What’s your face on Roskilde University 2. semester 2012 Supervisor: Smiljana Antonijevic A project by group 6: Emilie Brøchner Nielsen, Kamilla Priess, Katrine Drachmann- Hansen, Shirley Nordenskiöld, Sif Lynge Bergdahl, Sofie Lystoft 1. ABSTRACT In the technological world of 2012, the social media Facebook has become a big part of most people’s lives in the Western society. This project seeks to investigate how individuals create a profile on Face- book and how they might customize their personal- ity on the screen. This project works with the soci- ologists Erving Goffman and Sherry Turkle, whose theories have been, applied in this case study. More- over the theory autoethnography have been used to analyse each of the group members profile pictures and profile information on Facebook. The results from the investigation were used to confirm the pro- jects hypothesis and problem statement. It is con- cluded that Facebook users have a Facebook identity and that Facebook can be used to explore different identities. 1 ........................................................................................ 61 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS 16. CONCLUSION 17. BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................... 63 18. APPENDIX ............................................................................................... 67 1. ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... 1 19. DANISH SUMMARY ................................................................................. 68 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................ 2 3. INTRODUCTION & MOTIVATION .................................................... 3 4. PROBLEM FIELD ........................................................................................ 5 5. DELIMITATION ........................................................................................... 6 ....................................................... 6 6. CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS 7. DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DIMENSIONS CHOSEN ...................... 8 8. DESCRIPTION OF THEORIES .............................................................. 9 9. DESCRIPTION OF METHODOLOGY .............................................. 10 10. ACCOUNT OF FACEBOOK ............................................................. 11 11. THEORY PART 1 .................................................................................. 18 12. THEORY PART 2 .................................................................................. 25 13. FACEBOOK & AUTOETHNOGRAPHY ..................................... 40 14. ANALYSIS OF PROFILE PICTURES .................................................. 47 15. DISCUSSION .................................................................................................. 58 2 3. INTRODUCTION & MOTIVATION study which effects this enhanced use of social media’s In modern society the phrase “I’m trying to find myself” has had on our identity development. Are we using Fa- has become more and more popular (Burkitt, Social cebook to portray an ideal self? Moreover we got moti- Selves, 2008:1). We are all searching to find and create vated by the fact that Facebook has changed the way our own identity. Especially the last decade, social me- individuals interact e.g. you can communicate with fam- dia online has become a “must have” for most people, ily and friends who live on the other side of the world since it has developed into an integrated part of the eve- via the Internet. ryday life. Facebook has become more popular than any Does the use of Internet alienate us from our social life, other social media online with one distinct difference or does it improve it? Facebook has changed the way we from all the others. When using Facebook you do not interact with our social relations and this we find very need to create a nickname ergo, anonymity does not ex- fascinating. We believe that Facebook is a big part of ist on Facebook in same way as it does on other social youngster’s everyday life, and in this project we have media’s. Facebook had in the end of March 2012, 901 used ourselves as a case study on our use of Facebook. million monthly active users worldwide.1 We use Facebook to stay connected with our social net- The concept of Facebook has become very interesting, work, to create an ideal version of ourselves and to up- hence to its increasing popularity worldwide and since date our friends, acquaintances’ and family about our we use Internet on a regular basis. It is fascinating to experiences in life and thoughts. In this project our aim is to analyze and investigate how the individual use Fa- 1 http://newsroom.fb.com/content/default.aspx?NewsAreaId=22). cebook to portray him or herself. 3 A widely held assumption is that people can show a dif- thermore chose to introduce Sherry Turkle whose theo- ferent self via social platforms and this individual can be ries are more recent. interpreted differently than in the everyday life. To begin with we all had the idea that people would always As method autoethnography will be an important part of perform as if you were on a stage when having a profile this project. To gain reliable data we have kept a journal on Facebook. According to this idealized virtual identity of our own activities on Facebook. This data will be profile owners display idealized characteristics that do taken directly from our social media source and will be not reflect their actual personalities. included in the appendixes’. In that way we will gain information that are correct. Of course different aspects All the members have, when creating a profile, selected will be taken into consideration when analyzing. their status, religion, favorite quote etc. and in addition In order to get a full understanding of the dilemmas to this a picture of the individual is being shaped. But is connected to Facebook and identity there is a need to it even possible to portray yourself realistic on an Inter- explain how it works. net page as Facebook? We explored the concept of ide- alized virtual identity by researching Erving Goffman. It To begin with this assignment will introduce the content complemented this project by showing how the individ- and problem field of the investigation. The used dimen- ual can act a different role than he/she would in front of sions of this research are presented. Furthermore the e.g. parents or another authority. Keeping in mind that method used in making this research is accounted of. In Goffman formulated his theory decades ago we fur- order to understand this research, the first chapter con- 4 sists of an account of Facebook and its features. Then • What is Facebook? the chosen theories are described. These theories are used to illustrate and explain how interact online hap- Since Facebook is an essential part of this project it is pens. Via the chosen method data is collected and this important to outline how the site is constructed and how data is analyzed and accounted of in the third part of this one use it. research. Finally, the results and theories are discussed • Does the individual perform differently online and the investigation is concluded on. than offline? 4. PROBLEM FIELD The core of this project is to explore whether people Problem Formulation shifts in social behavior depending on the environmen- tal setting. • Can an individual by the use of activities on Fa- cebook create an idealized self? • What does ones profile pictures signify according As frequent Facebook users, this question is asked in to spectators? relevance to our curiosity, as to how social interaction has become virtual and how this can possibly affect the This question is asked in orders to investigate and dis- thoughts and awareness on ones own persona. cuss the relevance of profile pictures in coherence to the “Facebook identity”. Research Questions 5 5. DELIMITATION Due to a limitation of a 3-months exploration time an Method adequate assignment was too comprehensive. One might argue that the use of autoethnography as 6. CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS method would make the analysis bias, since using pro- Identity ject-members as subjects of study (used data is to be found in the appendix). Considering the use of method Many sociologists have studied the concept of identity. from a more critical perspective, this project is limited Some focus on identity as the self in collective, some in in the means that it only takes outcome in a small seg- a group. Other sociologists study how identity can be ment of the total amount of Facebook users. defined by behavior, while others on how identity is es- tablished in society. This project investigates how so- The attendance on Facebook covers a great age span and cial media, in this case of Facebook, affects the individ- comes across various segment groups. To optimize this ual’s identity process. Therefore we find it important to research it would be wise to use several subject persons shortly define what our own definition on identity is. from different age groups, across sexes and geograph- ical places. With several subject persons the result of When it comes to identity, there are two important facts study might differ from our results and furthermore give explaining it. The first is how you look upon yourself: a clearer view on whether Facebook users have a “Face- the subjective experience of continuity upon time and book Identity”. space. The second is how other people see you: the so-