Premium
Facework on Facebook: The presentation of self in virtual life and its role in the US elections
Author(s) -
Dalsgaard Steffen
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
anthropology today
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.419
H-Index - 24
eISSN - 1467-8322
pISSN - 0268-540X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8322.2008.00626.x
Subject(s) - cyberspace , presentation (obstetrics) , personhood , the internet , identity (music) , phenomenon , sociology , face negotiation theory , hierarchy , relation (database) , social identity theory , media studies , social psychology , psychology , social group , political science , epistemology , social science , world wide web , aesthetics , computer science , face (sociological concept) , art , medicine , philosophy , database , law , radiology
This article analyses the phenomenon known as social networking services (e.g. websites such as Facebook and MySpace) with anthropological theory deriving mainly from Melanesia. It is argued that these websites engender what in Western countries is a new form of presentation of self‐ and personhood that focuses on the social relations of the person rather than the person as an individual. In this way, the article discusses consumption in cyberspace and the production of differentiation, rank and hierarchy on the Internet in relation to social identity.