Ethno-Racial Identity Displays on Facebook

Abstract

The present study investigates self-presentation in a nonymous setting and explores differences in self-presentation by distinct ethno-racial groups. Based on content analysis of 83 Facebook profiles of African Americans, Latino, Indian and Vietnamese ancestry students, supplemented by 63 in-person interviews, we found that ethno-racial identities are salient and highly elaborated. The intensive investments of minorities in presenting highly social, culturally explicit and elaborated narratives of self reflect a certain resistance to the racial silencing of minorities by dominant color-blind ideologies of broader society. In the nonymous environment of Facebook, various dimensions of identity claims appear to be grounded in offline realities as revealed in interviews and observations of campus social dynamics.doi:10.1111/j. 1083-6101.2009.01498.x IntroductionMost early studies of the impact of the Internet on identity production focused on online identity constructions in anonymous environments such as MUDs (Multiuser Dungeons), Chat Rooms, and Bulletin Boards (Rheingold, 1995;Surratt, 1998;Turkle, 1995). It was found that individuals tended to play-act at being someone else or act out their underlying negative impulses in the online world. More recently, researchers have shifted their attention to self-presentations in less anonymous online environments such as Internet dating sites Yurchisin, Watchravesringkan, & McCabe, 2005). The nonymity (similar to ''identifiability'') of online environments seems to make people more ''realistic and honest in their self-presentation. Research on nonymous online sites uncovered the display of more affirmative identities reflecting efforts to project a ''hoped for possible'' self, one that is more socially desirable, better than their ''real'' offline identity (Yurchisin et al;Zhao, Grasmuck & Martin, 2008). This research suggested that self-presentations varied according to the nature of the settings: People tend to ''play-act'' at being someone else in anonymous settings and be more ''realistic and honest'' in nonymous environments. The possibility of presenting online identities different from offline expressions creates novel social opportunities for cybernet participants. Yet, identity construction on the Internet is influenced by not only the characteristics of the online environment but also the characteristics of users' social positions including race and ethnicity. Competing identities -racial, gender, sexual, national -are often context specific, mobilized depending on the circumstances. It is thus likely that differing expressions of social identities may interact with distinct online environments. However, most scholarly attention related to the effect of the online environment on the articulation of race has concentrated on anonymous environments. Moreover, many studies that have explored issues of social difference, such as race/ethnicity/gender and the Internet, have focused on the impact of the Internet on offline social dynamics. A contested issue raised in...

Qualitative and Mixed Methods Social Media Research

“…For example, quantitative and qualitative data from Facebook posts were combined with interview data from students who interacted with social media while in study abroad programs (Back, 2013). Research on the differences in self-presentation on social media sites among ethnoracial groups involved a combination of interviews, focus groups, and quantitative content analysis of Facebook profiles of African American, Latino, Indian, and Vietnamese ancestry students (Grasmuck, Martin, & Zhao, 2009). A study of transparency in social media practice of organizations and public relations professionals integrated data from a survey, interviews, and a content analysis of social media campaigns (DiStaso & Bortree, 2012).…”

Digital Passages: Migrant Youth 2.0. Diaspora, Gender and Youth Cultural Intersections

“…Fifteen-year-old Oussema reflected that in Facebook "there is a special box to publish your religion and I find it important to let that show," however, he adds that additional categories cannot so easily be included: "there is not really a box to register your culture." Emphasizing the limitations of templates that perpetuate dominant color-blind ideologies (Nakamura, 2002;Grasmuck, Martin & Zhao, 2009;Cover, 2012), template structures do not offer users the opportunity for hybridization and multilayered identification.…”

On digital crossings in Europe

“…However, minoritarian subjects circumvent limited drop-down menu options. In their negotiation with interface limitations, ethnic minorities publish elaborate ethno-racial text, audio and visual narratives of themselves on Facebook (Grasmuck et al 2009). By doing so they resist being silenced by 'dominant color-blind ideologies' (Gasmuck et al 2009: 158).…”