Rhizome Experiment, Fall 2015

Production of Self Through Facebook

Whether you are looking for a potential college roommate, trying to stalk an ex-boyfriend/girlfriend, or just curious to find out what a person is like, chances are you can get a good idea of their personality based on their social media pages. Social networking sites like Facebook allow you to introduce an online version of yourself and portray your identity to friends and/or the public. The most popular means of self expression: pictures. The photos you upload can essentially build an online visual autobiography. Pictures that college students post of themselves can serve as “forms of symbolic creation of their worlds” (Papacharissi 3). The purpose behind uploading personal photographs is to publicly inform others about certain experiences and relationships. However, when we display ourselves on social media, we are actually just presenting extremely selective versions of the self that we wish for others to see. 

Pictures posted online can be largely responsible for shaping one's self esteem. Selfies allow us to not only "transform ourselves before the camera, portraying a version of ourselves we hope to be" (Papacharissi 8), but they also provide the opportunity to get positive feedback from peers. Attention seeking needs can be fulfilled by uploading photos and having friends comment and like them back. This confirms a sense of belonging and ultimately contributes to confidence and self-esteem. Photos do not just serve as forms of documentation. They provide visual confirmation of our social networks, the closeness of relationships, and can highlight our cultural values. Sites like Facebook can create and validate a seemingly flawless self image by the way you perform your identity in photos, statuses, comments and shared articles. 



Sources:

Papacharissi, Zizi, and Andrew Mendelson. "Look at Us: Collective Narcissism in College Student Facebook Photo Galleries." A Networked Self: Identity, Community and Culture on Social Network Sites. New York: Routledge, 2011. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.  
 

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