Defining who we are

• Do we self-select our social networks?
• Is it possible to choose not to be part of a social network in our personal and/or professional lives?

           When I first began thinking about my response this week, I was thinking in terms of how each of us as individuals define and shape ourselves via our social network profiles.  But as I read and researched, I began thinking of this in a more macro sense; how do we as a society shape our online identity.  While this is an inherently complicated endeavor for which any one answer is impossible, the ability to analyze macro-data across networks and demographics makes it possible to at least look at trends.

            Byrne (2008) looks almost exclusively at social networks created for racial sub-groups - specifically African-American, Asian, and Latino (though the case for Latino not being a racial group is made by one user quoted in the paper) (p. 18).  While she asserts that these sites are important because they allow the youth from these demographics to explore and enrich their cultural heritage thereby strengthening their own sense of self (p. 33), in the end she glossed over the fact that the number of youths actually involved in the sites was really minimal.  Though the overall total numbers in the millions, it is in the low millions and pales in comparison to participation in other forms of social media (i.e. MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter, etc.) (p. 16).  I also felt the author neglected to substantively investigate the type of users drawn to specifically racial social networks.  Many of the posts cited were very vitriolic.  While explaining some, in my opinion, she tended to lend too much merit to the ideas of a group of people who already self-identified as viewing their race as the number one characteristic which defines them (at least in the context of the network).  To bring this back to my original topic of macro-definitions of who we are online, I think this may very well be representative of how we might define ourselves offline; there are a small number of those who define themselves primarily by their race and spend a lot of time discussing and furthering that agenda while most of us participate in networks that are more holistic and not specifically defined by racial make-up (even if there isn’t much racial mixing).   Of course, as a thirty-something white male, I recognize that it is a lot easier for me to not think about my race than it is for others, so I never really know to react to research like this.

            It is also interesting to note that while the majority of online adults use Facebook, the number of users on other networking sites, such as Twitter, has a much more mixed group of users.  According to a Pew Research study, African-Americans use Twitter at almost double the rate of Whites (“The demographics of social media users, 2012).   The study does not get into analysis of how it is used, simply that the demographics of the users.  However, Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry attempts to explain this phenomenon in an interview on MSNBC:

I think what they represent is a kind of entrepreneurship in our public discourse.  So one way to think of this is that as these demographics are changing in the country, as you have a more majority-minority population, then these voices that haven’t had sort of the traditional routes into, for example, cable television news or radio, they use social media as a way to be entrepreneurial in news discussions, in arts and culture discussions.  It’s a way of being in control of one’s own media sources (“From minority to majority,” 2012, minute 1:15).

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The Pew study (2012) also notes that women are much more likely to use social media across the board than men, a phenomenon that Dr. Harris-Perry explains is the result of moms having extra time on their hands when they are waiting for their children at sports practice, dance class, etc. (From minority to majority, 2012). Whether or not this is the actual reason is not supported by the study, but it is an interesting theory. 

            Although the data is inconclusive regarding why different demographic groups are online and on certain social networks, it does seem reasonable to note that those who have traditionally been left out of the larger mainstream conversation are carving out niches online where they can be part of the production of their own conversations rather than just consuming the conversations of others.   In this sense, these groups are defining their identity and continuing to shape it in the face of confrontation and new attitudes as we move forward in the human condition.  This doesn’t speak to generalizations about how we ALL as humans do create and shape our online identities, merely these specific groups.  And though the significance of any individual group may be questioned, I think it is worthy to note that group identity is being strengthened, not weakened as people can turn to online communities.

References

Byrne, D. N. (2008). “The Future of (the) ’Race’: Identity, Discourse, and the Rise of Computer-mediated Public Spheres." Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. 15–38.

Duggan, M., Brenner, J. (2013). The demographics of social media users – 2012. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Social-media-users/The-State-of-Social-Media-Users/Overview.aspx

Harris-Perry, M. (2011). From minority to majority. MSNBC. Retrieved from http://video.msnbc.msn.com/msnbc/44358621#44358621

Ito, M., Sonja B., Matteo B., Boyd, D. Cody, R., Herr, B., Horst, H.A., Lange, P.G.,Mahendran, D., Martinez, K., Pascoe, C.J., Perkel, D., Robinson, L., Sims, C., & Tripp, L. (2009). Hanging Out, Messing Around, Geeking Out: Living and Learning with New Media. Cambridge: MIT Press.