The function of the performance of the self in online self-disclosure on Facebook

“It seems that we spend most of our time not engaged in giving information but in giving shows”. (Goffman 1974, p.509)

According to Mead (1934), the self emerges through social interaction and therefore needs to be explored within its social context. According to Michikyan et al. (2014), self- disclosure in an online social network context is considerably different to face-to-face self-disclosure, as it involves engaging in more elaborate processes of editing the performance of the self in order to gain the approval of others and foster desired identity constructions. Zhao et al. (2008) suggest that announcing one’s identity through personal self-disclosure is different in an online context because one’s online identity is not constructed under the same set of constraints, like the presence of a corporal body. In real-life social encounters, people can only self-disclose identities that are relatively consistent with their visible physical characteristics. This is similar to Goffman’s theory (1959) of impression management, which involves mostly the manipulation of the physical setting (furniture, decoration) and/or the personal front (appearance, language or manner) in order to generate a desired impression of the self for others. However, online self-disclosure of identity can go beyond the limits set by physical characteristics, which changes the conditions in which one can construct and perform their version of the

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self. With the advent of relationship formation online, the conditions of identity production and self-disclosure have changed; now that the body is detached from the social encounter, individuals can interact in a fully disembodied text mode (Zhao et al. 2008). Depending on the degree of anonymity, some online environments make it possible for users to reinvent themselves through the production of new identities (Suler 2004). The disembodied conditions of the online space undoubtedly influence self- disclosure because the performed self is open to greater manipulation (Suler 2004). As a result of these changed conditions, the performance of the self on SNS is amenable to greater degrees of creativity and therefore may be capable of serving different functions. However, as a consequence of the SNS audience being both large and diverse, the user is also vulnerable to experiencing a greater degree of interpretation, scrutiny and response.

However, in most cases, Facebook is not an anonymous environment. Most Facebook networks will have some gating features to identity, which include the fact that some of the members will have offline knowledge of the user. These are referred to as “anchored relationships” (Zhao et al. 2008 p.1820). Zhao et al. (2008 p.1820) suggests that the combination of anonymous and anchoring features on Facebook make it “anonymous online environment”. Nonymous online environments exists where there are still a number of anchoring features that are not present in anonymous online environments, such as online dating sites. However, this is only the case where an actual offline introduction has occurred with members of one’s Facebook community. In some cases, a Facebook identity can be completely anonymous, and impersonated selves can be created in the absence of any anchoring features. However these are more the exception

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than the rule, and may be created with more dubious motives in mind such as intentional misrepresentation for the purposes of criminality or deceit.

Certain degrees of anonymity can allow one to self-disclose versions of oneself that are different to their offline self. The context of online self-disclosure affords users a capacity to create a Facebook avatar which depicts a version of one’s offline self. The creation of avatars, a practice previously limited to online gaming environments, can now be observed on Facebook (Waggoner 2009). These Facebook avatars tend to embellish certain aspects of the self and minimise other less flattering aspects (Waggoner 2009). The function of the experience of these virtual versions of the self for users is largely unknown, with many suggesting that the creation of virtual selves is at best pointless and at worst dangerous (Cash et al. 2013). However, in a study of 279 users of the online avatar game Second Life, Behm-Morawitz (2013) found that virtual avatars had a positive influence on the users’ offline health and appearance, and that this was a significant predictor in the development of satisfying offline relationships. It is the general view that the degree of discrepancy between the disclosed/performed self on Facebook and a users’ offline reality has adverse effects on identity cohesion (Hu et al. 2015).

According to Yurchisin et al. (2005) users do not express their uninhibited, true or false selves on Facebook rather they perform their hoped-for selves, which is described as a socially desirable identity. Bowen and Nemaniac (2009) describe the hoped-for self as a well-crafted online persona that seeks others to see the user as part of a socially desirable milieu. Bowen and Nemaniac (2009) also suggest that these online personas are often observed in users who experience a lack confidence in face-to-face contexts. As such these personas can be viewed as rehearsals for real-life enactments. Yurchisin et al.

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(2005) suggest that it is unwise to dilute the importance of the hoped-for self and posit that it is not to be seen as a false self, but an extension of another aspect of the self. Zhao et al. (2008) suggest that users regard these online presentations as an integral part of their overall identity, and that they utilise the online space in order to self-disclose and publicly display their hoped-for selves. Horney (1991) states that the hoped-for self provides feelings of identity that can compensate for one’s experience of inner division, which enables them to experience feelings of power and significance.

Zhao et al. (2008) conducted a content analysis of 63 Facebook accounts and found that users predominantly claim their identities implicitly rather than explicitly, in that they “show rather than tell” (Zhao et al. 2008, p.1830). They found that users tended to express group identities over personally narrated ones, which adds to the body of literature that suggests that Facebook is changing cultural norms of self-disclosure. This further implies that the online self-disclosure of the hoped-for self may serve the function of identifying with socially desirable milieus (Bowen and Nemaniac 2010).

According to Seidman (2014) psychologists have long accepted the fact that the self is multi-faceted. As far back as Jung (1958), there has been a focus on the distinction between the public persona and the private self.

In his book The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959), Goffman developed a framework for what he called ‘impression management’ that can be utilised to understand self-disclosure and identity. Goffman (1959) describes how people present an image that is aligned with how they think their audience wants to see them. The implication being that the audience is constantly trying to decode these expressions (Solomon et al. 2013). Goffman (1959) describes these dynamics with a dramaturgical

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metaphor; one manages the impressions of others by a careful process of self-disclosure which creates a front-stage persona and conceals a backstage reality. The front stage persona is seen as a convincing performance which is self-disclosed using the available social scenery to one’s expressive advantage, whereas the backstage persona refers to the concealment of aspects of the social performer’s non-disclosed reality (Solomon et al. 2013). Goffman (1959) infers that impression management is ubiquitous across all social interactions, correcting the errors in each performance where only the end, polished production is self-disclosed to the audience (Solomon et al. 2013).

Although Goffman’s work predates the evolution of Facebook by almost five decades, his theories on the social underpinnings of the human subject are relevant to understanding the dynamics of online self-disclosure (Bullingham and Vasconcelos 2013). The contribution of Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical metaphor to this current study becomes clear when one considers the mutual functions of performance, impression management and concealment, which are core features of online self-disclosure. Bullingham and Vasconcelos (2013) infer that Facebook forms the front stage where users choose to project a given identity, thereby suggesting the backstage aspect is reflective of users’ offline self. They conclude that Goffman’s original framework is central to understanding the function of online self-disclosure and identity announcement on Facebook. In the front stage, the actor is conscious of being observed by the audience, and will therefore perform according to certain rules and social conventions, as failing to do so may mean losing face. The actor’s behaviour will differ backstage, where a different performance is necessary (Bullingham and Vasconcelos 2013). Goffman (1959, p.170) argued that individuals have messages that they both “give” and those that they “give off”, the former

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communicating the intended message and the latter are messages that not intended to be received by the audience (Bullingham and Vasconcelos 2013). Despite attempting to conceal these messages they are often disclosed, if not intentionally so. Goffman (1959) concluded that these front-stage performances are not used by individuals to serve the function of becoming someone else, but rather are experienced as extensions of the same individual.

Although, Arundale (2010) argues that due to the one-to-many context of Facebook, Goffman’s (1959) theories are outmoded and need to be remodelled to incorporate the effects of technological advances. Miller (2009) states that SNS are a natural extension to what Goffman posited, suggesting that in the technological era of SNS, we are simply able to self-disclose a wider range of identity indicators than previously. According to Jenkins (2010), the uses of multimedia features on Facebook serve the function of diluting and/or enriching users’ communication patterns. However, the difference is that the physical divide between performer and audience presents more capacity for impression management in the process of online self-disclosure (Bullingham and Vasconcelos 2013). This increased opportunity for persona-adoption triggers the debate as to the realness of these online personas. According to Waggoner (2009 p.157) the term “real world” should be replaced by “non-virtual world”, stating that virtual identities may be experienced as just as real to the user as their offline identities. Baker (2009, p.14) offers the term “blended identity” to describe the interaction and mutual influence of online and offline selves. In considering the use of term Facebook, one is drawn to Goffman’s (1959) notion of “face”, which is where an actor dons a mask to interact with their audience, and then leaves it on for the purposes of saving face in future physical interactions; the audience is

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thus ignorant of the different aspect of the self that is not disclosed (Bullingham and Vasconcelos 2013).

The process of identity formation has specific important functions during life stages that involve transition, such as emerging adulthood (Erickson 1968). Zhao et al. (2008) suggest that the advent of online SNS has altered the conditions of self-disclosure and identity announcement which provides more leverage to how users can manipulate the impressions of the self to others. Some authors suggest that this evolution has a positive effect on identity expression, and many others who are concerned that this has a negative impact on young adult’s sense of self-concept unity. According to Yang and Brown (2016), the function or long-term impact of personal self-disclosure on SNS users’ sense of self has not yet been definitively measured or understood, however this is a concept worthy of ongoing exploration (Yang and Brown 2016). It therefore seems imperative to explore both the perceived function of online personal self-disclosure and its impact on a users’ psychological wellbeing.