THE INTERPRETATION OF ONLINE IDENTITY
ON FACEBOOK AND SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
_________________________________________________
A Thesis
Presented to the Faculty in Communication and Leadership Studies
School of Professional Studies
Gonzaga University
__________________________________________________
Under the Supervision of Dr. John Caputo
Under the Mentorship of Dr. Mark Beattie
__________________________________________________
In Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Arts in Communication and Leadership Studies
____________________________________________________
By
Margaret D. Denninger
May 2011
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Abstract
This study explored the interpretation of identity as it relates to the construction of
self-identity on Facebook. Academic scholarship of online identity development on
Facebook and other Social Networking Sites (SNS) revealed recent research that
juxtaposed online identity makeup within communication and psychological frameworks.
The expansion of Facebook and its design elements drew academic analyses that
questioned the authenticity and fluidity of online identities. In this meta-analysis, three
studies were discussed in depth, approximately 50 studies on Facebook identity
construction were reviewed, and professional critiques on the Facebook effect were
included. Research questions query: the prospect of true identity online; employment of
theories by Mead, Walther, Berger, and media experts; existence of the Facebook „share‟
mission; private security in public media; and Facebook‟s reliability in the media arena.
Future research suggests a reassessment of online identity and Facebook‟s credibility in
the new media space.
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We the undersigned, certify that this thesis has been approved and that it is adequate in
scope and methodology for the degree Master of Arts in Communication and Leadership
Studies.
________________________________________________________________________
Thesis or Project Director
________________________________________________________________________
Faculty Mentor
________________________________________________________________________
Faculty Reader
Gonzaga University
MA Program in Communication and Leadership Studies
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
5
The Problem
5
The Importance of the Study
6
Statement of the Problem
7
Definition of Terms Used
7
Organization of Remaining Chapters
8
CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
9
Philosophical Assumptions and Theoretical Basis
9
The Literature
11
Research Questions
18
CHAPTER 3: SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY
21
Scope of Study
21
Methodology of the Study
21
CHAPTER 4: THE STUDY
26
Introduction
26
Data Analysis
26
Results of the Study
35
Discussion
40
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARIES AND CONCLUSIONS
45
Limitations of the Study
45
Further Study
46
Conclusions
47
REFERENCES
52
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
The Problem
According to Facebook, the mission of this social networking site (SNS) is
“giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected”
(Facebook.com, 2011). In the six years of its existence, Facebook grew from an informal
campus dating site to a popular branch of new media with more than 600 million users
estimated to date (Carlson, 2010). Mark Zuckerberg, the designated founder of
Facebook, weathered legal scrutiny of his controversial development of the open source
platform as documented in the Ben Mezrich book, The Accidental Billionaires: The
Founding of Facebook (2010) and in the acclaimed film, The Social Network (2010). The
Facebook Effect (2010), authored by David Kirkpatrick and the only Zuckerbergsanctioned account in print, painted a more favorable portrait and was published almost
simultaneously with the Mezrich book.
While not the only social networking site, Facebook‟s skyrocketing popularity
brought new features and graphics to users‟ personal pages, and pages dedicated to „fan‟
and „business‟ topics. All of these pages stoked current controversies regarding privacy,
advertising, and psychological concerns surrounding increased Facebook use.
The emerging use of strong user profiles by college students on Facebook drew
scholarly interest on a global level. The rapid rise in teen participation on Facebook
involved relationship updates, group links, and photo sharing that depicted exaggerated
expression structured to attract „Friend‟ lists and audience participation. Scholars
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initiated research on the psychological and evaluated the influence of these tendencies on
societal well-being.
The concept of a self-identity conceived and executed through a SNS was worthy
of further examination in the context of communication and organizational theories as
they relate to new media communication. The practice did not necessarily reveal new
trends but supported existing communication and organizational theories where users
validated group associations as opposed to an engagement of face-to-face (F2F), real
dialogue and true interpersonal communication. Group thinking on Facebook in
particular, and combined with SNS signaled tribal trending, another movement which
could take away from open discussion and support more electronic and personalized
media delivery systems. Prominent media theorists such as McLuhan and Pauly have
warned against this process for it could destroy information exchange for the masses, a
practice that inspires democracy (Postman, p.12).
Therefore, this meta-analysis of scholarship enhanced the study of online selfidentity construction on Facebook and SNS in the context of communication theory and
to interpret the influence increased usage has on self portrayals in this new form of
computer-mediated communication (CMC) and eventually on new and mass media
venues.
The Importance of the Study
Gathering scholarly studies and professional articles about the self-identity
construction on Facebook in particular and in the SNS arena could provide new
assessment of online identity trends in society. Collected works could initiate further
examination of psychological communication theories within specific new media
frameworks and advance the overall media debate on the potential power of the Facebook
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factor. Professional materials about the influence of Facebook in the media marketplace
could also enhance this meta-analysis as Facebook undergoes a conversion from a private
venture to a publicly traded company in the spring of 2012.
Statement of the Problem
An in-depth examination of identity composition studies directed at Facebook and
SNS found extensive user activities were only possible through the open source platform
on Facebook. The format was the impetus for users to form collectives or „groups‟ per
„Likes,‟ „Links,‟ and social associations, virtually polarizing their list of „Friends‟
according to language, culture, ethnicity, and gender and “cultivating cliques” (Ward,
2011). It would appear Facebook had abandoned its mission to share information in an
open format through its own design. Communication theorists have supported and
disputed the reality of true dialogic communication in any online new media venue and
whether or not virtual conversations would benefit and encourage communication basics
and essentials in society.
Definition of Terms Used
The following terms will be used throughout the meta-analysis:
CMC: “Computer-mediated communication” refers to communication that takes place
between human beings via computers and electronic messaging instruments (McQuail,
2005).
F2F:
“Face-to-face” communication is used to describe personal interaction in real life
versus a digital or electronic communications medium (Online Dictionary of Computing,
2003).
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“Friends”: Facebook participant designation and function on profile page where users
establish lists of users who are designated “Friends.” Designated Friends cannot share
Facebook page information without permission of the user (PCMag.com, 2011).
“Likes”: Lists on user profile page of favorite information (PCMag.com, 2011).
“Links”: Digital links on user profile page to websites posted by user (PCMag.com,
2011).
“News feed”: Facebook function on user profile page where designated updates between
designated Friends appear on user profile page in real time (Facebook.com, 2011).
SNS:
“Social networking sites” defines interactive websites of virtual communities for
people to share interests or to socialize online (PCMag.com, 2011).
“Wall”: Area on user profile page where messages are posted for designated Friends to
view and comment (Facebook.com, 2011).
Organization of Remaining Chapters
This meta-analysis was divided into chapters based on the following contents: 1)
Introduction with The Problem, the Importance of the Study, Statement of the Problem,
and Definition of Terms Used; 2) Review of the Literature with Philosophical
Assumptions and Theoretical Basis, The Literature, and Research Questions; 3) Scope
and Methodology with Scope of Study and Methodology of Study; 4) The Study with
Introduction, Data Analysis, Results of the Study, and Discussion; and 5) Summaries and
Conclusions with Limitations of the Study, Further Study, and Conclusions. A list of
References follows Chapter 5.
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CHAPTER 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Throughout the ages, philosophers and scientists have struggled with the search
for one‟s personal identity and more recently, one‟s social identity. An individual‟s
comprehension of him or herself as a discrete, separate entity looms even larger when a
distilled list of characteristics compiled into established categories such as gender,
ethical, and cultural groupings are added to the mix. The study of personal and social
identity is an evolving process which captivates and perplexes the mind. A discussion of
the elements of self-identity within the disciplines of psychology and social psychology
plays a fundamental role in recognizing the self-identity component in communication
theories. This connection helps advance a theoretical analysis of interpersonal
communications‟ practice within new media frameworks.
Philosophical Assumptions and Theoretical Basis
Philosophy, psychology, and communication were destined to form the
foundation of humanness and its extension into relationships through dialogue. Personal
relationships frequently required the use of dialogue, a basic communicative vehicle
where two voices exchange ideas and elevate to a level of comprehension and
understanding. Early in recorded history, dialogue, as a device of interpersonal
communication, intercepted those disciplines in both the literary and scholarly tradition.
Originally a literary form in Greek, Roman, and European civilizations, dialogue
emerged a working philosophy in the writings of Hebraic theologian Martin Buber in
early 20th century Austria. Buber revealed his “I” and “Thou” philosophy positioning
dialogue as the essence of the relationship between a person and self and the person and
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God (Buber, 1923/1958, p. 11). He posited that without this inner communicative
exercise man could not have a relationship with the universe.
At the same period of history, psychologists explored theories that developed the
bedrock of the concept of identity in part through communication with them or by
engaging with others in a secular sense. The work of philosopher and sociologist George
Herbert Mead (1934) re-identified the definition of identity by refining the concept.
Psychologists distinguished „personal identity‟ as facets of a personality where the
process of the individual (“I”) and the stratum that compiles the self (“Me”) are formed
(Mead, 1913/1934). Social psychology, however, inverts this recipe as it posits a
personal identity is formed as a person engages its social environment (Mead,
1913/1934). Mead stated, “The process of conversation is one in which the individual
has not only the right but the duty of talking to the community of which he is a part, and
bringing about those changes which take place through the interaction of individuals
(Mead, p. 168). Here is where the social psychological tradition, as opposed to pure
psychological thinking, runs a new course through communications theory. The two
brands of psychological thinking determine how social identity emerges with the aid of
true dialogic praxis, an essential component in interpersonal communication and
eventually computer-mediated communication and social network relationships.
This viewpoint of Mead laid the groundwork for the symbolic interactionist
theory, which is the lynchpin between the sociological principles of how we label
ourselves together with the paths we take to communicate. Mead believed we craft an
image of our own likeness through the images of others. How we appear to another
person was considered vital because he believed “our behaviorism is a social
behaviorism” (Mead, 1934, p.1). He stated “the whole (society) is prior to the part (the
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individual), not part of the whole” (p. 7). He believed that meaning, language, and
symbolism naturally occur through social interaction, allowing people to group and
develop a sense of self by banding together with common interests (p. 14). The
principles of meaning, language, and thought illustrate how communication theory is
rooted in Mead‟s writings and is the net result of “the study of relating individual
organisms to the social group which we belong” (p. 2).
Further interpretation of Mead indicated that there is “no me at birth” and that
“me is formed through continual symbolic interaction” with family, „Friends‟, and
colleagues (Griffin, 2006, p. 62) and with dialogic interaction where people “bond in
thought and spirit” without necessarily responding in agreement or disagreement
(Kohlrieser, p.37). As others in our circles cultivate them, we progress or digress. Our
identity may be a self-fulfilling prophecy (Griffin, 2006, p. 63) as our expectations are
revealed and validated by the company we keep.
The Literature
Many basic tenets of self and social identity are the mainstay of other
communication theories that crisscross social psychological paths. Charles Berger (1975)
pioneered the uncertainty reduction theory of interpersonal communication, which
attempts to explain how people use the human exchange of ideas to foresee and
determine why people do what they do. At the risk of running into negative
determinants, humans will try to predict if the interaction will be successful or not and
why or why not (Griffin, 2006, p.132). Berger believed we try to reduce doubt naturally
in trying to create understandable relationships and, in all likelihood, help people to opt in
or opt out of desirable or less desirable groups (Berger and Calabrese, 1975, p. 101).
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Berger and fellow researcher Richard Calabrese (1975) recognized that reducing
uncertainty was a “central motive in communication” (p. 100). They said that people
couldn‟t always understand why people acted the way they did (Berger and Calabrese, p.
100) but uncertainty, a due cause of stress and anxiety, was best alleviated anyway
(Berger and Bradac, 1982, p. 7). With the ability to decrease uncertainty, people could
“establish predictable patterns of interaction,” engage in a “regular communication
vehicle,” and form relationships bound by supportive concepts such as similarity and
liking among them (Berger and Calabrese, 1975, p. 101). This roll out of communication
patterns begins to show the strong application of communication theory to new media
and social media technologies.
At the time of Mead‟s writing, the foundation of the social psychological thinking
as it relates to interpersonal communication largely relied on face-to-face (F2F)
interaction. Enter the computer-mediated communication (CMC) era and Berger,
Calabrese, Bradac and others began to study the emergence of cyberspace
communication. Web-based and electronic media presented more interactive waters,
much of which was believed to be fleeting in as much as communicating through
electronic media was typically data-based and out of context.
Theorists such as Joseph Walther, however, who wrote in the early 1990s,
believed CMC could be as successful as F2F when user inspired. Walther‟s social
information processing theory declared that when motivated “to form impressions and
develop relationships” communicators will use interactive tools to make the connection
(Walther, 1992, p.248). He believed that the continuous upgrade of electronic
communication allows connections through multiple channels and that these channels
offer more time to reflect and craft the contents of conversation. As CMC advances real
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time communication platforms, specifically new media such as Twitter and other instant
messaging systems, this finding may be an excellent topic for conversation content
research.
Walther took social information processing one step further by saying a
“hyperpersonal” perspective allows users to communicate online on a closer level than if
they met in person by way of an “anticipated future interaction” (Walther, 2002, p. 245).
Response and actual writing time, tone, and language context allows parties to extend
“psychological time” and “the shadow of the future” invites possibilities for future
meetings electronically (p. 248). Verbal behavior provides the most essential clue and
most likely will “create an idealized image of the sender” (Griffin, 2006, p. 145). This
pleasure portrait, commonly based on “selective self-presentation” of oneself in a
favorable light, implies that most people communicate electronically when they have
interests in common (Lea and Spears, 1992, p. 323) for they do not have real verbal
connections with online acquaintances. They bond online with images they like (p. 324).
During the early 1950s, British psychologist John Bowlby (Holmes, 1951)
presented his landmark attachment theory study which suggested that people, through
their infant relationship with their caregiver, became attached to people who are sensitive
and responsive during the course of social interaction (p. 89). He believed that the ability
to create good relationships was more reliant on environmental controls and not in the
Freudian terms prevalent at the time.
Bowlby‟s social and scientific reasoning paralleled emerging technologies that
enjoy standard usage in today‟s society. In the 1990‟s, the online vehicle progressed; emailing led to instant chats which led to telephone texting which led to web pages which
led to social online networks mania. Technological platforms have permitted shorter,
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crisper, and even free form writing in quicker illustrative formats. This technological
capability unveiled a global contemporary world of instantaneous talk that still resonates
communication tenets echoed in the works of Mead, Berger, Walther, and others. Studies
indicated that people would communicate and bond either in person or electronically with
those whom they share the same issues and answers.
Scholars submit that media culture is at the heart of postmodernism thinking
(Griffin, 2006, p. 354), a formal rejection of the modernism movement prevalent in the
mid-nineteenth century through the early 20th century. Modernist philosophy is defined
as a “socially progressive trend of thought in philosophy, the arts, and science that
rejected the age of industrialization and encouraged experimentation through new
knowledge” (Berman, 1988, p.11). Followers rejected traditionalism, bourgeois society
and the sameness of the industrialized society (Trifonas, 2007, p. 10).
After World War II, the promise of modernism in the form of mass production,
nationalistic imperialism, and the destructive remnants of another world war emerged a
rejection of the modernistic ideal through the postmodernism movement (Griffin, 2006,
p. 354). Philosophers Jean-Francois Lyotard coined the term, offering a skeptical view of
the expansion of a “meta-narrative” belief in the “classifications of society as a whole”
(Lyotard, 1984, p. xxiv) that is created by the compilation of “knowledge that is created
as a commodity to be sold for profit” (p. 4) and not for the general welfare of the public.
Postmodernist philosopher Jean Baudrillard advanced those thoughts as he later wrote
about the impounding media influence of the time, that media images can emerge more
important than their subjects, suggesting society is “the mirror of television” and not vice
versa (Baudrillard, 1988, p. 166). For postmodernists, “the media have become reality”
(Griffin, 2006, p. 355).
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Postmodernist claims are evidenced in new media construction, where people
who alternate styles to create new identities are able to do so within a “new economic
order” of media and technology conglomerates such as Facebook. It is these companies
who generate digital vehicles that sell information and features to feed new identities in a
consumerist society (Griffin, 2006, p. 356). These venues are comprised of people who
group electronically in communities of „Likes” and „Dislikes‟ which augur the new tribal
age of communication. The axiom of Marshall McLuhan, “the medium is the message”
(McLuhan, 1964, p. 19), is now reborn in the new media context.
With the establishment of self-identity via electronic channels, current scholars
began to compare and contrast emerging psychological conceptions of identity
construction and group associations in new media with a focus on social networking sites.
A theatrical vein runs through the core of many of these analyses. With users as both
identity maker and audience participant, users set trends and play important roles on and
off the stage in executing participation on social network sites.
For example, the notion of performance online, particularly in social network
sites, is an extraction of language used, photos posted, and web page construction in the
context of forming user identity. The idea of an individual person distributing private
information in a public way online presents a performance factor that affects the end
product. According to Erika Pearson (2009), the idea of a performance explains how
social interaction on social networking sites is a “discursive activity that straddles public
and private spheres so as to simultaneously maintain individual online identities” (pg. 2).
She believes the benefits of sharing “outweigh” the negatives and does not pose
miscommunication risk even though “online performers shift” between different stages
and “adapt to multivariate users” on different social networks.
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Ervin Goffman (1959) developed the performance theory before the digital age
but envisioned disconcerting issues when “expressive bias of performance,” the act of
people exaggerating personal characteristics for the sake of presentation, occurs in any
environment or stage setting (p. 124). Goffman said the “audience” which in this case is
a fellow SNS viewer, may be also be at fault (p. 127). They might encourage identity
risk because they “accept the self projected [identity] by individual performers [who
subsequently operate] in groups or team associations” (p. 127). In another study, Zita
Pappacharissi (2009) negated and contrasted any comparison of online social interaction
with the “static rationality” of offline presentation. She said that assessment reflects
“imperialist” colonial thinking (p. 19).
Recent studies have reinforced scholarship on the use of theatrical expression in
online identity construction. Leonardi (2010) stated that the development of a virtual
self-identity through SNS interaction constitutes a rhetorical performance (p. 24). In a
recent study by DeAndrea, Shaw, and Levine (2010), language used in creating online
identities was a tool of self-expression largely influenced by cultural factors (p. 430).
Later studies recognize and analyze negative personality traits that appear as a
result of customized online performance making. Narcissism and poor self-esteem in the
real self frequently fuel the need for overly strong and boosted identities on social
network sites (Mehdizadeh, 2009, p. 34). A self-identity itself may have to be
“negotiated” (Farquhar, 2009, p. 149) with oneself in these forums in order to dictate
desired use and audience allegiance.
The predominant action, however, remains relationship making among group
identification strata versus individualistic identity portrayals that display outcast
characteristics and recurring negativity. The user audience tends to avoid the latter and
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as the „Friends‟ list decreases so does viewership and friend lists, a sure sign to a user that
their portrait is an unfavorable one. This digital regard for cyber-resemblance reflects the
application of the tribal culture organizational theory that explains how employees band
together as tribes with habitual opinions about work, impact, and goals.
According to theorists David Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright
(2008), the five stages of tribal culture provide a snapshot view of common group
schemata in order for leaders to implement best practices for improved employee
productivity. An informal observation of social network practices indicate that most
users align themselves within the “I‟m great and you‟re not” stage or “We‟re great and
the other group isn‟t” classification. This is based on formal studies that show similar
traits and „Likes” are the basis for clusters both online and in the social network sphere.
These two stages resonate negativity and tend to discourage positive workplace practice.
Because social network site groupings dictate similar and inclusive points of view, it is
the subject of further study whether increased tribal-like groupings on these sites are
productive and hamper the mission of open discussion.
Studies have begun to segment social networking sites, and particularly Facebook,
because of the capabilities of the technologies themselves. Personal alliances bridged on
Facebook could create “social capital,” benefits users receive from tracking social
relationships with those of similar interests on Facebook (Ellison, Steinfeld and Lampe,
2008, p. 14). This study indicated that campus Facebook user time doubled during the
same period from 2006 to 2007 with users who said it is “part of their daily routine to log
onto Facebook” (p. 11). Further analysis indicated a strong association between
respondents designated to be of “low-esteem” to have remarked that Facebook increased
their socialization and networking (p. 17).
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All media were developed to transport information but new applications, open
platform architecture, and content creation of new technologies arise and are marketed at
warp speed. As a result, digital media is an evolutionary type of media that even
modifies its features more than other media technologies ever have (Lunenfeld, 2001, p.
6). Despite constant reinvention, new media remains under the microscope in terms of its
basic mission and the sociological and psychological repercussions of its increased usage
in society.
McLuhan believed “warfare mentality” ushered in the digital age because of the
customized and personalized nature of digital technology. As mentioned, tribal
groupings via digital media congregate around specialized interests (Griffin, 2006, p. 8)
and the mass consciousness of previous media becomes eroded. Despite his negativist
bent, McLuhan believed in the power of people as artists who would be able to
“encounter technology with impunity” (McLuhan, 1964, p. 10) and withstand the forces
of an encroaching media environment. Postman continued the march against letting the
power and omnipresence of media overrun human behavior, learning, and thinking within
the societal realm. He claimed that we win and we lose when a new technology takes
center stage and affects meaning through its interpretation of the world (Postman, 1985,
p. 10).
Research Questions
The digital age presents daily discussion due to its near constant release of new
technology, global market penetration, and delineation of uses in all parts of the globe.
Facebook, as a social network device, is currently the most popular SNS vehicle
presenting new opportunities for engagement at a skyrocketing rate. Despite its new
applications and presence among legions of users, social networks such as Facebook
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remain a medium that will, like other media and interactive mediums before it, incite
debate concerning its validity, necessity, and psychological effects it could impose on a
society who have chosen to embrace it. A review of scholarly dialogue has opened the
door to further research in an attempt to keep pace with the streaming popularity of social
networking sites.
The purpose of this study is the interpretation of identity as it relates to the
construction of self and social identities composed on Facebook. Specific questions to be
put forward include:
RQ1. Whether the concept of personal identity and social identity on Facebook is
real?
RQ2. Whether or not a fluid exchange of identities on Facebook or the online
environment is possible as it applies to Mead, Walther, and Berger?
RQ3: Whether we need Facebook or any media vehicle in the online public
sphere that permits people to refuse access to groups already in the online public
sphere?
RQ4: Whether sanctioned polarization and privatization of information in the
public sphere of Facebook is ethical and true to the open and shared mission of
Facebook?
RQ5: Whether or not social networking and especially Facebook is media in the
true sense or a growing representation of a new media sphere of amusement?
The contrast of how users react to and approach Facebook and social networking
versus current studies of Facebook communicative practice comprise the premise of this
paper. As we have witnessed how identity is a vital organ of SNS practice, established
communication and organizational theories explain how that identity in new media
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formats replays traditional theory while simultaneously seeds negative customs in
Facebook. A meta-analysis research method will be used and in the next chapter, this
decision will be explained. In that context, this study will delve into the scope and
methodology of the research materials that juxtapose the historical context of identity
with rising Facebook and SNS usage.
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CHAPTER 3: SCOPE AND METHODOLOGY
Scope of Study
Growing interest in Facebook has spurred media interest and academic
scholarship in its psychological and communication effects on identity construction.
While mass media coverage of Facebook participation has been significant, scholarly
research has been more focused on its relationship to self-identity construction and
communication theory. Academic studies have kept pace with the quick growth of
Facebook, revealing supportive and dissenting views on identity development and group
association. This paper explores research regarding the development of multiple identities
online and the symbiotic engagement of Facebook users as participants and audience in a
meta-analysis of the literature.
Methodology of the Study
The methodology for this thesis is a qualitative meta-analysis. Rubin (2010)
stated, “A recent trend in communication research is analyzing published studies to
examine trends in the literature or in the results of research studies” (p. 214). Metaanalysis is a research technique credited to scholar Gene Glass where raw data from
many studies on a single topic is analyzed in order that all information from data analyses
could be utilized (Glass, 2000). A meta-analysis of academic studies of Facebook usage
and identity issues was chosen due to the volume of studies published from 2009 as
Facebook‟s popularity increased from its inception in February, 2004. A few studies
before 2009 are included due to their discussion of online identity construction in general.
Non-academic media materials were included due to the escalating popularity of
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Facebook and its upcoming spring 2012 IPO (initial public offering) into the stock
market.
The purpose of this meta-analysis is the interpretation of identity as it relates to
the construction of self and social identities composed on Facebook. This research study
explored identity construction in an effort to understand communicative effects of
Facebook. It also emerged from an experiment in creating a profile page on Facebook
and other social network sites (SNS).
Strategic communication components and media culture concepts were researched
for their logical extension into the creation of identity profiles per SNS usage. Key word
searches combined the terms identity construction, online communication, and new
media with theories relating to psychology, social psychology, communication, and
organization. Specific terms include: computer-mediated communication, dialogue,
identity, Facebook, media culture, performance, psychology, social network sites, social
psychology, tribal association, and theorists Berger, Buber, Mead, McLuhan, Postman,
and Walther. Peer-reviewed journals, books, online resources, and other materials were
found using Communication & Mass Media Complete, PsychInfo, Computer Source, and
Dissertations and Theses databases. Web searches via Google books and Google Scholar
were used to find source materials in non-academic online catalogs.
Approximately 50 sources of relevant work included academic and professional
studies and reviews of Facebook and its personal web page applications. Fifteen
academic studies focus on self-identity construction. Studies of the effect of Facebook
business pages and increased advertising were not explored in depth in order to focus on
personal page construction, which is the foundation of self-identity development on
Facebook.
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Ten academic studies across several disciplines focused on identity construction
in terms of Facebook. Multi-media capabilities in profile development with the
intersection of ethical culture, language, and photos on personal pages were evaluated
(DeAndrea, Shaw, and Levine, 2010). Five of the ten focused either directly on Facebook
or electronic communication and offered data examining profile criteria selection
stemming from campus and young adult usage (DeAndrea et al., 2010, Papacharissi,
2009, Rybas, 2008, Leonardi, 2009, Farquahar, 2009).
Five studies provided theoretical discussions of identity formation and ran full
circle through different aspects of communication tactics in an online versus offline
venue. A sense of self, personality, performance identity (Pearson, 2009), early stage
identity creation and group selection (Patterson, Bigler & Swann, 2010), and new
frameworks of electronic communication were explored via interactive communication
studies.
The online environment extended discussion of personal communication
processing. Thesis research earmarked the social psychological theory of George Herbert
Mead (Mead, 1913/1934), its foundation in true identity, and its path to interpersonal
communication. Core principles of the uncertainty reduction theory of Berger (1988) and
the social attachment theory of Walther (1992) form a basis for understanding how the
identity mechanics of Facebook could alter or enhance the communicative capacity of
users.
Academic disparities about traditional identity construction include: identity
negotiation on Facebook (Farquahar, 2009); macro-level versus micro-level identity
(Leonardi, 2009); and self-deceptive identity profiling (Donath, 2005). The user as
profiler, audience, and performer is another aspect of identity reconstruction examined
24
through peer review journals. Erika Pearson (2009) asserted a reliance on sites such as
Facebook for “social ties which engage in playful” identity construction and defends
Facebook‟s metaphoric constructs of stage and settings as a “playful place” where “those
who refuse” to participate with fluid identities run the risk of online “atrophy”
(FirstMonday.org, 2009). Her insight is contrasted with Judith Donath (2005) who
warned of Facebook‟s eventual demise due to its lack of reliability.
With a pending 2012 introduction into the stock market and advertising
opportunities on the rise, Facebook generates much business media coverage. Articles
about its 600-million membership and mounting use as a search engine (Renganayar,
2011) and its model digital architecture and page design for future social networks
(Shuman, 2011) are the focus of increasing technoculture coverage. Facebook photo
usage has popular image sharing sites such as Flickr (Kopytoff, 2011) taking notice and
considering website redesign. Each of these themes involves practical applications of
user and audience identity on Facebook.
To develop critical thinking about Facebook‟s astonishing popularity and impact
on self- identity constructs online, material in the next chapter examines the future of
Facebook not only in terms of its process but also in view of media purpose and meaning.
Topics include: the negative effects of communication overload (Swartz, 2011); being
reliant as a “technology and not an interpersonal connection” that “measures success in
size and wealth” (Pauly, 2004); being resistant to communication tenets in terms of true
dialogue (2004); exercising deception with disregard to privacy (BBC, 2011); and
growing skepticism of the mission of Facebook to share and inform. Theoretical
applications of tribal communication (McLuhan, 1964) and technological intrusion
(Postman, 1985) of “the Facebook tsunami” (Renganayar, 2011) launch a broader
25
discussion of ethical and philosophical considerations for Facebook and its identity
frameworks.
Chapter Four will explore and explain the full scope of this qualitative metaanalyses‟ research, theory, and results.
26
CHAPTER 4: THE STUDY
Introduction
The concept of self identity or a person‟s perception of himself and the challenges
of how people handle identity has had a long history in philosophical thought and in
social science (Sherwood, 1965, p. 66). Turner and Oronato (2010) stated that in
research studies the concept of social identity has hinged on the paradigm that the “social
categorization of people into distinct groups” has created “intergroup behavior” in which
participants favored group thinking over others outside the group (p. 319).
This idea reflected the action that in group dynamics “there is a need for positive
social identity” through a desire to develop “ingroups” where “people defined and
evaluated themselves in terms of their group memberships” (Turner and Oronato, 2010,
p. 320). This would achieve a positive self-evaluation of that identity in the form of
„collective self esteem‟ as a collective sense of worth (Crocker and Luhtanen, 1990, p. 2).
This thinking could be emulated in the share philosophy of Facebook which thrives on
group preference features that help develop multi-level user identity across personal
pages.
Data Analysis
Approximately 50 sources of research materials covering academic studies,
theoretical discussion, and professional commentary on the development of self-identity
on Facebook and SNS were analyzed to cover the scope of this meta-analysis. The sheer
volume of interest in Facebook and SNS as a computer-mediated activity (CMC)
indicated a strong corollary between awareness and concern about Facebook usage and
27
its ramifications. Three studies executed during the short time period of 2009 through
2010 alone provided solid timely sources for an examination of self identity construction
on Facebook and SNS through the lens of psychological and communication patterns.
They were presented in depth here in chronological order to offer a sampling of
scholarly, progressive accounts of the Facebook self identity topic.
Lee Keenan Farquhar (2009) wrote “Identity Negotiation on Facebook.com” and
conducted a two-phase dissertation. First, he analyzed the negotiation of identity
construction on Facebook by studying the website‟s basic components that determine
identity performance. He said usage of those features support symbolic interaction
theory where anticipated responses predict future activity. These actions helped to create
predicted “exaggerated performances that serve to distinguish in-groups from outgroups” and “reduce misinterpretations” (p. 1). Second, through a qualitative study
involving 349 Facebook college student users and 48 follow-up interviewees, Farquhar
(2009) analyzed how identities were fluid, stemming from strict profile outlines to group
affiliations and preferences which required different identity construction.
Farquhar (2009) stated that identity fluctuations could be “enmeshed in
overlapping contexts” and that “diverse social onlookers may constrain individual action”
(p. 48). Farquahar also stated that opportunities through online features could allow for
“strategic maneuvering within a network,” resulting in a drop in deep or intimate
relationships and an increase in acquaintances (p. 48). Though identities merge in a fluid
fashion, Farquhar stated that Facebook as an entity tries “to enforce a single identity,” (p.
59) opposing symbolic interactionist thinking (Mead, 1938) which perpetuates the ebb
and flow of face-to-face social communication over time.
28
Notions of Facebook community, consumption, and isolation were compared and
contrasted with an “expanded citizenry” capability on the web (Farquhar, 2009, p. 48).
Farquhar stated that identity performance is not “stable or singular, but rather shifts based
on social context” (p. 49). Facebook users have chosen specific text and imagery
“components” (p. 6) that create identity performances with an appeal for many audiences.
Farquhar said this practice reflected a performance that “is a negotiation between
performer desires and audience expectations and reactions” (p. 6).
Farquhar discussed how, based on his results, Facebook and then in turn the user,
“exercised control over presentation but could not control message interpretation” (2009,
p. 57). His research questions delved into: “exaggerated performances” promoted on
Facebook to bolster feedback and “best in group” selection; how users and audiences
digested much information through Newsfeed features such a “pegs and cues;” and how
pop culture imagery culled from mass media group identities shaped the “nuanced self”
(p. 212). A significant observation indicated Facebook users accepted profile
information as “more or less accurate;” they were able to glean “a good understanding of
others based on profiles” though they admitted their own profiles “are not complete or
accurate representations of themselves” (p. 230). Facebook‟s allowance of blocking
profiles, or in a sense, private information in a public venue, supported the theatrical
metaphor of “staging” (p. 211) and according to Farquhar, casts a user as an actor
continually performing (p. 212).
The respondents were split evenly between male-female genders with 48
consenting to follow-up interviews but only if conducted online (Farquhar, 2009, p. 228).
According to Farquhar, most respondents found Facebook to be a link between onlineoffline relationships. Most respondents considered Facebook discussions superficial, with
29
content geared toward “social status and desirability” and photos, largely depicting pure
party themes, focused on “physical body of the performer” to trigger conversation (p.
212).
Moving toward online technology‟s effect on society, Farquhar examined the
potential of individualistic thinking in online vehicles and particularly Facebook in an
effort to gauge societal impact as individuals and group affiliations (2009, p. 38). He
concluded that online engagement creates a “technological seam” (p. 38) where people
shift online and offline worlds and are ultimately affected by the transmissions. He
believed that potentially Facebook “allowed for deeper development of the self, the other,
and relationships” and its resources were rich due to “all sorts of metadata” available
through the site (p. 38).
“Networked individualism, isolating effects of technology, and the collapse of
context” (Farquhar, 2009, p. 32), a predicament he described where individuals at the
center of large networks socialize little and their contextual world is created through
minimal network content, were then discussed. The author noted prior research believed
this practice, where people with small offline networks gradually align themselves online
with fewer networks, ultimately reduced personal areas of knowledge and could have
devastating effects on society (p.42).
Overall, the Farquhar dissertation provided comprehensive and timely data about
Facebook through raw text, original photos, and continuing conversations with study
respondents. His ability to thread themes between a popular, contemporary online
vehicle and established theorists such as George Herbert Mead and Erving Goffman
permitted a connective discussion of Facebook within traditional communication
concepts of self-identity formulation.
30
Negative comments about the study included a mental struggle to link facetious
Facebook editorial material quoted from the author‟s research with the serious effects of
online technology on societal norms and the cultivation of Facebook use in the political
arena and in the democratization process. This was the result of confined demographics
for the study. Only college age students from the Midwest without categorizing any
cultural, ethnic, geographic, or economic demographics were part of the study. The
author did not delineate any comments by gender, eliminating other possible threads
The purpose of the DeAndrea, Shaw, and Levine‟s study “Online Language; the
Role of Culture in Self-Expression and Self-Construal on Facebook” (2010) was to
analyze through language used online the intercultural effects on self-expression and selfidentity construction on Facebook. Actual Facebook pages of 120 Caucasian American,
African American, and Ethnic Asian Americans were categorized according to the multifaceted linguistic analyses (DeAndrea et al., p. 430) criteria. Half men and half women
were divided equally among the three ethnic categories. Four hypotheses were tested,
with most results for each question indicating culture influenced the presentation of
individuals‟ self-identity online, and that profile similarities fell into cultural patterns
which were categorized after the study. Scholars stated that intercultural issues were a
significant research theme because people do not develop identity “in a universal
fashion” (Markes & Kitayama, 1991, cited in DeAndrea et al., p. 428).
Caucasian Americans and African Americans were grouped in the Western
culture and Ethnic Asian Americans composed the Eastern culture. Self-descriptive
language in the new online context revealed differences between accepted beliefs of
traditional groupings such as independent (Western culture) and interdependent (Eastern
culture) self-construal. Word patterns overall indicated that Western culture users were
31
more individualistic in description and personal pronoun usages versus Asian users who
more often aligned themselves through language with goals, groups, or relevant
relationships minus personal pronouns.
Facebook page results indicated that African Americans offered the most
individualistic descriptive language through text and features and highlighted religious
affiliations more than the other two groups. Ethnic Asians wrote most of social
affiliations while Caucasian Americans posted three times more profile photos. Because
Facebook is currently most popular in the U.S., U.K., and Canada, it was suspected that a
propensity for individualistic expression was expected.
The study was valued because it surveyed actual Facebook data or “free write
text” from the “About Me” section. Researchers posited that this section had “high face
validity” though it did not follow accepted coding of the Kuhn and McPartland (1954)
Twenty Statements Test about self-concept which the authors termed “forced” and
“nonmeaningful” (DeAndrea et al., 2010, p. 433). The study did not incorporate other
features on said pages nor did it give specific examples of text usage to support their
hypotheses. They did describe coding categories and some terminology usage such as
frequency of personal pronouns and relationship terms. It did not differentiate users on
any other basis such as geographic or economic demographics but did determine that the
Ethnic Asian Americans were residents of the United States. The researchers were
enthusiastic about pursuing cultural influence through language with online self-construal
and the disparity between Caucasian Americans and other groups regarding photo usage
on Facebook.
In Narrative as Self Performance: The Rhetorical Construction of Identities on
Facebook Profiles, Marianne Leonardi (2010) studied the shaping of self-presentation
32
online via Facebook. Within the structure of Goffman‟s (1959) presentation of self and
Burke‟s (1951) conception of rhetoric, user identity formation using narrative
“fragments” in profiles and the online effect of “these narrative performances” are
shown. Leonardi (2010) argues that “narratives are a type of rhetorical performance, and
that both narratives and identities have symbolic meaning and rhetorical components”
(p.vi).
The author devised a three-tier approach to a narrative performance of self
construction study: to bulk data via her self-developed Narrative Performance Model;
conduct follow-up focus groups; and to clarify micro- versus macro-level activities
behind feature use on Facebook profiles, along with the results of those options, and the
role of culture in those selections.
Actual text from 100 Facebook profiles indicated students “use both linguistic and
paralinguistic features” such as non-traditional forms of grammar and writing” to present
their narrative performance of identity online and to convey five types of identity profiles
(Leonardi, 2010, p. vii). “Cultural capital” was the foundation of these “narrative
selves,” enabling a “hierarchical arrangement of society by highlighting class
differences” (p. vii).
According to Leonardi, relationship issues suffered from media effects on
Facebook usage in the focus group transcript analysis. The respondents believed users
had to keep Facebook relationships “real”, “official,” within “friending” boundaries, and
within “relational boundaries: friends and family” (2010, p. 148). Leonardi pointed out
that it was essential to study the effects of self construction online due to an increasing
number of cybercrimes resulting in self destruction offline. This was because people now
live in both real and virtual worlds (p. 2), a practice that leads to disorientation,
33
insecurity, and a lack of “understanding of life.” Thus, Leonardi believed we needed to
understand the “self” in relation to living in these two worlds (p. 2).
Leonardi (2010) focused on how virtual identities present new ways to interrelate
self performance through word and imagery. She refuted prior thinking that forms of
rhetoric must be “one-dimensional and stable,” for the virtual context expanded this
presentation (p. 5). Leonardi asserted that research methods of “interpretive” versus
“post-positivist” scholars prove that reality, and in effect, virtual identity construction,
would be effected at the local level by a person‟s culture. This refutes the latter scholar‟s
thinking that the individualistic identity formation is only possible through the demolition
of “large systems” (p. 6). She asserted that virtual self is created through the philosophy
of Kenneth Burke (1951/1969, 1966) where language represents symbolic action and
identity is “performed” (p. 11). Her Facebook profiles‟ analysis mirrored this theme as
users identify themselves through group and pop culture affiliations, and share “cognitive
schema” through online messages in group narrative form (p. 10). She claims that
profilers “construct narratives of their idealized selves” and use a “multitude of
impression management [website] features” (p. 12) as self certification.
Leonardi (2010) asserted that scholars must view virtual identity as the “reimagined virtual self” and envision virtual identity as the process of transforming and
reconstructing the “offline-persona into an online-persona” (p. 18). According to her,
this concept of virtual self realizes its identity as it functions through “virtual simulation
and social interaction” (p. 24). The text and imagery constituted a rhetorical performance
online where users “control the actions and outcomes” (p. 26) to meet their desires and
this manipulation of information can lead to “sincere” or “deceptive” identities (p. 26).
She stated the human narrative on Facebook is viewed in “fragmented forms” of symbols
34
and text, counter to the strict format of a non-virtual narrative. Leonardi stated that this
approach was valid because storytelling on this website involved the “rhetor [user]
starting their story” (p. 28) and the users continuing the story by filling in more
“fragments” per Facebook format.
Leonardi‟s profile page (2010, p. 9) analysis provided five categories of the „self‟
of profilers: 1) Essential Self (“worthwhile”); 2) Desired Self (“fulfillment”); 3)
Preferential Self (“choices”); 4) Dynamic Self (“activity”); 5) Demanding Self
(“concealment”). The Focus Groups offered follow-up data in the form of spontaneous
conversations.
Leonardi (2010) offered a comprehensive and new approach to understanding
identity construction online and on Facebook. She dismissed established thinking that
traditional identity narratives are not possible on the website, noting fragmented text and
Facebook features make identity construction possible (p. 15, 206). She provided a
Narrative Performance Model (p. 8, p. 82) and graphic to explain her critical thinking.
She launched a new debate on the role of the user-reader as interpreter, contributor, and
influencer of narrative identity construction online. Her profile research analysis was
supported by raw text data and buttressed by qualitative, focus group research which
magnified Facebook‟s media effects on relationships and networking (p. 148).
While the study asserted the practice and fluidity of identity construction on
Facebook had merit, the study did not include any calculation of user time spent
continuously changing these applications versus the offline version. Leonardi (2010)
denied that online identities under constant change could be falsehoods while established
interpretations consider them deceptive. This contrasted her study‟s strong allegations
against cybercriminal activities as noted in her Introduction. Her descriptions of selected
35
language in the study embellished Facebook application text. Branding Facebook badges
and tags to be “paralinguistic features” (p. 9, 191, 192) lent contemporary gloss to a lack
of real word interpretation and description. Though her argument stemmed from
language usage and its relationship to meaning, Leonardi limited her photo analysis
which is a vital part of the fragment form of narrative identity construction online and a
popular Facebook feature. In addition, unlike other identity researchers, her concept of
cultural capital relied on artistic pursuits while other researchers interpreted culture to
mean ethnic background and related demographics.
Results of the Study
The remaining studies regarding online and Facebook identity focused on parallel
or convergent themes as they related to self identity construal in the online arena and its
relationship to offline identity formation. Many had differing approaches disputing
online integration with offline living but included similar themes. A sampling of
significant studies that centered on self identity construction, communication, and social
psychological themes on Facebook and SNS is outlined on Table 1. The vertical list
includes study content, author, and year of publication. Horizontal headings mark the
focus in the context of self identity discussions that were covered in each study.
Overlapping themes prove that in its short lifespan Facebook has ignited extensive
dialogue about its presentation, its communicative effects on society, and its continual
flow of free data about users around the world.
Though traditional self identity is the foundation of its scholarship, Facebook has
ushered in a distinct portfolio of studies where its premier establishment in the online
environment is the lynchpin. Studies shown in Table 1 probed that topic and either added
new or reinforced traditional perspectives on Facebook and technocultural connections to
36
everyday life. Recurring themes involved study of Facebook raw data found on profilers‟
personal pages and the use of Facebook features that provided the tools to create identity,
absorb reaction, and develop group links to advance audience traffic. For example,
Rybas‟ (2008) asserted that Facebook was in essence responsible for relationship activity
with diverse ramifications. Rybas argued that Facebook participation created a new
playbook in relationship tactics “for the sake of a uniform representation of a network
member” (p. 99).
Table 1
Sampling of Facebook/SNS studies shows increasing number of Facebook/SNS studies
on self-identity formation, performance, self-presentation, and culture concerns.
FB/SNS
Study
Authors
Year
Self-Identity College
Of
Construction Age
Publication
Lea & Spears
1992
x
Donath & boyd
2005
x
Ellison et al
2007
x
Miller
2008
x
Rybas
2008
x
Patterson et al
Bryant & Marmo
2008
2009
DeAndrea et al
Performance Culture
& SelfPresentation
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
2009
x
x
x
x
Papacharissi
2009
x
x
x
Pearson
2009
x
x
x
Ellis
2010
x
x
x
Farquhar
2010
x
x
x
x
Leonardi
2010
x
x
x
x
Mehdizadeh
2010
x
x
x
37
Ngyuen
2010
x
x
Taylor & Usborne 2010
x
x
x
x
x
Note: Studies published in the same year are listed in alphabetical order and not in order
of other significance.
Ellison, Steinfield, and Lampe wrote in 2007 that their survey of 236
undergraduates on Facebook revealed a positive effect on “social capital” where students
gained self-esteem and psychological health as a result of Facebook engagement. Group
associations with people viewed in a positive light was deemed a Facebook basic and
considered the essence of SNS communication. It was assumed the result of decreased
uncertainty through increased identity with a unit (Lea and Spears, 1992, p. 324;
Patterson, Bigler, and Swann, 2008, p. 666). Nguyen (2010) analyzed making meaning
and identity through ethnic and symbolic style trends evident on Facebook pages of
Hmong youth living in Wisconsin. Miller (1995) believed his study of the presentation
of self in “electric life” would inevitably force “new frames of interaction and identity” in
all online communicative vehicles.
Mehdizadeh (2010) analyzed 100 student Facebook users aged 18-25 and
confirmed the notion that narcissists, according to the traditional National Personality
Inventory (NPI-16) coding (2010, p.359), had engaged in more Facebook activity than
those users who demonstrated low self-esteem (Mehdizadeh, 2010, p.359). The author
was one of few researchers who delineated male-female profile page indicators, noting
that men displayed more self-promotion in text versus women who parlayed more selfpromotion in photos (Mehdizadeh, 2010, p. 360). Usborne & Taylor (2010) proposed a
theory of self that emphasizes the primacy of collective cultural identity versus individual
cultural creation for personal identity construction and psychological well-being.
38
Papacharissi (2009) found SNS self-presentation styles and the cultivation of taste
performances in spaces described as privately public and publicly private, was a mode of
sociocultural self identification in social networking communities such as Facebook. A
study presented at the 2009 National Communication Conference study by Bryant and
Marmo (2009) posited that Facebook had emerged as a “social utility” (p. 13) where
offline relationships and friendships were largely maintained online among college
students, a group with high daily usage rates. Donath and boyd (2005) cited SNS
networking to be a burgeoning part of life, noting that networks can act as a “boundary”
to extend our world or limit its guests. Its value depended not on “increasing social
girth” (2005, p. 13) but on the “expenditure of energy” needed to maintain personal
networks and reap its benefits regardless of size (2005, p. 14).
Many studies cited relied on the social psychological guidance of George Herbert
Mead (1913/1934) and his excavation and construction of a modernist, social self identity
blueprint in order to create a foundation within the communication discipline. Facebook
features could appear to have reincarnated what Mead outlined to be the need for
“gesture” that “calls out for a response” (p. 97) in order for thought to exist and
communication to ensue. Farquhar noted that though written prior to the digital age,
Mead‟s theoretical framework still “provided a good analytic utility” for studying
Facebook as a “descriptor of social life” (2010, p. 60). The communication philosophies
of Charles Berger (1988) regarding his uncertainty reduction theory and John Walther
(1992) concerning his social attachment theory did much to substantiate and envision the
Facebook effect on self presentation as self identity evolves.
Moving away from academic research, Facebook has generated much business
and consumerist coverage because of its rapidly increasing user rate. Because more users
39
will generate more communicative interaction and multiple identity handling, it is
essential to update the state of Facebook in the media marketplace. Current articles
indicate Facebook has a 600-million global membership rate, though the majority resides
in the United States, Canada, the U.K, and parts of Europe. Global usage outside these
countries has stepped up against MySpace.com, even though Facebook has been blocked
intermittently in several countries, including Pakistan, Syria, and People‟s Republic of
China, Vietnam, Iran, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia, and Bangladesh. It has also been banned
at many places of work to discourage employees from wasting time (Renganayar, 2011,
para. 9).
A keen eye has been kept on user numbers due to Facebook‟s pending IPO
(Initial Public Offering) into the stock market in spring 2012 with the website‟s net worth
currently estimated at $65 billion. The website‟s mounting advertising inclusion is a
marketer‟s delight because user preferences are clearly categorized, paving the way for
merchandisers to find and entice customers. The blend of “real validated identity
information and extensive information about individuals” could produce unparalleled
thought (Kirkpatrick, 2010, p. 143). Professionals note Facebook‟s user rate has far
surpassed 275-million Yahoo and 40 million-AOL peak e-mail participants in far less
time (Ashton, 2011).
Consumerism is just one of future appeals for Facebook. The addition of business
pages and links to commercial ventures has earmarked even more Facebook usage as a
search engine. Renganayar reported that Facebook was emerging the search engine of
choice in Asia because it provides “a warm personal experience compared with Google's
`cold' search results” (2011, para 8). Companies responded to the intimate Facebook
40
atmosphere and create a presence, “whether it's a fan page, a business group, or even
through purchased advertising, giving face to any “faceless business” (para.8).
Customers are „fans‟ and „friends‟ and may reach companies directly “without having to
go through an impossible bureaucratic maze" (2011, para. 9). For example, Yahoo
recently partnered with Facebook to include their „Share‟ and „Like‟ applications on the
Yahoo site. This move was made in an effort to distribute Yahoo content to Facebook
contacts and to drive multiple searches (Efrati, 2011, para 2).
According to industry experts, the Facebook advantage is largely due to its open
digital architecture. Its media platform and page design has made more facile functions
available and eliminated the fear of creating a personal website. As a result, the
architecture has not gone unnoticed by competitors and is now the bedrock of new design
for future social networks (Shuman, 2011). There have been many lucrative partnerships
between Facebook and technology giants such as Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo
(Kirkpatrick, 2010, p.178) for software advertising linkups. The Facebook photo
blueprint recently surpassed photo-sharing site Flickr (owned by Yahoo) in terms of user
visits and Flickr is now remodeling its page design format to parallel Facebook image
capabilities of specialty tags, higher resolution, and storage servers (Kopytoff, 2011).
Discussion
Beyond the commercial hoopla of Facebook is its expanding role in the media
cosmos. A philosophical and ethical examination of Facebook in terms of media purpose
and meaning will be needed, a discussion that does not emerge from its new media
underpinnings but rather from its execution, function, and responsibility as a media
vehicle. Minus its technical and profitable bearing is a media vehicle that will exert
41
influence on the populace and place Facebook under the microscope as a media venue
shaping communication and identity characterization on both personal and collective
levels. It is clear that Facebook has enhanced relationship-making and research- seeking
activities but the discussion begs further examination of its position as a powerful media
entity, its goals, and the responsibility it now holds.
Facebook is interactive but performs in a non face-to-face context, forcing it to be
recast from a singular media vehicle to hybrid media classification. Without original
editorial content, Facebook is a purveyor of processed information which, even with
personal data linked to that data, could then be treated as public information. Though
Facebook allows the transfer of original and previously published print and moving
editorial content, its control over page construction techniques and subsequent identity
creation mechanisms blurs the demarcation between its existences as real media with
responsibilities versus its subsistence as an unfiltered transfer station. Deception and
privacy concerns have become an overriding issue especially for older Facebook
members and online entities in general, and there is a groundswell of rejection being
recorded (BBC podcast, 2011).
Scholars and professionals contend that the Facebook effect and interference in
virtual identity creation raised the identity construction issue to a new level.
Communication overload has been interfering in user tasking at such a rapid pace that
scholars note chronic media multi-taskers suffer from severe distraction (Swartz, 2011,
para. 22). To combat user fatigue and future user drop-off, Facebook recently hired
psychologists, sociologists, and user-researchers to be part of „social‟ redesign efforts to
42
streamline user processing and information integration in accordance with better brain
function (Swartz, 2011, para. 30).
The Facebook mission as dictated on its website is to share and inform. Facebook
founder Mark Zuckerberg has also stated that a goal of the website was “to help people
understand the world around them” (Kirkpatrick, 2011, p. 143). For understanding to
exist, media theorists posit that dialogue must be present in order for human
communication to function through thought and meaning. Martin Buber (1958) wrote
that man can only become “whole” in the virtue of a relation to another self (p. 168) and
true conversant dialogue plays part in this exchange, a position which leaves open the
possibility of communicating and understanding through thought and meaning via virtual
dialogue online.
Robert Arnett wrote that there is “tension between modern media and dialogic
theory and praxis” (2004, p. xvi) where dialogue relies less on self-expression than on
responsiveness. Media scholar John J. Pauly posed a negative outlook on the subject of
dialogue through mediated communication; he believes talking and dialogue is a “direct
people to people encounter” (2004, p. 244). Because the media sends information in a
“messaginated” fashion to group audiences, Pauly stated that most media “rely on
technology rather than interpersonal commitment” (p. 244); and that dialogue requires
“depth” while the audience delivery system lets media “settle for shallowness” and rely
on success measured “in size and wealth” (p. 244). He asserted that media is not
dialogistic in nature despite efforts to involve audiences through technology.
Media as an exigent agent posed issues for dialogue from an informational
standpoint. Pauly stated that it is incorrect to extract media from dialogue because both
43
media and audiences are grafting information from “media-driven materials of mass
produced books and Internet sources” in a mass-produced symbolic form (2004, p. 245).
He believes these factors affect group identities ideologies because they have turned to
the mass media to find symbolic discourse in the tradition of democracy but have not
found true dialogue which is the essence of democracy (p. 246).
A debate about a possibility of virtue in virtual dialogue on Facebook and SNS
resurfaced regarding philosophy and ethics in media construction. Pauly wrote that
“cultural approaches alter the discussion” of dialogue in media and he turned down the
notion of “human symbol-making” where reality co-construction is accepted and
“multiplicity and fluidity of the self” is recognized (2004, p. 251).
The responsibility of media to inform and to be in the public interest may not be
established in the purveyance of information alone but in the effects it has on society and
the creation of meaningful self-identity. Marshall McLuhan‟s public probe into
understanding media in the electronic age reverberates in new media operations. He
believed the daily use of technology dominates society‟s unconscious yet “sensory
experience” with a popular medium (Griffin, 2006, p. 2) and that technology emerges “an
extension of ourselves” (p. 2). McLuhan‟s belief that these media-life extensions cause
“cultural change” (p. 4) supports scholarly recognition of the Facebook and SNS effect
on multiple identities, relationships, and group association. McLuhan's insight was that
any medium affects its society not by its editorial product content, but by the media
forum itself (1964, p. 22). In addition, his electronic age of media could have included
digital advances; the customization of digital media and group affiliations resonate on
44
Facebook with the emerging “tribal warfare mentality” of exaggerated personal branding
and tastes (Griffin, 2006, p. 6).
Media scholar Neil Postman frequently challenged the media with moral
positioning of its product and the shape of technology as entertainment and amusement.
Echoing McLuhan, he said media form dictated the content it can offer. Facebook could
offer variety through its website features but the features themselves would have created
“a symbolic code as a piece of technology” and thereby would have developed a machine
which people now use to reinvent their identities per the dictates of the Facebook format
(Griffin, 2006, p. 14). In describing this premise in Technolopy, Postman forecast the
Facebook function of creating identities via their profile format when users adapted
themselves “to the requirements of new technologies” (Postman, 1992, p. 70).
Summaries and conclusions of the academic studies, professional commentaries,
and research questions are presented in Chapter Five.
45
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARIES AND CONCLUSIONS
Limitations of the Study
The basis for this meta-analysis was the interpretation of identity as it relates to
the construction of self and social identities composed on Facebook and SNS. The
extensive popularity of communicating through the latest new media vehicle generated an
upsurge of research on how people composed their identity through Facebook. Scholarly
concern for psychological well-being, healthy communication, and media influence on
society prompted much academic research and professional review on new directions of
self-identity construction online and offline. The global success of the Facebook social
networking site also initiated specific research on its usage and identity profile
generation.
Academic research into studies about Facebook and SNS, therefore, was limited
to the self-identity function, its attachment to communication and organizational theories,
and to Facebook‟s emerging role as a media function. Scholarship analysis was centered
on Facebook because of its rapid rise in global users which industry analysts estimate at
600-million. Facebook was also the main concern because features such as Profiles,
Newsfeed, photo albums, and Links helped to form self-identity frameworks that fueled
the site‟s popularity and gave rise to its new role in relationships. The focus on Facebook
was also conducted to highlight the volume of self-identity research generated since the
Facebook user rate expanded. Despite the success of other SNS, these sites directed their
site‟s design and growth to target audiences, prompting their exclusion from this metaanalysis.
46
Scholarly debate regarding the communication and organizational theoretical
connection to online identity construction was included, providing a basis for concern
about Facebook and SNS effects on societal communication. Commentaries regarding
the media theories of established scholars were included and analyzed in order to support
or deflect criticisms and connections of self-identity composition as experienced through
a new media lens. Discussions of self-identity issues through traditional, offline media
were excluded in order to focus on specific online concerns.
Expert commentary of Facebook in the marketplace was included in order to
explain the magnitude of possible effects of SNS on global discourse and human
communication in new media in general. Professional review of SNS did not include
other sites (Twitter, LinkedIn) or uses for political causes, humanitarian efforts, business
objectives, or other endeavors. These subjects would have involved disciplines not in the
scope of the study. Material chosen should not be read as bias but as a balanced study on
the growing significance of self-identity composition in online and offline ventures. The
topic portends to be of great interest as Facebook approaches a public stock offering and
a conversion from private enterprise to public company.
Further Study
Interactive technologies such as Facebook will continue to stimulate interest
because of their vast potential for amusement and profit. The open source digital
architecture of Facebook has become the model for online entities outside the SNS
framework, indicating other media entrepreneurs will mirror their practices and attract
wider demographics. This prompts the need to research how self-identity variations affect
the general public.
47
More specific studies of gender usage, age groups, ethnic trends, and cultural
styles as they relate to identity formation should be conducted. Most of the academic
reports focused on college age participants who constitute most but not all Facebook
users, and centered on U.S. participants, even though Facebook user rates are higher in
Westernized countries. The use of multi-variant identities should also be studied to
expose potentially deceptive practices and to question the psychological need to compose
multiple identities online.
It is recommended that photo usage on Facebook and on SNS be studied. SNS
servers with greater photo capabilities have been documented and future analyses should
focus on photo selection and identity portrayal according to gender, age, and other
groups. Few studies tapped photo usage as a separate entity or referred to them through
photo captions and „tag‟ usage or they concentrated on user language alone.
More study of Facebook in its emerging media role is recommended. With its
pending stock offering in the spring of 2012, the company will be publicly owned and
entering a greater realm of responsibility. Its validation as a trustworthy resource,
credible search engine, and purveyor of ethical media practices will be on demand. With
Web 5.0 on the horizon (Kambil, 2008), Facebook activity will likely expand further and
require more examination as an accountable, ethical media vehicle.
Conclusions
Researchers and the public continue to be fascinated with Facebook and SNS,
almost as much as psychologists analyze self-identity. The latter, along with
communication theorists, have established that the two work together to create human
relationships through dialogue. According to Mead (1934, p. 2), conversation depicts
where identity is comprised as an image of ourselves that reflects the image of others.
48
Berger (1975, p. 101) utilized his uncertainty reduction theory to explain why people
bond with more desirable groups and that eliminating uncertainty was a basic
communication rite. Because most theories involved F2F activities, CMC and then SNS
discussions tried to leverage the dialogic practice from offline to online through linguistic
features, photos, and preset symbols. Walther (1992, p. 248) saw the CMC inclusion as a
communication asset, indicating online exchange encourages communication because it
offers more time and thought to respond through online dialogue. Online imagery and
symbolism, however, posed a problem for Lea and Spears (1992, p. 323) who believed
people were only bonding with images they liked and not initiating discourse with
opposing views.
Scholars accept that media culture is the core of postmodernist thinking. Lyotard
(1984, p. 4) believed the commodification of knowledge became a for-profit practice and
Baudrillard (1988, p. 166) refuted media for becoming reality itself versus an information
vehicle. New media allowed group association online, supporting McLuhan‟s tribal
concept amidst future communication. The establishment of self-identity evolved within
new media as participation grew in interactive forums such as Facebook and SNS.
Elements of performance began to intersect with online identity profile making,
thus adding exaggerated characteristics, group links, and the emergence of multiple
identities supporting rhetorical performances on and offline. All these activities sprung
from a need to attract an audience to a Facebook page, thus complicating the role of user
as participant, player, and spectator.
Scholars have continued to debate the significance of virtual identities termed
„fluid‟ by supporters of on and offline environments. While it is clear this process is
initiated through SNS participation, it has not been confirmed if this poses psychological
49
harm and whether or not this is an acceptable practice. Identity construction questions
feed group associations and tribal tactics which polarize people as opposed to enhancing
dialogic efforts. Scholars have, however, taken sides as to whether or not true dialogue
can take place in the online versus offline environment. This argument is vital for it
paves the way for SNS interaction to enhance communication and interpersonal
relationships that occur online.
The customized nature of digital communication supports McLuhan‟s tribal
approach to media technologies (Griffin, 2006, p. 4). Both McLuhan and Neil Postman
believed in a concerted effort to explain media usage to the populace in order that people
might ward off the effects of a media-run society.
A review of the study‟s research questions poses discussion of their topics. In
response to RQ1, it would appear to many scholars that the concept of personal and social
identity on Facebook is real to Facebook users. Extensive research into self identity
construction on Facebook and its frequent use confirms that more and more people are
continuously engaged in self-expression through Facebook features and format,
indicating the practice must appear authentic to them in that environment. Whether or not
a fluid exchange of identities on Facebook occurs as it applies to Mead, Walther, and
Berger is permissible yet debatable. Per RQ2, Mead and Berger‟s thinking (self-identity
as reflection of others and reducing anxiety by bonding with commonalities) do occur but
real conversation cannot occur without F2F exchange. Walther‟s theory disputed the F2F
requisite as he believed CMC enhanced online communication.
The need for a media venue in the online public sphere that blocks access to
information (RQ3) is debatable yet already in play through paid subscriptions on the
Internet. These actions have not triggered legal action against the move. The ethics of
50
the Facebook practice of privatizing user information is a contentious topic (RQ4).
Facebook boasts a shared mission yet its optional blockage and use of user data (available
in a public venue) have rattled the public. As a new media venue that is growing (RQ5),
Facebook is facing the reality of an emerging new status as a media information source
and may be forced to bear the responsibility that accompanies that role.
It is obvious that the public is fascinated with Facebook and continues to seed its
growth. Growing concern over its influence, however, may mandate usage controls, SNS
literacy campaigns, and a public effort to monitor and mitigate increased usage of such
sites that may invade the psyche. Renewed interest in drafting student social media
policies has occurred (Junce, 2011, p. 60). Recent legislation drafted by President Barack
Obama would outlaw online tracking capabilities unless permitted by a user (ValentinoDeVries, 2011, B1).
Recent books outlined the frustration of people made dizzy by the digital age and
their attempts to commandeer online usage. A $50 million MacArthur Foundation study
on digital and media learning contended that teenagers using Facebook were being taught
to “manage their public identity” (Ito, 2008, in Maushart, 2010). In “The Winter of our
Disconnect,” author columnist Susan Maushart pulled the plug on family technology for
six months and learned that “our technologies invariably start out as responses to a need”
but eventually and subtly they “redefine that need” (p. 6).
It might be ascertained that people as the “artists” McLuhan established are
capable of demanding better and less time with technology than is defined by a datadriven usage model. McLuhan wrote that people as artisans could “sidestep the bully
blow of new technology of any age” (Griffin, 2006, p. 10). McLuhan also believed a
reversal in the “nature of a new technology” could take place “when the new medium is
51
pressed to its limit” (p. 13). It is doubtful Facebook is at the crossroads of cutting back
its influence soon. Privacy concerns are at the forefront and scholars are increasing
demands for more control and government regulation (Hill, 2011, p.21). Industry
observers have also predicted that like a social fad, the sociable nature of Facebook could
be its demise as it would fade in popularity as the next trendy media and its open source
platform would be copied by more specialty sites, following the polarizing tribal group
theory (MacMillan, 2011) and reducing its specialty status. Psychologist Jesse Rice
(2011) commended Facebook for its “regenerative spirit” in sparking daily conversation.
Rice warned, however, that we have to learn how “to be human in it” (2011, p. 216)
because participation can “blur the lines of identity and relationships (p. 216). A new
focus on Facebook usage and effect may be mandated on a personal basis in order for self
identity interpretation to be complete, real, and honest.
52
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