Abstract
Facebook identity management implies a selective front and backstage: users perform multiple social
roles for a multiple spectator audience (boyd 2008). But as friend lists increase and the discussion
about sensitive topics becomes more critical, people tend to protect their image by dealing only with
content that may be interesting to all their contacts (Hogan, 2010).
Starting from field research on Italian users (40 in-depth interviews with Facebook users aged 14-55),
this paper discusses the idea of Facebook as a place where people are engaged in building their social
relations and their self-representation by managing their online presence in a way that can be both
intriguing and acceptable for most of their contacts.
The paper will highlight the strategies of content homogenization and the online behavior adopted by
users according to their perceptions of their «imagined audience» (Litt, 2012).
The article aims at underlining that Facebook use is surprisingly consistent with mass-media and
generalist-media cultural models: users seem to apply models of television spectatoriality, not only in
terms of passivity (lurking), but also in terms of consumption (skipping uninteresting content) and
content production performed for a generalist audience (developing a distinctive and acceptable style
of interaction).
Lingua originale | English |
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pagine (da-a) | 97-111 |
Numero di pagine | 15 |
Rivista | Observatorio |
Volume | vol.8 |
Stato di pubblicazione | Pubblicato - 2014 |
Keywords
- social network sites, SNS,identity, relation