, others on national cultural activities and yet others
link to lifestyle identity. What is most notable in this Welsh sample is the high
use of nationalist identity categories and biological ethnic classification alongside
other lifestyle identities.
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