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Identity construction on Facebook

Claudia Nir

BA (hons) in Photography

2012

The Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Dun Laoghaire School of Creative Arts

Identity Construction on Facebook


By Claudia Nir


Supervisor: Dr. Justin Carville


Submitted to the Department of Art & Design in Candidacy for the Bachelor of Arts Honours Degree in Photography, 2012

Declaration of Originality

This dissertation is submitted by the undersigned to the Institute of Art, Design & and Technology, Dun Laoghaire in partial fulfillment of the examination for the BA (hons) in Photography. It is entirely the authors own work except where noted and has not been submitted for an award from this or any other educational institution.
Signed:_________________ Claudia Nir Student Number: N00082850

Abstract The social networking site Facebook has significantly impacted our daily lives and subsequently how we interact with one another and the world around us. Even people who are not actively using Facebook cannot avoid noticing its everyday presence. Whether it is through an article in a Newspaper or Magazine, on a companys websites or whether it appears in a television advertisement, the social networking site has permeated our culture. Despite the fact that Facebook started out only connecting student networks, the site has been rapidly adopted by people worldwide as a communication tool and a new way of socializing. Photographs are a major component of how Facebook functions as people are choosing this social networking site as the preferred location for their consumption and dissemination of images. Moreover the portability of communication technology has given rise to an immediacy of information and images whereby photographs are readily available at any time and thus facilitate new ways of visual communication. Examining the use of photography as a common form of identification in everyday life, this thesis traces the role of the photographic image in identity construction to investigate its function on Facebook. This thesis discusses theories of identity construction, cultural identity and identity performance as a framework through which to investigate how Facebook users utilize the profile image to represent themselves on the site. An open-ended qualitative survey was carried out to further identify themes and trends of why users choose certain images over others as their profile image.

Acknowledgements This thesis is the result of encouragement, trust, and inspiration from many people, several of whom have accompanied me through the four years of my degree course. First and foremost sincere gratitude must go to my supervisor Dr. Justin Carville for his support, advice, patience and encouragement throughout the course of this research. I would also like to thank the staff in the School of Creative Arts, IADT, Dun Laoghaire, especially Daniel de Chenu, Mark Curran, David Farrell, Ian Mitton, Adrian Reilly, Jamie Maxwell and Anson Cording for sharing their experience, providing me with insightful knowledge and greatly influenced my thinking about photography. A thank you is also reserved for the staff at the IADT library for their relentless assistance when so frequently called upon throughout this process. I wish to extend direct thanks to all the people, for their time and effort dedicated to filling in my thesis research survey. A special mention goes to Alison Baker Kerrigan, who became a firm friend during my four years in college. She has been both encouraging and inspiring throughout the years and I greatly value our endless conversations concerning photography. Giorgia Pistoia also deserves a separate accolade for her continuous encouragement day after day, as she became my virtual flat mate during the last months of writing. Sincere thanks also go to Miriam OConnor for her consistent encouragement throughout this process and to all those friends who inquired on my progress during the research phase of my studies. They all played an important part in getting me here. Finally and most importantly I warmly thank my mother for her uninterrupted reassurance displayed on a daily basis. I am immensely grateful for her support, her undivided believe in me and her incredible friendship.

Contents Abstract Acknowledgements Contents List of Illustrations Introduction Chapter I: Literature Review Chapter II: Ill see you on Facebook; Digitizing Identity Chapter III: Tell me about your profile pic Conclusion Appendix 1: Survey Statement Appendix 2: Facebook Profile Image Survey Summary Bibliography 1 2 3 4 5 8 18 31 39 42 43 162

List of Illustrations Fig. 1 http://laughing-trip.blogspot.com/, retrieved November 15, 2011 Fig. 2 http://bit.ly/rrRwzh, Accessed June 2, 2011 Fig. 3 Sample of a German Identity card Fig. 4 Screenshot of a Facebook profile page demonstrating the sign-up process on Facebook, www.Facebook.com, created January 2, 2012

Fig. 5 Screenshot of Facebook profile page www.Facebook.com/chrissie.schneider, created January 2, 2012

Fig. 6 The Guardian, [www], Photographer Clare Gallahers best photo, Wednesday, February 8, 2012, http://bit.ly/zo3ZAe, Accessed February 8, 2012

Fig. 7 Screenshot, CBS News [www], http://bit.ly/dk01EN, Accessed February 8, 2012

Fig. 8, Screenshot, CBS News [www], http://bit.ly/dk01EN, Accessed February 8, 2012

Introduction Ever changing technological advances throughout history have changed the way we communicate, and have substantially affected the way we socialize and interact and, by extension, the way we maintain relationships. I am part of a generation that still remembers floppy discs, cassettes and vinyl records and I have fond memories of listening to music on my Sony Walkman. I also remember the day when I opened my first e-mail account in order to keep in touch with a friend who had moved away. Now multifunctional technologies are combining internet access with the mobile phone, camera functions, music players and global positioning devices. It is as easy to access the internet from your phone as it is to take pictures with it. These new communication tools have become an integral part of our social lives and it is difficult to imagine how we would cope without them. In our fast paced environment the social networking site Facebook facilitates easier and more efficient communication with many people at the same time, by connecting multiple audiences through one platform, ultimately enabling fundamentally new forms of interaction. Facebooks popularity is reflected in the changes made to new technologies, to accommodate an even easier access to the site. Most mobile phones have incorporated direct links to the Facebook site into their software and nearly every company website on the internet has a so called Facebook connect button whereby Facebook members can share their interests, likes and activities with the people they are connected with through Facebook. Many internet services even give users the option to sign in with their Facebook user login. These are some examples that show how Facebook has permeated our daily lives. What started out as a platform to connect students on college campuses, has now become a major communication tool and a new way of socializing for people worldwide. In fact, Facebook has become so big that if compared to a country in relation to the amount of people using the service, it would be the third largest country in the world, with currently over 800 million active users. Photographs are a major element of how Facebook functions, as 5

people are choosing Facebook as their preferred site for their consumption and dissemination of images. Moreover, every action people perform on Facebook or on other internet sites that are connected through Facebook, whether it is sending a message, making a comment or simply reading an article online, is always accompanied by the profile image the user chooses and the users name. The image that people choose to represent themselves on Facebook thereby becomes hugely important because it is seen as a representation of the users identity.

Fig.1 The image above (Fig. 1) suggests that people present a version of themselves on Facebook that does not match their realistic self. Moreover, it gives some indication to how accustomed we have become to the idea that a person is adequately summarized in an image. However, identity a persons identity is much more complex and is influenced by many contributing external factors that will be discussed further within this thesis. 6

When I first signed up to Facebook I simply used it to stay in touch with friends after I had moved away from home to a different country. Initially, I had little interest in getting deeply involved and the profile image did not have a huge importance to me. It was only when I started to make professional contacts that I was conscious of who I connected with and intuitively changed my profile image to a more generic one. This experience made me much more conscientious of how I represent myself on Facebook through the profile image and certainly raised my awareness of having an audience following my performance and potentially making judgments about my visual representation. This prompted my interest to explore the role of identity construction and performance on Facebook with particular focus on how Facebook users utilize the profile image to represent themselves. By identity performance I simply mean a presentation of self, reflecting the view that identity is not stable or singular, but rather shifts and changes based on social context. This term is also used by Erving Goffman as a dramaturgical metaphor to describe how people interact with each other in everyday life and will be further elaborated on throughout the following chapters. Chapter one of this thesis, lays out the theoretical framework for the study of identity construction, drawing on symbolic interaction, especially focusing on the works of Erving Goffman, Stuart Hall and Katherine Woodward. Furthermore I broadly introduce the reader to the influences photographys discourse has on our perception of identity. In Chapter two I contextualize Facebook, describing the general format of the site and providing the basic information regarding what the site is and how it works as a prelude to moving into further theoretical discussions. Chapter three presents the findings of an open-ended qualitative survey about the choices Facebook users make when they choose a profile image. With the study I attempt to identity themes and trends guiding Facebook users choices of representation through the profile image and the meanings invested in these identity performances. Many of the issues and themes established in the previous chapters are recapitulated and discuss the findings in relation to the relevant literature.

Chapter I: Literature Review Photographic documents are central to our culture and there are a variety of ways in which photography is used in social relations. Photographic images of ourselves are used in passports, library cards, student travel cards and other forms of identification, in which the status and agency of our photographic selves are continually verified. In this way photographs, as physical evidence, fix the subject in the tangible world and evoke a verification of the imminent and concrete individual. Having an identity is a tangible asset, with which we are able to purchase goods and services, travel and enjoy civil rights. These forms of identification are also used by the authorities when they interact with us and it is this aspect of photography as a true document that allows the admittance of photographs as evidence in courts of law.
For instance, when a photograph is introduced as documentary evidence in a courtroom, it is often presented as if it were incontrovertible proof that an event took place in a particular way. As such, it is perceived to speak the truth.1

Society did not automatically believe photographs to be realistic, but people began to talk about them in those terms as if they were, subsequently developing a discourse around the photograph, which claimed that it portrayed reality. As David Green states:

The belief in the objectivity of the photographic process was the prerequisite to photographys eventual success, but this was also dependent upon a series of discursive and technical transformations which resulted from a unique conjuncture of the natural and social sciences.2

Green shows that the idea of realism is something that is historically constructed and has been placed alongside and within the readings of photographs.

Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright, Practices of Looking, An Introduction to Visual Culture, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2001, p. 17 David Green, Veins of Resemblance: Photography and Eugenics, Oxford Art Journal, Vol. 7, No. 2, Photography (1984), pp. 3-16 (p.6)
2 1

The predetermined element of photography is something that is never questioned culturally. Photographs have become an integral part of our everyday life and are a key element in many social practices, from birthdays, holidays and weddings to custom checks, providing proof of existence, experiences and relationships for ourselves and for others. The photograph creates a physical relationship between the thing photographed and the resulting image, whereby it relates more to the sense of presence than realism. It testifies to the being or existence of something that was once before the camera.3 While this indexical quality of the photograph is an element of how we form our beliefs in photographys realism, it is more related to what we feel and value, whether realistic or not, it is this belief that something exists and does or did exists, because it has been before the lens. Together with the tangibility of the photograph this notion of the indexicality of photography is a powerful combination; we hold, touch and feel photographs, we carry them around in our wallets, they are circulated and consumed within a given set of social relations; pieces of paper that changed hands, found a use, a meaning and a value, in certain social rituals.4 It is exactly this material mediation of the photograph which is significant, because materiality precisely emphasizes the relational qualities of photographs in a social context.5 The photograph thereby becomes a socially interactive medium through physical engagement. Even though these images are made for a very specific viewer and not meant for a general audience, they are however intertwined and influenced by a wider


Martin Lister, Photography in the age of electronic imaging, in Liz Wells (ed.), Photography: A Critical Introduction, Oxon, Routledge, 2004, p.331 John Tagg, The Burden of Representation, Essays on Photographies and Histories, Palgrave McMillan, 1988, p. 164 Elizabeth Edwards, Thinking photography beyond the visual, in J.J. Long, Andrea Noble and Edward Welch (eds.), Photography, Theoretical Snapshots, Oxon, Routledge, 2009, p. 33
5 4 3

cultural history.6 As Martin Lister reminds us, photographic images are imbedded and contexted in other signifying systems [].7 This means that the photograph can change its meaning, depending on the context it is viewed in. The photograph thereby is not free standing as Lister points out, but is a small element in a history of image production and a contemporary image world.8 It is the basis of photographys intertextuality, whereby the photographic image gains meaning by a continual borrowing and cross-referencing of meanings between images.9 Taking this into consideration, it means that conceptions of identity are also subject to historical or cultural change, depending on peoples experiences, which could lead to a modification or reconstruction of identity, making the production of identity a continuous process. Moreover it links cultural identity to the development of personal identity as Stuart Hall outlines, Culture is about feelings, attachments and emotions as well as concepts and ideas.10 Culture and identity are therefore unavoidably linked, whereby culture provides the framework for identity, creating groups and associations that might otherwise not exist. From birth culture surrounds us, through the language spoken, the traditions celebrated, the food eaten and the religion practiced. Therefore culture is not something chosen by an individual, but rather something into which the individual is born into, relying on heritage, nationality and cultural surroundings in which one is raised. Furthermore culture is also defined by groups which are formed by friendship, organizations, and common interests.


Patricia Holland, History, Memory and the Family Album in Patricia Holland and Jo Spence (eds.), Family snaps: the meanings of domestic photography, London, Virago, 1991
7 8 9 6

Op.cit., Lister, Photography in the age of electronic imaging, p.320 Ibid., Lister, Photography in the age of electronic imaging, p.320 Ibid., Lister, Photography in the age of electronic imaging, p.320

Stuart Hall, Representation: Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices, Thousand Oaks, Sage, 1997, p. 2

10

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Hall defines cultural identity,


in terms of one, shared culture, a sort of collective one true self, hiding inside the many other, more superficial or artificially imposed selves, which people 11 with a shared history and ancestry hold in common.

Hall further outlines, Within the terms of this definition, our cultural identities reflect the common historical experiences and shared cultural codes12 .This definition allows for an individual to identify with multiple groups on several levels, including groups related to nationality and heritage as well as smaller sub groups, that are associated with the individual interests, including for example photographers or musicians. The presentation of these various components of ones identity can be described as an exhibition of culture. As Hall explains, exhibitions are discrete events which articulate objects, texts, visual representations, reconstructions and sounds to create an intricate and bounded representational system. 13 Key elements of exhibition include clothing, jewelry, food, and so on, which are providing a direct connection to the culture and often sub culture, with which one identifies. Kathryn Woodwards sociological model explores how identities are constructed through representation. She argues that representation works symbolically to classify the world and our relationships within it, suggesting that representation in form of language, symbols and images is an essential part of the process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture. This positions the individual in relation to other people or images, which are changing depending on different meanings produced by different symbolic systems. Consequently, we are constantly conceptualizing identity against this imaginative concept of identity that we project out, informed through text,

Stuart Hall, Cultural Identity and Diaspora, in Jana Evans Braziel and Anita Mannur (eds.), Theorizing Diaspora: A Reader, Oxford, Blackwell, 2003, p. 223
12 13 11

Ibid., p. 168 Ibid., p.168

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discourse and visual representation, in order to reinforce our own. This is how we manage to negotiate the world around us. These symbolic interactions illustrate that people act and interpret objects and events because of the meaning they possess and in turn generate meaning through social interactions. This suggests that the sense of self is not inherent and therefore not fixed, as opposed to the essentialists understanding of the concept of identity theory, but rather gained from the perception of societys evaluation. Even though it seems there is some essential core to identity, marking out one group, it is also subject to the connection of political and cultural discourses and particular histories, which are produced at certain points in time, suggesting that identity is not fixed and therefore results in a constant shift and change in a persons identity. As cultural theorist Stuart Hall states, we should think of identity as a production, which is never complete, always in process, and always constituted within, not outside, representation.14 He does not reject the idea that identity has a past with a shared history and culture, but argues that by recovering the past, we reconstruct it and therefore undergoes constant transformation.15 Hall further points out that the subject always speaks from a particular historical or cultural position. Woodward describes this as a contingent identity, outlining that it is a product of an intersection of different components, of political and cultural discourses and particular histories.16 Since identity seems to be depending on social and cultural influences, community plays an important part in its development as relationships further serve to define cultural identity. By choosing to associate with members of a particular culture, one effectively aligns themselves with that culture and in turn adapts elements of that culture, whether consciously or subconsciously. Drawing from sociologist Erving

Stuart Hall, Cultural identity and Diaspora, in Kathryn Woodward (ed.), Identity and Difference, London, Sage, 1997, p. 51 Kathryn Woodward, Concepts of Identity and Difference, in Kathryn Woodward (ed.), Identity and Difference, London, Sage, 1997, p. 21
16 15 14

Ibid.,p.28

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Goffmans theory of the self, this suggests that one cannot perform identity without an audience, as the individual is automatically influenced by the structures of society. Goffman differentiates between front stage and backstage identity performance. Front stage performances, in Goffmans analysis, consist of scenarios in which a face is presented publicly, such as a waiter working in restaurant serving customers, while backstage performances take place in private spaces reserved for group members, such as the restaurant kitchen.17 This relates to having multiple identities as we have to deal and face a multitude of different situations in everyday life. We might be a student, a mother, a teacher, a believer, a sportsperson and so on, which we exchange according to the situation or environment we are in. Students for example might present a front stage identity in class, but present a backstage identity while hanging out with other students afterwards. We therefore perform different roles in different settings and before different audiences. Thus a performer tries to segregate his audience so that the individuals who witness him on one of his roles will not be individuals who witness him in another of his roles.18 This requires caution by the performer as the audience is always trying to evaluate the sincerity of a performance, accepting all signs but possibly misreading them.19 Consequently a performance serves to influence the audience who is taking part in this performance, which implies that identity cannot just be claimed or expected to be pre-existing, but rather must be established by performing in a given situation. As a result, identity is created through performance rather than performance being a result of identity. As Goffman suggests, the shape a performance takes on, is socialized, molded, and modified to fit into the understanding and expectations of the society in which it is presented.20 Hence, when an individual presents himself to others,

17

Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, New York, Anchor Books, 1959 Ibid., p. 137 Ibid., p. 58

18 19 20

Ibid., p. 35

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his performance will reflect and incorporate societys values and expectations, often avoiding or trying to hide actions that are inconsistent with societys standards, while accentuating actions that are in keeping with those standards. These theories support Halls cultural theory of identity as a continuous process and a production whereby we are creating, refining and shaping our identity constantly. While sociologist Anthony Giddens agrees that the self is made and continuously worked and reflected on, he argues it does so by constructing a set of biographical narratives. He believes that a persons identity is not found in the reaction of others or in a persons behavior, but rather is an individuals biography, integrating life events into an ongoing story about the self.21 A similar theory is formulated by psychologist Dan McAdams with his life-story model of identity whereby he proposes that identity is a life story which individuals begin constructing, consciously and unconsciously, in late adolescence. As such, identities may be understood in terms directly relevant to stories.22 This suggests that we narrate our past in such a way as to confirm our identity and thereby become the author and topic of this story, which makes us an authority on our past.23 While I believe that photographs can represent part of our life story I would argue that it is also a very subjective and fragmented life story as the immediate question is raised of whose memories they are? Photographs presented in the family album for example are informed and influenced by the social environment and culture. Historically women have been the keepers of the family album as they were the ones who decided what went


David Gauntlett, Giddens, Modernity and Self-Identity, in David Gauntlett, Media, Gender and Identity: An Introduction, London, Routledge, 2008 D.P. Mc Adams, Power, intimacy, and the life story: Personological inquiries into identity, New York, Guilford Press, p. 57 Celia Lury, Prosthetic culture: Photography, memory and identity, London, Routledge, 1998, p.8
23 22 21

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into the family album or what pictures were framed and displayed. 24 Even though a family album contains a wealth of information about hopes, values, traditions and tastes in addition to specific evidence of the life story, it also represents family life from a particular perspective as images are specifically selected and arranged by one person. As Liz Wells states, an event or set of circumstances, may have been experienced differently by different family participant (or groups of friends), so the photographs as token may provoke diverse recollections.25 This very much contradicts Giddens belief that a persons identity is not influenced by others as it completely ignores that identity is continually verified and constructed through representation. Goffman uses the term performance to refer to all the activity of a given participant on a given occasion which serves to influence in any way any of the other participants. 26 This means that people consciously and unconsciously define the way they are perceived through emphasizing certain characteristics, such as the type of coffee they drink, their hairstyle, through dress, behavior, speech and so on, while purposely hiding other characteristics that could be perceived as flawed. Even though our identities are all individual experiences they still adapt to a wider template. Our passport photograph and personal information is pretty much the same all over the world. We are growing up fitting into these templates. Even the family photo album, though personal to each family is in a way interchangeable when looking through the events. There are birthdays, weddings, holidays, and so on, which are all part of the cultural template. What differentiates us in our construct of identity is our performances as described in Goffmans theory. In an online environment however, unlike Goffmans example of the front stage and back stage performance, we are addressing multiple audiences at once, which complicates relationships and while we are still

Liz Wells, Image and identity, Introduction in Liz Wells (ed.), The Photography Reader, Routledge, Oxon, 2003, p. 376
25 26 24

Ibid., p. 376 Op.cit., Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self., p. 15

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performing an identity it is a networked presentation of ourselves. By selecting a certain image over another the performance is mediated, trying to cater for multiple audiences, as opposed to performing for a specific audience. In an online environment people are able to select only information that present a desired image, therefore presenting a highly selective version of themselves. While it becomes easier through the rise of social networking sites such as Facebook to maintain a variety of social ties, it simultaneously engages the users in interpersonal and mass communication by presenting themselves to an audience that is partly known and partly invisible or imagined. Therefore identity exploration online involves explicit identity construction in order to present oneself to a variety of interconnected audiences. The sheer size of Facebook and the possibility that anyone can view your profile, how we present ourselves and how we construct our identity becomes extremely important. There are both similarities and differences between the way we represent or perform in front of others in an online environment and the material world. While we are being identified in the physical world by the clothes we wear, hair, behavior and speech, online we are also identified by how we present ourselves visually. Although the virtual and the physical world contain similar modes of performance and self-presentation, the information we share online is much more self-controlled and self-constructed. The photograph itself, which in the physical world is valued as a form of identification, looked at in a photo album or carried as a personal possession in the wallet, becomes an immaterial phenomenon, digital information, data code. While the way we manage and perform the self is by no means a new trend as Goffmans and other theories show, through the digitization of photography and new emerging technologies, like the camera phone, taking photographs is increasingly becoming a tool for not only an individuals identity formation, but also a form of instant communication, opening up new ways of constructing identity. Self-created, carefully chosen and edited images act as a stand-in for 16

the creators physical self in an online environment. These shifts in information and communication technologies have led to the development and permeation of a digital culture, with a new self-curated digital identity, which is becoming more and more integrated into everyday social practice. There is both less material permanence and more temporal fluidity in the way in which we consume imagery. I would argue that this subsequently changes the way we construct our identity through the use of social networking sites, in particular Facebook and the new ways in which it interacts with the self-image and consequently how we use photographs to present ourselves online. Selfpresentation rather than self representation seems to have become more important in the construction of identity in an online environment.

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Chapter II: Ill see you on Facebook; Digitizing Identity At the time of writing Facebook is connecting over 800 million people, with membership growing at a rate of about 700,000 people per day.1 An article in Times Magazine 2 summarizes that one out of every dozen people on the planet has a Facebook account.3 The article further elaborates that if Facebook were a country it would be the third largest in the world, behind only China and India.4 A similar comparison is illustrated in the following graphic (Fig.2). What started out as a fun project in a college dorm has, in just eight years, connected more than a twelfth of humanity into a single network, thereby creating a social entity almost twice as large as the U.S. 5 Even though nearly half of all Americans have a Facebook account, 80% of active monthly users are outside the U.S. and Canada6, consequently not only merging Facebook with the social fabric of American life, but also with social structures of cultures outside the U.S. Whether people use Facebook to find old friends, keep up with family or plan events or share special moments; the ability to connect and to communicate is part of the social nature of humans. Other than social effects Facebook is also having an economic effect.

Facebook Newsroom [www], http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22, Accessed January 12, 2012
1

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook was named TIME's 2010 Person of the Year: For connecting more than half a billion people and mapping the social relations among them, for creating a new system of exchanging information and for changing how we live our lives. in Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010, Mark Zuckerberg, Time Magazine [www], Wednesday, December 15, 2010, http://ti.me/ggMsVL, Accessed January 12, 2012 Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010, Mark Zuckerberg, Time Magazine [www], Wednesday, December 15, 2010, http://ti.me/ggMsVL, Accessed January 12, 2012
4 3

Ibid., Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010 Ibid., Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010 Op.cit., Facebook Newsroom, http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22

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Fig. 2

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Companies are using Facebook to connect with their customers to advertise more effectively.7 In fact Facebook permeates every aspect of peoples lives, even if they are not actively using Facebook, they may have seen the logo in a television advertisement or noticed traces of it across the Internet whereby websites and online companies entice people to log in by using their Facebook ID. The Facebook membership is becoming a tool for verifying ones identity online. The Economist goes as far as calling it the worlds de facto online passport.8 And with more and more people joining Facebook every day, it has become a permanent fact of our global social reality9 and thereby a communication tool of this generation. The word Facebook has even been entered into English dictionaries both as a verb and a noun, whereby people can Facebook someone now and as the Oxford English dictionary editor Angus Stevenson points out, the internet and social media have had a huge impact on creating new words [], which reflect the society and era in which they enter the dictionary.10 As Time Magazine formulates it, We have entered the Facebook age.11 The success of Facebook is in some ways linked with the rise and use of photography in everyday activity, and the fact that people now photograph all sorts of banal and everyday activities, as photography is one element of how
7 International research firm Deloitte has carried out an extensive analysis of the Facebook
economy across the EU27 countries. Their findings include that Facebook adds an estimated 15.3 billion value to the European economy and helps to support 232,000 jobs across Europe [www], http://newsroom.fb.com/Whats-New-Home-Page/MeasuringFacebook-s-economic-impact-in-Europe-ae.aspx, Accessed January 12, 2012 The Economist, Facebook, A fistful of dollars, Volume 402, Number 8770, February 4 10 2012, p.9
9 8 th th

Ibid., Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010

Matthew Holehouse, Woot! Retweet and sexting enter the dictionary, The Telegraph [www], August 18, 2011, http://tgr.ph/o87yCf , Accessed January 12, 2012
11

10

Ibid., Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010

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these networking sites function. Development of new technologies, smaller cameras and camera phones allow people to create images wherever and whenever they want. In addition to being able to immediately view the images, it is equally easy to post the images online, straight after they have been taken. Images, which previously might have been discarded, are now acceptable to be presented to a public audience. These emerging and ever changing digital tools significantly affect the way people socialize and interact and, by extension, the way they maintain and secure relationships. When Facebook was founded in 2004 by former Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg it was meant to replace the Harvard Universitys house face books, with a type of online yearbook. College yearbooks were hard bound books, including a photograph of each students face, their name and information on activities such as sports or hobbies. The photographs of the students were typically taken by the college photographer in the first week of the students arrival and often looked awkward and unflattering in addition to becoming dated, once the students moved on to a higher level. The pictures were, similar to photographs in the family album, freezing the person at that moment in time, and while the photograph represents an event or a scene from the real world, it only does it so far as it isolates, preserves and presents a moment taken from a continuum12 as Hubert Damisch states. In that sense, the more dynamic digital environment of Facebook enabled students to upload a more up to date image of themselves than the one that existed in the college yearbook, as the technology simplified the process of substituting one image for another. Students started to change their profile picture on a regular basis and Facebook responded to the demand by adding a new feature in 2005, after the site hit five Million users, that allowed people to upload more than just one picture of themselves. This additional feature ultimately transformed Facebooks service to

Hubert Damisch, Five Notes for a Phenomenology of the Photographic Image in Alan Trachtenberg (ed.) Classic Essays on Photography, Leete's Island Books, New Haven, 1980, p. 288
12

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become the largest photo-sharing site on the Internet, with around three billion photos added each month.13 While photo sharing was one of the most competitive markets on the Internet in 2005, including sites like Flickr or Picasa, Facebook was possibly the least functional photos product on the Internet14 as Bret Taylor, Facebooks chief technology officer admits as there was no function to organize the image in any way . However, Facebook had one function the others didnt have: It connected people and enabled them to interact with others through their profile. This interaction between people is a foundation of how social networking functions, thereby making the application a social experience. A post on the Facebook developers blog explains that this social design of the site consists of three elements: identity, conversation and community. Community refers to the people we know and trust and who help us to make decisions,15 it says. Conversation refers to the interactions we have with our communities. Identity refers to our sense of self and how we are seen by our communities.16 It is interesting to note, that these elements, referred to on the Facebook blog, relate to theories of identity construction outlined in the first chapter. Goffman, addresses identity from a symbolic interactionist perspective; His work emphasizes the importance of social interaction, group relations, and context to explain the process through which identity is performed and constructed in everyday life. These ideas are echoed in Halls and Woodwards theories of identity construction, whereby identity is assembled from history, experience and symbolic interaction. While these theories relate to identity construction in the physical world, it seems that they are also applicable to the online environment of Facebook.


13

David Kirkpatrick, the Facebook effect, Virgin Books, 2010, p.11 Op.cit., Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010

14

Facebook Developers Blog [www] Core Concepts Social Design, http://developers.Facebook.com/socialdesign/, Accessed January 15, 2012
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15

Ibid., Facebook Developers Blog, Core Concepts Social Design

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At first, when Facebook was created at Harvard University, the universitys email address was required to set up an account, which meant that people could only connect with people within their immediate college community. This meant that the students who connected online could potentially take the same classes or run into each other on the Universitys campus thereby making a connection between the Facebook profile online and the real person creating it. In so doing Facebook profiles can be thought of as an online embodiment17 of real people using the site,18 whereby their relationships are anchored through friends or mutual friends on the college campus. Once people become friends on Facebook, their profiles are automatically linked, allowing the users to interact with one another. While today everyone with a valid e-mail address can sign up to Facebook, it still functions as a nonymous19 setting as opposed to an anonymous online setting. In a nonymous setting, relationships are anchored in a number of ways, through institutions, residence, or mutual friends, as colleagues, family members, neighbors and other offline acquaintances also use the site to communicate. Hence, if offline structures are being replicated online, users have to adopt a presumably authentic identity. Essentially Facebook is based on a real name policy; thereby any user signing up with his or her real name is basically saying that they stand by the content of their profile. The real name, accompanied by a picture, therefore establishes credibility and becoming the digital embodiment of the self, whereby the profile is presumed to be authentic. In other words, the online identity should outwardly map correctly onto body, gender, location and so on, precisely because it is anchored in
17 The term embodiment refers to the individuals representation in a computer mediated
interaction, which on Facebook is the users profile. Danah Boyd, Friendster and publicly articulated social networks, Proceedings of ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, New York, ACM Press, 2004, pp. 12791282 S.Zhao, S.Grasmuck, J.Martin, Identity construction on Facebook: digital empowerment in anchored relationships, Computers in Human Behaviour, Vol. 24 (2008), pp. 1816- 1836, p. 1818
19 18

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relationships that exist in the physical world and thus maintain a variety of social ties. While traditional anonymous online settings enabled people to leave behind their job, gender, marriage, age, and so on, the nonymous setting of Facebook entices people to take all this information with them or as Time Magazine phrases it: Facebook makes cyberspace more like the real world: dull but civilized. The masked-ball period of the Internet is ending.20 Though the question is, how can we accept an interface, that is not tangible and fits into something as small as a notebook as a representation of the real world or indeed the embodiment of a real person? The concept of embodiment is an essential characteristic of early portraiture as the relational and material qualities of photographs exist through the phenomenological approach of being in the world. The portrait photograph in particular became a commonplace document of identity, shared in the intimacy of the family home, in family albums and probably most prevalent in documents of identification, such as the passport. In terms of representation the frontal pose is characteristics of the passport image (Fig. 3), but also for early portrait photography, that Tagg dates back to the 1880s, where it was the accepted format of the popular amateur snapshot, but also of the photographic documents like prison records.21 The term photographic document connotes a record of somewhat official nature and permanence. As Tagg states, the portrait is therefore a sign whose purpose is both the description of an individual and the inscription of social identity.22 This means that the characteristics of the passport image not only embodied a physical individual, but became an act of social engagement through ritualized exchange. In view of this Edwards observes that the photograph has always existed, not merely as an image but in

20

Op.cit., Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010

John Tagg, The Burden of Representation, Essays on Photographies and Histories, Palgrave McMillan, 1988, p. 37
22

21

Ibid. p.37

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relation to the human body, tactile in experienced time, objects functioning within everyday practice.23 Thus photographys status as a realist representation is upheld by its very dominance within a cultural network of exchange.

Fig. 3 Furthermore, because the passport photograph is anchored in legal structures and as such widely accepted as a way of official identification, it has played an important role in how photographic images have been perceived as imitative reflections of reality. Moreover, the photographic portrait is readily accepted as a true representation of ourselves as it closely corresponds to the way we recognize ourselves looking into a mirror; it is describing a spatially distant body with a visual familiarity and therefore making the imagined real through the photograph. Thus the portrait contributes to the embodiment for recognition as

Elizabeth Edwards, Photographs as Objects of Memory, in Marius Kwint, Christopher Breward, Jeremy Aynsley (eds.), Material Memories, Oxford, Berg, 1999, p. 228
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an individual. If related to the passport photograph or identity card, the uniform, cellular space, in which the body is represented in form of a portrait, becomes a universal thread of identity. Examining the structure of the Facebook profile page it has considerably similar features to that of the contemporary passport or identity card and thereby replicating its visual familiarity. When a user first signs up to Facebook, a generic profile page appears (Fig.4) prompting the user to upload a photo from their computer or to take a photo with their webcam. A text on the profile page further explains that choosing a profile picture is important, so your friends will know its really you.24 What is interesting here is that rather than coming up with a different form to represent the profile image, Facebook uses this generic form of identity and the way in which photography is embedded within that system.

Fig. 4 The outline of a persons face including neck and shoulders further gives the users visual cues on what is expected to be entered into this space. The frame

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http://www.Facebook.com/home.php?ref, Accessed January 2, 2011

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further indicates a portrait (vertical) as opposed to a landscape (horizontal) image and thereby both the size and the shape of the predetermined frame reflect the intertextuality of photography. By presenting the profile image this way and relating it to the larger structure of aesthetics and sight of photography the digital image is presented to the viewer as a conventional photograph. Because the digital image continues to look like a photograph and thereby is also tied to the predetermined elements of photography we accept it as a traditional photograph. What changes online however, is that photography no longer acts as a socially interactive medium through physical engagement with the material object, but as an embodiment of a spatially absent person in an online environment that represents the user in computer-mediated interactions. The image thereby indirectly maps fragments of real world spaces into the digital space of Facebook. The main profile picture, located at the top left corner of the page (Fig.5), could hence be considered as a representation and first impression of the user, since it is usually one of the larger elements of the profile. More importantly the chosen profile image is being displayed alongside any activity or action the user undertakes on Facebook and in fact on any other sites that are linked through Facebook (Fig.6, Fig. 7), thereby functioning as a visual marker of the users online identity beyond the actual profile. This means that when a user connects for example to a Newspaper or Television Channel through Facebook with a so called Facebook Connect button (Fig. 8), all the users friends are able to see this connection, which is typically displayed with the profile image and name of the person, when visiting that site. Times Magazine called this Zuckerberg's vision after the Facebookization of the Web: wherever you go online, you'll see your friends.25 On CBS News, you might see a friends reviews. In the guardian, you might see what articles friends read or see their comments first. Those reviews and comments are made meaningful because we know who wrote them and by the relationship to the author. They have a social context, whereby the

25

Op.cit., Lev Grossman, Person of the Year 2010

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Internet is reorganized around people. We are moving from the wisdom of crowds to the wisdom of friends says Dan Rose, a Facebook executive. What he means is that it does not matter whether 100,000 people like something. If the three people closest to you like it, then you want to see it.

Fig. 5

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Fig. 6

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

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Because the profile image is attached to any action the user undertakes on Facebook and also appears on other sites on the Internet as shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, the profile image is viewed much more frequently than any other uploaded images and it is an important component of managing ones impression and presenting ones identity online. Since people tend to desire social acceptance, they seek this acceptance by presenting themselves in the best possible light. Because Facebook users are connected with a multitude of audiences, for instance close friends, acquaintances, co-workers and family members through the same profile they are under pressure to choose more carefully how they present themselves to these multiple audiences. However, while audience separation becomes more complicated on Facebook, people are used to adapt the way they present themselves depending on the situation and environment. Whether consciously or unconsciously, when observed, we will inevitably act in such way that whoever we presume to be watching us sees the image of ourselves we want them to see. As Goffman suggests, presentations are continually adjusted throughout the day, based on the environment and the reactions from others.26 On Facebook reaction from others take place in form of textual comments, whereby people can comment on an image, subsequently making the picture subject to a shared conversation. The images are given additional meanings as friends inquire, Are you o.k.? compliment, You look beautiful, or criticize, You are ridiculous! The images thereby become items of analysis, further shaping the users online identity. Showing pictures as part of a conversation or assessing pictures to validate social bonds between friends appears to have become an important tool of presenting the self online. The self concept, as outlined by Goffman, comes through experience with those around us and the images posted on Facebook are providing proof of these experiences and relationships for ourselves and for others.

26

Op.cit., Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self

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Chapter III: Tell me about your profile pic! This chapter sets out to explore whether the question of identity still plays a role on Facebook or whether self-presentation rather than self representation becomes more important in constructing identity online. In order to identify themes and trends a qualitative survey was conducted, investigating users interpretation of their self-presentation on Facebook with particular focus on their use of the profile image. Theories of identity construction, as outlined in chapter one, provide the basic underpinning for interpretation of the survey results. The online survey consisted primarily of open-ended questions, asking Facebook users to comment on their reasons for choosing and changing their profile image and whether they take into consideration who views their profile image.27 The survey was distributed via email, Facebook and Twitter28 and then utilized a snowball sampling method by asking participants to pass on the survey to as many people as possible, which resulted in a total of 403 Facebook users participating in the survey. While the closed questions of the survey regarding age, gender and nationality have not been analyzed further in this chapter, it is interesting to note that in particular the responses to age and nationality confirm the concept of Facebook as a nonymous online environment.29 Whereas the survey counted an overwhelming amount of over 30 nationalities, the majority of people (over 200 respondents) were Irish. As the survey originated in Ireland and was mainly distributed to an Irish audience, this points to the concept of anchored online relationships whereby the connections that exist on Facebook are grounded in the physical world. Furthermore, the researchers age bracket lies within the

27 28

For a full survey summary, please see Appendix, p.43 - 161

Twitter is, like Facebook an online social networking service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts Op.cit., S.Zhao, S.Grasmuck, J.Martin, Identity construction on Facebook: digital empowerment in anchored relationships, Computers in Human Behaviour, Vol. 24 (2008), pp. 1816- 1836
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main age group of the respondents (31 and 40 years of age; 136 respondents), which further enforces the theory that we connect with people on Facebook, who we already know offline. Consequently, acknowledging that identity is shaped and mediated by the physical world in which it is experienced, many of the theories identified in the first chapter can be applied to the online environment of Facebook. As outlined in chapter one, the sense of self is gained from the perception of societys evaluation, which should mean that we choose how we represent ourselves online does not only depend on how we see ourselves or how we want to be perceived, but is strongly influenced by social relationships and norms. As a result the visual representations through the users profile image on Facebook are produced for and consumed by a particular group of people. According to an article in the Irish Times titled What does your profile picture say about you?, Facebook profile pictures are the visual projection to friends, family and sometimes mere acquaintances () of who we are and what we are like.30 , thus positioning the individual in relation to certain groups of people. It is within this community context and exchange then that the image becomes meaningful whereby visual codes that are identifiable in the profile image are part of a system of exchange between those groups. With this in mind, the discussion will focus on respondents comments to the questions why they chose their current profile image, what the reasons are for changing their profile and if they take into consideration who will view their profile. The posed question: what are the reasons for changing your profile image? raises an interesting point as we rarely change photographs in albums or framed images. While the technological environment alone may encourage more dynamic display practices, which seems to expect a certain degree of change, the findings of the survey suggest that there may be underlying social and cultural pressures and expectations that are prompting users to change
30 Una Mullally, What does your profile picture say about you, Irish Times [www], Dublin, Saturday, October 29, 2011, http://bit.ly/vV2ZNM, Accessed November 15, 2011

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their profile image. While many respondents reported that they change their photograph to make it more recent: I have a new photo that is showing more who I currently am, it is interesting to note that many people change their profile image according to their mood or the current season: I want one that reflects the season better; I dont like having a winter photo in the summer and viceversa. This suggests that users conform and are influenced by social and cultural conventions and traditions of the physical world that dictate a particular behavior online. It would for example be deemed inappropriate to leave Christmas decorations on display for the entire year. However, during the Christmas period we are surrounded by symbolic markers, which advocate these cultural traditions associated with the season through visual representation. This in turn infiltrates the realms of the Facebook environment prompting respondents to change their profile image accordingly. Other respondents commented that they choose their profile image depending on the current mood they are in or named special occasions, such as birthdays, wedding, sports events, current affairs and holidays as reasons for changing their profile image. These photographs seem to provide a basis for narrative work, with stories behind the photographs important to each individual who posts them, illustrating visual fragments of their life and providing a way of communicating who they are or what is important to them at a particular moment in time and for a particular audience. For example: Ive experienced some event that I want others to know about, whether a friend was in town, or I was able to do something special out of the norm. or marking an occasion; latest is arrival of newest grandchild. These experiences shared through the profile image are part of our life stories to use McAdams terminology, which in turn are part of our culture, underpinning the ideas outlined by Hall, that relate culture to feelings, attachments and emotions. This in turn suggests that the users identity is influenced by the social groups they interact with offline and it becomes evident from the users responses that they seem to change their profile image based on who their audience is. As outlined previously, Goffman is utilizing the metaphor of the dramaturgical perspective, whereby he emphasizes the 33

importance of social action, group relations, and context to explain the process through which identity is performed and constructed in everyday life. Drawing on Goffmans performance theory I would argue that Facebook users seem to change their images based on who their audience is or who they are performing for, and depending on the environment and social structures in which the interaction or performance takes place. Context and audience then become two primary aspects that influence self-presentation choices and strategies.31 This might explain why users choose certain images over others as they are faced with multiple audiences and are therefore trying to represent a multitude of social relationships and activities instead of displaying a more static individual identity. As Woodwards concept of identity illustrates: Consider the different identities involved in different occasions, such as attending a job interview or a parents evening, going to a party or a football match, or visiting a shopping mall. In all these situations, we may feel, literally, like the same person, but we are differently positioned by the social expectation and constraints and we represent ourselves to others differently in each context. In a sense, we are positionedand we also position ourselves according to the fields in which we are acting.32 As previously mentioned, this audience separation can become problematic on Facebook, as people perform before multiple audiences. Despite the ability to potentially reinvent oneself through the manipulation of digital images, judging by the replies people gave, Facebook identities are grounded in offline relationships, thus bounding the extent to which users can create identities that would conflict their offline social connections as friends, co-workers, family and acquaintances viewing this information can verify its accuracy.

31

Op.cit., Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, p. 239-240 Op.cit., Kathryn Woodward, Concepts of Identity and Difference, p. 22

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34

For many respondents the question of who is looking at their profile has become a paramount concern. Users tend to choose an image that is suitable for both professional or work related contacts as well as for personal contacts as these comments demonstrate: Because I have a mix of professional friends & social friends on Facebook; it has to be suitable for both, I dont want to post any images where Im seen in an unprofessional setting, because I dont want to jeopardize my job. I also consider my family These responses illustrate that users consciously make decisions on the type of image they choose to represent themselves to others, often describing the chosen image as a first impression of me to the rest of the world. This comment also illustrate that users are aware that their profile image is not only visible on Facebook, but on any other site on the Internet they connect with through Facebook. The profile picture thereby becomes a representation of the user to an even broader audience. Other comments relating to appearance and behaviors, such as: I want to look good or: my picture cant be too wild as colleagues will see it show that the images are also chosen according to a set of social rules and cultural expectations. This means that people recognize the importance of looking right on those occasions where pictures matter personally33 as David Bate points out. Whether it is for a passport photograph, wedding or religious ceremonies, Bate explains that how we are perceived in photographs matters, because we know they are part of how people see each other.34 Some survey responses confirm that people may adjust their image to present what they deem most appropriate in any given situation: I wouldnt put up a photo that my parents or family would consider inappropriate. People also draw from the situational and interpersonal contextual cues around them, for example through perceiving reactions from others: usually the image is humorous so I think about the reaction Ill get. Through experience, people learn to associate

33

David Bate, Photography: Key Concepts, Oxford, GBR Berg Publishers, 2009, p. 67 Ibid., p. 67

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particular aspect of their identity with specific roles, environments or contexts and as result only represent a fragment, or facet, of their identity. Despite being able to present an obscure image or segment off certain aspects of visual identification markers , interestingly many respondents see it as vital that they are identifiable in their profile image: I want to be recognizable if someone meets me in the street, I simply want people to physically identify me. Other comments, such as I want to show the real me or the image I use is intended to give some indication of who I am, suggest that photographs exert a powerful hold on our conceptions of identity, even though they rely on observable, physical characteristics to represent inner states of the self. As one user explains: similarly to why I dress a certain way I suppose I want to project an image of who I am (or think I am). Hence, the photographs people choose as their profile image on Facebook function on many levels. As the author Fred Ritchin observes, we have faith in the photograph not only because it works on a physically descriptive level, but in a broader sense because it confirms our sense of omnipresence as well as the validity of the material world.35 It is interesting to examine, based on the responses in the survey, that Facebook users make associations with the photograph as a true representation of who they are. Responses such as I want to show the real me or The image I use is intended to give some indication of who I am point to the indexical nature of the photographic image, which refers to a relationship to the real, specific to the photographic image. Even though the images on Facebook are presented in digital form, photographys status is upheld by its very dominance within a cultural network of exchange. Furthermore photographys placing in legal structures, has played an important role and continues to play an important role


Fred Ritchin, In Our Own Image, The Coming Revolution in Photography, Aperture, New York, 1990, p. 132
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in the way photographic images have been perceived as imitative representations of reality, and thereby fixing the modern conceptions of identity. The majority of responses confirm that users choose an image that represents them as accurately as possible to reflect their physical selves, while consciously omitting some flaws of which they believe others will disapprove or deem inappropriate. Though the survey findings show that the profile image carries varying degrees of importance for the user; for some users it seems significant to choose a profile image based on the assumed reactions from their audience. For others however, the photograph needs to suit a multitude of audiences and therefore needs to be less specific or descriptive, but rather more generic. For example, users present a different, namely more professional side of their identity in environments associated with work. However, in order to accurately present themselves, users are aware of the feedback from their environment and adjust their self-presentation accordingly. This awareness and controlled presentation are integral aspects of negotiating social interactions and although very simplified, people engage in such negotiations in everyday life. In this perspective the profile image becomes not only a space of expression, in which people are able to manage how they are perceived, but also an important vehicle for communication, which in turn contributes to the fabric of social relations. In terms of Goffmans front and back stages metaphor,36 Facebook operates almost entirely in the front stage, filled with cues, norms, and contexts about relationships, the environment, and personal presentations. Since the profile picture is connected with each action the user performs on Facebook and other sites that are connected through Facebook, it creates an even broader audience and therefore the Facebook profile image must conform to values that include all social groups within the users network. I would therefore argue that selfpresentation rather than self representation is fore grounded with most users

36

Op.cit., Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

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on Facebook as they are always performing in one way or another. The findings of this survey, then, support identity literature that suggests that our identity is a social construct, shaped through experiences with those around us. This in turn underlines the non-essentialist theory of identity whereby the sense of self is not fixed or inherent, but is rather constantly shifting and changing through the perception of societys evaluation. The survey results did not reveal any tendencies of users displaying an inauthentic identity. Because Facebook is anchored in offline relationships, presenting a different identity on Facebook did not seem to be an option any of the surveys respondents considered. Users create groups and use symbolic props, much like they do in face-to-face interactions.

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Conclusion The foundations of identity do not drastically change in the realm of Facebook. Identity is both a personal self-definition, but also a definition in relation to the environment. In this way culture and identity work in a dialectical interplay and our identity becomes a product of our relations. While Facebook makes it easier to communicate with many people at the same time through one platform, ultimately enabling new forms of interaction, it also makes certain aspects of identity performance more complicated. However, just because we are presenting ourselves differently to our colleagues than to our family, does not mean that we are leading a double life; it is just a normal social function not to play out certain aspects of ones identity in some situations. Identity is dynamic and fluid, which also makes it very complex and Facebooks static interface does not allow for this. Facebook puts everybody together onto one platform friends, colleagues, partners, the neighbour who moved away ten years ago and so on. Hence, we are forced to present our professional self and our personal self, our past self and our present self, in a single generic self. On Facebook the natural process by which old friends fall away over time is suspended and instead there is only one kind of relationship that Facebook calls friendship, and we have it with everyone we are connected with online. You are friends with your spouse, your favourite band, and you are friends with your plumber. The way we connect with one another and with the institutions in our lives is evolving. Our sense of identity is more variable, while our sense of privacy is expanding. What was once considered intimate is now shared among millions with a keystroke. Many of the survey respondents were aware of this and subsequently drew consequences as to how they represent their identity on Facebook by adjusting their profile image accordingly. Respondents who were connected to family members on Facebook were very aware of the potential for their profile image to be inappropriate. This concern is not futile as even people who do not have a Facebook account of their own can see the image on any Internet site the user connects to through Facebook. Furthermore information can get back to them from other people that are using Facebook and are 39

connected with that particular person. This means that Facebook users are unable to act only in the context of their friends. They must also act in the context of their family, colleagues, acquaintances and any other group with potentially conflicting norms. This means that even though the online environment of Facebook and the environment of the physical world contain the same basic forms of self-representation, the version of us that we present on Facebook is much more self-controlled. We have become so accustomed to accept the photograph as a means of representation, that we forget the extent to which we identify people by other means like their clothes, hair, mannerisms, and their use of language. While the identities presented to authorities in form of the passport image or identity card are physical descriptions in form of a facial photograph and are very much reductions of the complex, ever-changing entirety of our self, they still hold a power over how we perceive photographs of ourselves. This is utilized on Facebook, by replicating the visual familiarity of the passport or identity card that we carry with us. The Facebook profile page thereby invokes a metaphor that triggers a set of ideas we are all familiar and comfortable with. On Facebook people are also identified by language in what they write, and how they choose to visually represent themselves. However, regardless of the information provided on the Facebook profile in textual form, the users profile image is automatically seen as a representation of the physical person who created it. I would argue that this relates to the indexical nature of the photographic image and the discourse around photography that claims its proximity to the real. While images on Facebook exchange the tangible photograph with digital data code, the image still maintains the familiar forms and nature of the photographic image we recognize. The changing function of photography is part of complex technological, social and cultural transformations, which means that the change from material to digital becomes a cultural rather than a purely technological process.

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Considering the amount of people that frequent the site, I am aware that my survey is in no way representative of all Facebook users. A final observation about my findings is concerned with the generalization of cultural and social norms. Although some of the norms and behaviors I discovered might be shaped by the nature of the computer mediated communication itself, many are presumably socially and culturally constructed. Therefore it is important to take into consideration that most respondents were located in Ireland and Europe, and the responses could indicate that parts of the norms and behaviors on Facebook relate to social and cultural norms in the respondents offline environment. Facebook users with different cultural and social backgrounds might have responded differently. For instance the tendency, examined in the survey, of respondents changing their profile image according to the Season, might be less relevant in other countries. Lastly, different age ranges might also have different norms and values than younger or older populations and it is likely that a comparative study between more distinct age ranges would show different norms and behaviors as well.

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Appendix 1: Survey Statement For those of you who don't know me, my name is Claudi Nir and I am currently undertaking a BA(Hons) in Photography at the Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Dun Laoghaire, Ireland (IADT, www.iadt.ie). The goal of this study for my thesis is to investigate user interpretation of their self-presentation on Facebook, with particular focus on their use of the profile image. I would therefore very much appreciate if you can take a few minutes to answer the following questions and encourage you to provide as much detail as possible. This survey is absolutely confidential and the results of the questionnaire will not be used for commercial purposes or disclosed to any third party. For any questions you might have you can contact me directly at nirclaudi@gmail.com Please pass this survey on to as many people as possible! Thank you for your time & participation.

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Appendix 2: Facebook Profile Image Survey37


This survey was conducted through the online service Survey Monkey, www.surveymonkey.com. The survey was created on November 12, 2011
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