Representation of the Self in Social Media

A photograph, painting, canvas, or drawing today is not the same as it was a decade ago. Technology has evolved to the point where we can photoshop a person into a picture, enlarge a person’s butt, or even whiten people’s teeth. At what point do those technological advances cross a line? With social media ranging from Facebook and Twitter to Instagram and Tumblr, do these media sites promote egotistical behavior? In January of 2013, John Paul Titlow discusses some of the disadvantages and advantages that Instagram has in his essay: “#Me: Instagram Narcissism and the Scourge of the Selfie” that was posted on a website called ReadWrite. Although Instagram was primarily created to simply share pictures, it has evolved to do much more than that. Some businesses use it to advertise, some people use it to share their art, but then there are some people use it to flaunt their own personal lives in the form of pictures. Titlow acknowledges that Instagram is a desirable way to share art and diverse imagery, but additionally acknowledges that it can be a place where one can promote their own self-popularity. He explains that Instagram has become remarkably important in people’s lives to the point that they cannot view life past those Instagram likes (Titlow). Ultimately, Titlow succeeds in emphasizing the issues that Instagram has created by reason of the way he expresses his text, while furthermore expressing who the audience of his essay is, and by making his overall purpose clear.

Currently, people are living in a virtual world that is dominated by social media; the influence of emergences of social media platform, such as Facebook, YouTube, has far beyond the imagination of people（Pennsylvania, 2011）.There are an increasing number of people who are willing to use social media to manage their identity, which offers a large amount of opportunities for those audiences who want to standing out from the crowd.(Matthieu; Serge et al, 2013) But because of information overload, to some extend, social media are probably making it harder for them to differentiate from the counterpart .In view of the fact, how to manager personal identity has been view as a vital

In Stephen Marche article “Is Facebook making us lonely?” the author explores the effect of technology and Facebook, specifically social media, on people’s lives. One of Marche’s main points is that the technology has become more advanced. In just one click of the button we can find out what is going on in our country as well as the outside world. We are isolated from the real world and one another since we do not have face-to-face interactions. Marche contributes his findings to the rise in social media which is Facebook. He believed that the more connected we are to social media, the lonelier we become. . Facebook has created a fear that is interfering with our real friendships, distancing us from one another and making us lonelier. Another

This means that people can now directly choose how they wish to be seen and there are often many cases of having different “selves” among different platforms. For example, in Turkle’s studies, she interviewed multiple students about the function and effect of poplar social media website, Facebook. A couple of college seniors described Facebook in the same way, but with different words. Eric told her, “It’s like being in a play. You make a character,” and he then describes to Turkle about how you can “mold a Facebook page” (Turkle 441). Another college senior she interviewed, Brad, says something similar, “You have to know that everything you put up will be perused very carefully. And that makes it necessary for you to obsess over what you do put up and how you portray yourself” (Turkle 441). Turkle’s conclusion on this is that Facebook becomes a way to create the “best version” of you by compiling all of your likes/dislikes and personality traits into lists. In other words, Facebook is a place where you must reduce yourself to fit into stereotypes (Turkle 441). Many of the college students Turkle interviewed agree that this causes stress on how one presents himself, not only online, but also when it comes time to perform in the real world. It causes people to be on the constant lookout for

Ellison, Steinfield and Lampe identify that social networking sites are among the main use of internet today. According to the authors, social networking sites are among the social media platforms that facilitate interaction in the computer environment. The writers identify the main motives for using social networking sites, for example, Facebook. One of the benefits is that Facebook improves the quality of life both social and at workplaces. According to the writers, social media has become common in the society that a majority cannot remember previous life without them. Social networking sites have become popular among college students who find it as a major platform for social interaction.

In her blog “ The Fakebook Generation,” later to be published in the New York Times on October 6, 2007, Alice Mathias enters the topic of the most used social networking service worldwide, Facebook. Mathias debates on Facebook’s claim of being a forum for “genuine personal and professional connections” (438) and tries to influence her readers to ask themselves if the website really promotes human relationships. Alice Mathias, a 2007 graduate of Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire has wrote several more columns before, in which one of them was even awarded the Waterhouse Research Award.

Although, the topic of self-representation on social media has been central for many studies in recent years (Sorokowski, Sorokowska, Oleszkiewicz, Frackwiak, Huk, & Pisanski 2015), so far there has been little discussion specifically about the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual (LGBT) representation on networking sites. While public opinion towards people of non-standard sexual orientation has improved, approval of homosexuality is believed to differ among individuals and between countries (Gerhards, 2010). To date, there has been no reliable evidence that this improvement is also true for the acceptance of LGBT content online. Apart from Duguay (2016) who demonstrated the relationship between the given social media platform and its influence

Author, Rob Horning in his article, “Google Alert for the Soul,” discusses how the once maintainable notions of authenticity as a “unique interior self” have since become unsustainable through the modes of social media (thenewinquiry.com). In this way, as a social media platform, Facebook reflects a notion of post-truth in which, “objective facts are less influential than appeals to personal beliefs” (OED). Specifically, this thematic trend is evident within my own Facebook experience through recurring instances that illustrate an ability to utilize the site as a means of creating an idealized self and environment. Thus, these elements further aid in demonstrating the Internet of Western society as a space that ultimately renders authenticity

In the ethnography It’s Complicated by danah boyd, the subject of identity in relation to technology and the younger generations is explored. boyd examines notions of consistency between identities and how people contextualize themselves and their behaviours according to who they are interacting with. This is highly relevant to today’s society, as technology is everywhere in our lives; we use it every day, and it has become an important part of our worldwide culture. We use it as a way to express ourselves freely behind the protective barrier of our screens, and as an extension of our personal selves. However, the way we use our technology sometimes does not reflect our identity in real life, and as a result, our online identities can be significantly different from our real life identities.

The author Andrew Leonard has said "We've offered up every detail of our lives to advertiser manipulation, voluntarily embraced a panopticonic existence of constant surveillance, and supinely allowed a bunch of techno-utopian Silicon Valley companies to guide and shape our behavior."(Leonard). In this review the author agrees with Silverman about being under constant surveillance, he also agrees with Silverman that we should constantly be alert about the data that we put on social media as in this statement "Silverman is correct: It is critical that we monitor and understand the consequences of "the data-ization of the digital self." "(Leonard). Andrew does not agree with Silverman on the point "Photos become less about memorializing a moment than communicating the reality of that moment to others,"(Silverman, 55). Andres says that “Before social media, you could argue that the modern world specialized in tearing us apart, in atomizing the relationships that once bound societies together. Now we've got something that helps lace the grand tapestry back together. This is not a bad thing” (Leonard). In a way Andrew finds something good in Social

“From children's toys to TV programs, images of the idealized body have permeated every level of our visual culture” (Swinson). As the Advertisement industry continues to grow, the focus on looks is increasing as well. With around half of the advertisements using beauty as an appeal to sell their products(Teen Health and the Media), the pressures to be 'perfect' are causing women to become dissatisfied with their looks, driving them to turn to unhealthy measures. The average teenage girl gets a significantly greater amount of media time each day compared to the amount of time they spend with their parents, this is usually around 180 minutes of media per ten minutes spent with their parents (Heubeck). With so much time spent on media

With the widespread popularity of Facebook, people worldwide are becoming more involved online and this is changing the self-perception of many consumers. With social networking sites we are granted a feeling of validation and importance through how we interact online. Facebook is one platform that does this extremely well and this may be the reason why it has attracted (and kept) so many users. Facebook allows users to belong to certain “networks”, join “groups”, “like” interests, and share their thoughts with the world through status updates. These features all help users to feel validated by their friends and others whom they connect with. This is important because it facilitates what is known as self-categorization for the user. “Self-categorization theory focuses on the set of group norms that define

Social network sites (SNSs) such as such as Friendster, CyWorld, and MySpace allow individuals to present themselves, articulate their social networks, and establish or maintain connections with others (Ellison, 2007). These sites could be used for work related situation, romance, connecting with individuals with shared interest, or creating a connection amongst college students. Facebook enables its users to present themselves in an online profile, accumulate ‘‘friends’’ who can post comments on each other’s pages, and view each other’s profiles (Ellison, 2007). Individuals can write on the wall of friends, send private message, comment on posts, as well as chat via instant messaging. Much of the early research on online communities assumed that individuals using these systems would be connecting with others outside their pre-existing social group or location, liberating them to form communities around shared interests, as opposed to shared geography (Ellison, 2007).

Social Media has a massive impact on a person’s self-presentation because of the different trends where everyone wants to fit in with society’s expectations of what we should look like. Celebrities are made to be our role models, however, magazines photoshop and make them more toned and a lot slimmer, which makes young people want to make their bodies more like theirs. This then leads to the modern generation becoming self-conscious because they feel they have to fit in and achieve an ideal self that fits in with those around them.

More recently than in years past, digital technology and social media have grown to become a part of our everyday lives. The recent rise in those who own smartphones allows this everyday use of digital technology and social networking to be easier than ever before. At any time and any place, we have the ability to “socialize” with nearly anyone—even celebrities who have no idea most of us even exist. The continuous consumption of digital media has altered once personal face-to-face communication to just that, digital. More and more people seem to be living in what Sonia Maasik and Jack Solomon call “The Cloud”. “The Cloud” is a seemingly alternate universe of which communication is altered from personal to digital. This universe has led to debates over whether or not these online communities are real or whether social media is actually social. Various digital media sources also encourage users to create individual identities, of which may or may not actually be real. It seems as though our reliance on digital technology and social media have allowed the determination of certain aspects of our lives. Although social media allows us to connect with nearly anyone at any time, Americans have taken advantage of its use, and their attention has been drawn away from real life interactions to digital ones. The ramifications of such influences reflect the hidden insecurities of Americans and, ironically, emphasize our inclination to boast about ourselves by allowing others to see the