The idea of identity is difficult to define as our identities are constantly changing and can be used in different contexts and for different purposes. Erving Goffman is a social psychologist whose idea of identity in his 1959 book, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, explains that the world is a stage and the people are the players. Although there are different theories on identity, most of these theorists agree that identity isn’t something that is fixed but is actually constantly changing due to the situation we are in and depending on what we consume through the media. In this blog, we will apply these key concepts within the ideas of identity to social media.
Goffman suggests that influencers are just performers on a social media stage. These influencers can portray themselves however they want, which brings in this concept of ‘impression management’ and this is a performance that is carefully thought out from the words the person uses to their clothes to create the best versions of themselves. An example of this is Zoe Sugg who has been on YouTube since 2009 and has created a huge identity online through her content and the way she portrays herself through her channel. When looking into her platforms she has a very stereotypical girly identity online due to her interests in baking, lifestyle, and beauty. Another part of the concept is ‘frontstage’ which is the part of ourselves we create for different situations and for different groups of people, while the ‘backstage’ is the hidden side of people that they don’t choose to show which is huge on social media as many might not show the difficult parts of their lives but only the side that fits the online identity.
An Instagram post from September 2024 on Zoe’s page highlights her identity with the influencer baking with her daughter which puts on this frontstage of a perfect family and she can be seen as a role model parent. The backstage of Zoe’s life could involve the effects of the criticisms she receives online.
Jenkins suggests that identity isn’t a ‘fixed possession’ but should be seen as a ‘social process’ as we, according to Goffman, change masks and roles depending on the situation which suggests there is no true self that we portray to others. This then allows us to have multiple identities, as we can portray ourselves in one identity online, but have a completely different identity offline. This then links to Bauman’s idea of identity being fluid and it is negotiable which allows us to share our identity with others through interests or lifestyles. Zoe Sugg’s career has had many changes since 2009 as she was originally seen as the fashionista and humourous YouTuber and she slightly delved into mental health in the occasional video. She soon changed her identity online to more lifestyle and parenting while being more open to this conversation surrounding mental health. Simply she went from someone who the audience aspired to be to being like a big sister that the audience feels they can get advice from through her journey with the pregnancy and openly talking about mental health.
Overall, identity is a tricky concept due to everyone changing themselves depending on the situation and how they want their online presence to be.
References:
A Conversation With My Therapist (2020) Zoe Sugg. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtEUGEoS5is (Accessed: 29 October 2024).
Buckingham, D. (2007) Youth, Identity, and Digital Media. Available at: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/26085. (Accessed: 29 October 2024)
Goffman, E. (2021) Presentation of self in everyday life. Place of publication not identified: Anchor Academic Publishing. (Accessed: 29 October 2024)
Haziq, S. (2019) Putting the best digital self forward in the age of Social Media, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@haziqsabreen25/putting-the-best-digital-self-forward-in-the-age-of-social-media-d3dbec422b73 (Accessed: 29 October 2024).
Sugg, Z. (2021) We’re Having A Baby, YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hO8_pu5cC0M (Accessed: 29 October 2024).
