When discussing the construction of identity in a digital world, we are referring to people creating an online self-image through platforms like social media. Social media is a huge part of the digital world. It is easily accessible and has allowed for almost everyone to have an online presence where they can create and present a specific persona.
A great example for this matter is Alex Consani. The 22-year-old American model and actress first rose to fame due to her online presence on the social media app TikTok, where she now has almost 7 million followers. Consani first went viral on the app in 2020 during the global pandemic for her candid and unfiltered videos. Still to this day, Alex continues to make the type of content that still goes viral six years later. Views on videos posted to her account within the past couple months range between 20 and 50 million.
However, over the years Alex has focused less on posting comedic videos and focused more on her career as a model. She made history by becoming the first openly transgender woman to win the British Fashion Council’s Fashion Award for ‘Model of the Year’ in 2024 at just 21 years old and, in that same year, became one of the first transgender models to walk the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show runway.
As Goffman states, a status position or social place is not a material thing to be possessed and then displayed; it is a pattern of being appropriate, confident, and well-articulated.
This would explain why Alex’s digital identity is constructed differently on her Instagram. On that social media app, she has curated more of a professional identity, as she posts mostly about her work and accomplishments as a model, as well as photo dumps where she’s doing more relatable activities, such as hanging out with friends or reading books, thus allowing her to still portray an authentic version of herself.
To add, Goffman claims that people have a Front Stage, where their identity is curated and shaped for others to see, which is demonstrated through Alex’s social media and a Back Stage, which represents the individual’s authentic and private self that is only visible to them, however, you could also argue that the photo dumps Alex does every now and then provide insight into her private and authentic self.
Alex Consani is proven to be a great example of Goffman’s idea of the construction of self in the digital world, as she proves the theory of digital identity being something that is highly fluid and shaped by social platforms, algorithms, and likes rather than being something that is fixed. The difference between her TikTok profile and Instagram highlights this.
The digital world makes it so that individuals are able to be selective about the parts of their lives they choose to share, which can often result in an idealised version of themselves.
REFERENCES
Glodjovic, D (2018) Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327495728_The_Construction_of_Identity_in_Digital_Space
Allaire, C. (2022) Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/alex-consani-tiktok-model-fashion-month
Lavietes, M. (2024) Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-pop-culture/alex-consani-becomes-first-transgender-model-year-uk-fashion-awards-rcna182635
Musab, I. (2025) Available at: https://learning.westminster.ac.uk/ultra/courses/_102764_1/outline/file/_6001337_1?courseId=_102764_1
Goffman, E. (1959) The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
