Identity Strategies

Last week in class we had an assignment to Google our names and see what we could find out about ourselves. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I have a very common name and there were more than 3 million hits. For some of my classmates they were not so lucky. They had some of their private information shared on the internet. A plethera of information and knowledge is stored on the internet and some of it may not be something that you are wanting the world to know about you. This is why it is important to manage your professional online identity.

Since this assignment was done in a school setting we all have one thing in common. We are all hoping to become graduates in something and look for some type of career for our future. Our online identity is a new way for potential or future employees to find out information about you. In a world where the job market has become very competitive it is important that you are leading with your best foot forward. In watching Adrienne Youtube video she outlined some key factors in how to develop a professional online identity. It is important that you put things out there that are presentable to be seen and if they are not set your accounts to a private status. I found a short article on Identity Construction of Facebook. Maybe that will help others.

Abstract

Early research on online self-presentation mostly focused on identity constructions in anonymous online environments. Such studies found that individuals tended to engage in role-play games and anti-normative behaviors in the online world. More recent studies have examined identity performance in less anonymous online settings such as Internet dating sites and reported different findings. The present study investigates identity construction on Facebook, a newly emerged nonymous online environment. Based on content analysis of 63 Facebook accounts, we find that the identities produced in this nonymous environment differ from those constructed in the anonymous online environments previously reported. Facebook users predominantly claim their identities implicitly rather than explicitly; they “show rather than tell” and stress group and consumer identities over personally narrated ones. The characteristics of such identities are described and the implications of this finding are discussed.

Article Outline

1. Introduction

2. Literature review

3. Focus of the present study

4. Methods

5. Results

5.1. Facebook audiences

5.2. Modes of identity construction

5.3. Types of identity claims

6. Discussion

Acknowledgements

Appendix 1. Rules for coding Facebook pages (abbreviated)

References

References

Zhao S., Grasmuck S., Martin J. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2008.02.012

Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships

(2008) Computers in Human Behavior, 24 (5), pp. 1816-1836.