Abstract
George Herbert Mead observed that identity is formed through social processes. Mead (1934) suggested that individuals offer communicative gestures to which others respond. Gestures that gain desired responses are repeated, whereas gestures that yield negative responses are eliminated. Over time, this dialectical process of gesture and response leads to the creation of a self identity. College and university students on campuses across the U.S. are currently enthralled with social networking web sites, most notably facebook.com, a site designed particularly for students and more or less localized to specific campuses. (Applebome, 2004) In this paper we examine the representations of self-identity that have been constructed by students in their Facebook profiles and track how these electronic "gestures" change, over a brief period, as responses are received. The study shows an increasing awareness among students of the gaze of the other and evidence of experimentation with gestures of identity.
Journal Title
Iowa Journal of Communication
Volume
39
Issue
1
First Page
46
Last Page
62
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Johns, Mark D.; Boettner, Kirsten; Powers, Emily; and Lindsay, Michael
(2007)
"Profile Updated: The Presentation of Identity on facebook.com,"
Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 39:
No.
1, Article 6.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol39/iss1/6
Copyright
©2007 Iowa Communication Association
