ABSTRACT

Social media are websites in the form of technological media that construct a digital environment for networking. Social media allows people to express their hidden identity. Social media users use several media platforms to share information both online and offline with friends and other people. Social media build a complex digital continent where several types of uncensored data are uploaded and shared. Social media is a platform that influences the young generation to interact with other people mainly strangers and helps to express them.

Social network helps to express hidden identity.

With the appearance of internet and multiple social networking sites, the amount of social settings has grown considerably. Since their emergence social networking sites have gained millions of users, many of whom have combined these sites like Face book, MySpace, Tumblr, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter into their daily practices. “Participants in social networking sites create a self-descriptive profile and therefore construct links to other members that have currently become quite famous” ( Judith Donath). Most of these sites nurture the maintenance of initial social networks, but other participants help strangers to connect based on political opinions, activities or shared interests. Social network sites also differ from the extent to which they include new details and communication tools, like mobile connection, blogging and video/photo sharing. There is a lot to be said about how a person decides to be recognized and express themselves in a social setting. Regarding the concept of personal identity there is so much to explore about it. “Social networking sites are defined as web-based services that enable individuals to build a public profile or a semi one within a bounded system” (Donah Boyd2007). Social networking sites articulate a long list of other members with whom they split a connection. The social networking sites have an increasing importance in our lives as they help to ‘showcase’ our living experiences. “The social network is obtaining more and more importance in nowadays reality and has a huge impact on the society as compared to the traditional media”(Ugur Gunduz, 2017). Social network do help people to express hidden identity, explore something original for the human experience. It is better to understand the motives of people to comprehend why users interact on social platforms. People on these social networking sites like Face book, Twitter and Instagram expose themselves as they want to be perceived and connect with other users.

The internet introduced with anonymity. “Social media helps as a source of data distribution influence young people’s own identity by creating a digital content where lots of censored details are shared online” (Joshua, 2015). One of the main reason people express their identity on social media is because it can become a place where opinions are shared over social and political concerns. Different people have different views which can create a solution to express themselves online than physically. Social networking sites have increased in demand and are developing into an important form to communicate. Some people’s personalities are compared from online and offline. Although some of the digital identities are fragmented, research suggests that the several online personas lead back to the actual personality. At first in the early days of the internet, probably it was safe to assume that the behaviors online did not reveal that much of a person’s real world personas. This famous notion of the New York is known by the “on the internet, nobody knows you are a dog”. But with more progress of the internet which gained prominence in our daily lives, some people gave up the desire of anonymity and also the urge to mask our true identity online. Moreover it is true that online activities are not separable anymore from our actual lives but an essential part of it. According a research, some UK adults are spending around 20 hours a week online. Similar metrics which is around 30% have been reported for America who is devoted to online networking. This is twice compared from 10 years ago.

 

These social networking sites are used as a common way of common socialization that can match to offline public spaces. For example a person can be more at ease online to express himself, his views about any topics than physically be present somewhere and do not share his opinions. Social media sites particularly Face book and Twitter do have an influence on young people concerning their self- identity, regardless of their geographical area and space. The practice of young people using the internet mainly social media hence people are sharing the same aural and visual media is eliminating  geographical boundaries around the globe, leading a confusing platform of both challenges and opportunities through data dissemination and networking on a global scale. Social media are apparently global in nature and an important constitutive part of many young people’s lives that have several users who use them for numerous whatsoever purposes. According to Campbell (2013) this global phenomenon of several usage for whatsoever use has informed challenges of enabling uncensored information and online networking among young people, which is influencing their knowledge of basic authentic identity.  “Online social networks are providing space for multiple kinds of distractions that used to happen physically in public places like restaurant parks, coffee shops or any location which practically gives people access to meet” (Nolan, 2018). Social networks facilitate the interactions and communications that can form identities and world opinions. From the very beginning itself, we should state how social networks allow people to people their personal identity mainly in part in a way that is much more different from what actually happens in physical reality. Comparing to the physical reality, identity are constructed with different social and environmental constraints. However concerning digital reality for instance are platforms like Face Book that allow users to take advantages of networked affordances in order to build identities. The construction of identity does not seem to stem from the scratch but do happens in another situated context like “identity is always part of context”. Therefore social media are reconsidering young people’s self-identity and also causing anxieties because of the unlimited access to the amount of information online that social media affords young peoples. Technologies are changing people’s lifestyle and mostly the society’s culture. “The presence of social media has changed the way of communication and interaction patterns of individuals” ( Yuli, 2016). For example in the past people used to date and know each other by meeting personally. But now in this new generation, relationships are no longer physical. However people are getting to know each virtually with the help of social networking sites. Social media has developed individual to build themselves virtually.

 

With the help of internet of internet which is rising are being accessed through new technological device, anyplace, anytime and it seems to be that this will definitely increase over time. One main theory is that “social networking users normally use language, different tone and editing behaviors to create and shape a type of identity and impression (Walther, 2007). Social communication platforms or social networks in other words enable users to share pictures and details about their personal life with friends and follow profiles of celebrity and events of their family by creating a digital identity. Through social media, users can share, comment and like on relatives and mainly celebrities profiles by using the concept of participatory culture since they cannot personally meet those celebrities, liking and sharing the content. Hence it is a better idea to express them. Moreover participatory culture is a term coined by a renowned author Henry Jenkins, who stated that “the practice of participatory culture have been changed by the new affordances allowed by digital, networked and mobile technologies”. As per Henry Jenkins book the “convergence culture”, he mentioned how fans who usually are the media users, they engaged critically and creatively. Some of the fans are known as ‘rogue readers’. “Convergence culture mentions a moment where media users are central to how culture works” (Jenkins, 2006). The active audience makes fun of celebrities; some loved them on social media platform. Everyone expresses themselves differently.

 

“Participatory Culture is anything but extreme or beneath the surface” (Jenkins, 2006). Despite the growing amount of social networks, members are expressing themselves in communities and are building development. These sites especially when it comes to Face Book, users can claim to have millions of friends and relatives in their digital network but they do not actually know half of them that they have met in their neighborhood. Therefore social networking sites are starting to have a huge impact in constructing a community. For example recently there was a post on “riot clean-up campaign” on Twitter and through social media people expressed their views and posted online that made other people inspired to participate in community life. This social activity brought together some of the main highlights in hyper local online communities and lots of members made a group discussion online on how social media can support mobilizing these communities. This was an example of a “national organization that has been used by social network to support community action in the United Kingdom”. The social campaign was known as ‘Keep Britain Tidy’. Social media sites like Twitter and Face book support to help people’s to change their habits toward the nation and contribute nationally to organize litter pickups. The online community ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ has almost 2000 followers on Face Book and 9000 on Twitter. Pictures were taken during the social action and posted in the online community to show proof and raise awareness. This is a great example how social network have allowed people to express themselves online and nationally. According to Hayes a member of the online community “the organization contemplate that social media offers a safe environment for supporting people who are sad about garbage’s” (The Guardian, 2011). On the other hand, in America people were found to form an online community so that society can understand the term “race” differently as the American are quite bias regarding race, color and ethnicity.

 

Therefore a great amount of consumption of social networks is a main reason for racial identity projection on social media sites as it is a significant topic to discuss and make a research. Individual’s dependence on visual looks in demonstrating people’s skin color, race, mainly looks have started to depend on social media communities as a place to do an exploration on racial identity. However racial identity in America is a difficult issue to understand. As social networking sites are a significantly recent method of communication some studies have been organized to analyze the impact of race on social sites. In Twitter, an online community was formed where people were able to connect and share their racial experiences. “The utilization of linguistic performance in the online community is an example of racial identity relatively for individuals and the group sent via text” (Nolan, 2018). This phenomenon was named ‘Black Twitter’ on the social media platform to confront the problem. Social media sites like Twitter, Face book and Instagram has raised awareness where people were able to self present themselves through different communities and express their identities without hesitation. With social networking developing into a key part of our communicate life, it looks essential that we comprehend that happens on such mediums. The identity or self includes an emotional dimension such as feeling the own self as a fragment of a greater body, feeling of safety, belonging to a social, political community, body or emotional with positive bonds of solidarity.

 

To conclude the pivotal motive of this study is to expand a framework for understanding and examining social media as an autonomous group structure which can build an identity. Virtual environment are a great help where members of social networking sites establish communication with each other and encourage forming content on online platforms. To interact socially is becoming much easier with great thanks to digital and virtual platforms. Through virtual environments, users can interact freely and express themselves, different from pressures coming from the super ego.

References

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