Bullingham, L. and Vasconcelos, A.C. (2013) 'The presentation of self in the online world': Goffman and the study of online identities. Journal of Information Science, 39 (1). 101 - 112.
Abstract
This paper presents an exemplification and discussion of the contemporaneity of Erving Goffman’s work and of its applicability to the analysis of identity and presentation of self in the blogging and Second Life (SL) contexts. An analysis of online identity and interaction practices in 10 different cases of bloggers and SL inhabitants and of their online spaces is presented in terms of: expressions given; embellishment as a minor form of persona adoption; dividing the self; conforming and ‘fitting in’; and masking, anonymity and pseudonimity. The key finding of the research is that, contrary to engaging with the process of whole persona adoption, participants were keen to re-create their offline self online, but engaged in editing facets of self. This emphasizes the key premise in Goffman’s work that, when in ‘front stage’, people deliberately chose to project a given identity. It is concluded that Goffman’s original framework is of great usefulness as an explanatory framework for understanding identity through interaction and the presentation of self in the online world. Equally, the online environment, with its enhanced potential for editing the self, can offer opportunities to contribute to the further development of the Goffman framework.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2013 SAGE Publications. This is an author produced version of a paper subsequently published in Journal of Information Science. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Constructivist case studies; Erving Goffman; Online identity; Online interaction. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Information School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 08 Apr 2014 15:48 |
Last Modified: | 08 Apr 2014 15:48 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0165551512470051 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0165551512470051 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:77277 |