Fame and shame : a study on self-presentation and self-esteem amongst emerging adults through Facebook : a qualitative study

Abstract

Social networks such as Facebook have undergone an exponential growth in membership in the past few years (Bobkowski, 2008). This phenomenon has permitted users to create an amiable identity by progressively building their self-concept through their Facebook behaviour. The study extends prior research regarding self-presentation and social networks to outline a theory of how emerging-adults present themselves on an online space, and how they react to the feedback they receive from others, especially in terms of self-verification. In relation to Goffman’s (1959) concept of “performance” and Stryker and Burke’s (2000) Identity Theory, the data indicated that users tend to modify their self-image according to the audience’s expectations. Consequently the self is split into what Mead (1934) calls the private ‘I’ and the public ‘me’. In this way users obtain positive feedback which is necessary for them for a positive self-feeling and to confirm their self-concept. On the contrary, negative feedback was noticed to diminish self-esteem and to lead to self-protective behaviours and cognitions. This study concludes with recommendations for further research on the subject especially due to the constant development of cyber programs which makes it difficult for research to keep updated.