Identity or Followers

Identity or Followers

Retrieved from:http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/blog/2017/7/24/social-media-and-personal-identity

Identity is about belonging, about what you have in common with some people and what differentiates you from others. At its most basic it gives you a sense of personal location, the stable core to your individuality. But it is also about your relationships, your complex involvement with others and in the modern world these have become ever more complex and confusing. Each of us live with a variety of potentially contradictory identities, which battle within us for allegiance: as men or women, black or white, straight or gay, able-bodied or disabled, ‘British’ or ‘European’, the list is potentially infinite (Weeks 1990: 88).

Social media has created platforms where anyone can be anyone they want. They can show the best sides of themselves or the side that gets them the most likes, views, and attention. They can manipulate their stories and their lives for the need for a viewing and followers. YouTube has many smaller platforms within the network, categories and interests. People need to fit into certain categories and follow certain stories in order to be a part of the world. Thinking about the stories you want to create for social media influences behaviour in real life. Because you are working to create something for a mediated audience online, you direct your actions in a given situation toward playing for a camera -- not for authentically being in the moment.

            There are three types of relationships that you can clearly see being expressed on social media. YouTube creates smaller categories for these types of relationships to fit into, although these three categories can be altered for each platform. These relationships are, Having: Deriving momentary pleasure by collecting or acquiring small amusements. Doing: Hoping for a return by doing something, such as personal gain or advancement. Becoming: One person immersing him or herself in a shared experience with another person, by being inspired by another social media platform. The delicate balance between performance, becoming yourself and being present is apparent all around us. We've all seen photos on social media of people standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon watching a video of where they are standing. Performance in everyday life can take you away from your mundane context in a way that can offer up the show of you, but not the real you. We envy peoples platforms and we each decide which relationship we’d like to, or we are able to have (Nyman, M. 2019).

            Neurologicalexperiments reveal that when we truly identify with something or someone, the brain's medial prefrontal cortex -- which is involved with self-definition -- is activated. In contrast, when a person feels the attributes of something that piques their interest but doesn't take it all the way to connection, the brain region known as the putamen lights up. The object remains external. People crave the satisfaction that comes when our identities are activated, and we can gain some elbow room for the self. For social media sites to get to the heart of their problem with the proliferation of "fake" people and information, they must stop blaming failures of technology. Instead, they must truly provide a social space where people can be and become.

Identity is not as transparent or unproblematic as we think. (Stuart Hall in Wheedon, 2004, p.5)

References

Weedon, C. (2004). Identity and culture : Narratives of difference and belonging. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com

Nyman, M. (2019). Why do people pretend they are someone else on social media?. Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/Why-do-people-pretend-they-are-someone-else-on-social-media

 Hall, S. (2004) Wheedon, p.5. Lecture 4, Slide 6. Retrieved from LearnJCU