The Disconnected

Social Media – Dramaturgy – Digital Self

‘Miscalculating in society. One person wants to be interesting by virtue of his judgments, another by his likes and dislikes, a third by his acquaintances, a fourth by his isolation - and all of them are miscalculating. For the person for whom they are putting on the spectacle thinks that he himself is the only spectacle that counts.’

- Nietzsche

Erving Goffman (Pre-digital)WorksPresentation of Self in Everyday Life +

Interaction Ritual: Essays on Face to Face Behavior

• Correlation between self-presentation + Theater (dramaturgy)

• Performance based presentation/interaction

• Impression Management• Social/Behavior Cues (verbal and non-verbal)

• Self-Monitoring Theory

Toward a Dual Self?Public | Private | Digital

• Second Self (1984) Life on the Screen (1997) Sherry Turkle -‘Identity and Self in the age of the internet’A version of our ‘best selves’.

• ‘Data Self’ (Horning, Jurgenson) “We convert ourselves into data that creates a statistical profile.” statistics, analysis, aggregation, UI – new paradigm data collection = self

• ‘E-Personality’ (2011) Elias Aboujaoude, MD This new self manifests both online and offline. Virtually You: The Dangerous Powers of the E-Personality

• Why Digital Self? Digital Age + Digital Delivery Devices allow CREATION, EXPRESSION, SELF-MONITORING + IMPRESSION MGMT of Digital Self.

Digital SelfThe “ME” Broadcast

• Creation (process/sources: ego, self-image, desires, vanity, narcissism, self-promotion)

• Expression (sharing/communication: photos, text, chat, digital self-presentation) aka Performances

• Self-Monitoring (High and Low – Performances adjusted to satisfy…)

• Impression Mgmt (The impression we want others to have of us)

• Social Media ‘contract’ = Digital Self as both Performer + Audience (reciprocal relationship)

• Performance Rewards (attention, recognition)

Performance Venues?

Preference for Digital Self?• Immediacy, Gratification, Digital Wall, Self Censor

• Performance style “learned” – evolves to satisfy impression desires (remote image control)

• Cure for isolation and loneliness “feel connected”

• Increase Self-Esteem (performance recognition)

• Addiction – when performances are recognized ‘dopamine’ = feel good

(Is the cure the problem?)

(impatient, impulsive, easily agitated, go back to the source - ‘cure’)

(operant and respondent conditioning – pavlov’s dog)

(go offline, feel alone/disconnected, go back to source ‘cure’)

(only temporary and greater in high self-monitors; go back to ‘cure’)

(but when performances are ignored = anxiety/jealousy, envy; resultis back to point 2 and refine performance)

Silicon Implants • “…a place for self-expression...for users to reveal who they are and what their lives are about.” (zucker)

• “…gives you more control over your life.” (zucker)• “explore and share your world…technology should work for you…will put you back in the moment.” (google on glass – not meth)

• "How do we get computers to think, behave and interact the way that humans do?" (IBM commercial – 2013)

• ABConnected, ABClicking, AB$haring, ABPerforming• Disconnect = what they tell you and what they’re really doing….Disconnect = discrepancy between True Self/Digital Self

• Brandtzaeg, Petter Bae. “Social Networking Sites: Their Users and Social Implications - A Longitudinal Study.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2012. 17 (4) (July 13): 467–488.

• Birnie, Sarah A, and Peter Horvath. “Psychological Predictors of Internet Social Communication.” Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, 2002. 7 (July): 1–23.

• Carrasco, Juan Antonio, Bernie Hogan, Barry Wellman, and Eric J Miller. “Agency In Social Activity Interactions: The Role of Social Networks In Time.” Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie. 2008. 99 (5): 562–583.

• Chang, Tsung-Sheng, and Wei-Hung Hsiao. “Time Spent on Social Networking Sites: Understanding User Behavior and Social Capital.” Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 2013. (wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI: 10.1002/sres.2169

• Christofides, Emily, Amy Muise, and Serge Desmarais. “Information Disclosure and Control on Facebook: Are They Two Sides of the Same Coin or Two Different Processes?” Cyberpsychology & Behavior : the Impact of the Internet, Multimedia and Virtual Reality on Behavior and Society, 2009. 12 (3) (June): 341–5.

• DeAndrea, David C., Stephanie Tom Tong, Yuhua Jake Liang, Timothy R. Levine, and Joseph B. Walther. “When Do People Misrepresent Themselves to Others? The Effects of Social Desirability, Ground Truth, and Accountability on Deceptive Self-Presentations.” Journal of Communication, 2012. 62 (3) (June 24): 400–417.

• Dimicco, Joan Morris, and David R Millen. “Identity Management : Multiple Presentations of Self in Facebook." IBM T.J. Watson Research: 383–386.

• Gosling, Samuel D, Adam a Augustine, Simine Vazire, Nicholas Holtzman, and Sam Gaddis. “Manifestations of Personality in Online Social Networks: Self-reported Facebook-related Behaviors and Observable Profile Information.” Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 2011. 14 (9) (September): 483–8.

• Hafner, Katie. 2009. “To Deal With Obsession , Some Defriend Facebook.” New York Times, Dec. 21, 2009. URL (Accessed Dec. 5, 2013)

• Kim, Junghyun, and Jong-Eun Roselyn Lee. “The Facebook Paths to Happiness: Effects of the Number of Facebook Friends and Self-presentation on Subjective Well-being.” Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, 2011. 14 (6) (June): 359–64.

• Miller, Hugh. “The Presentation of Self in Electronic Life: Goffman on the Internet." Paper presented at: Embodied Knowledge and Virtual Space Conference, Goldsmiths' College, University of London (June 1995).

• Rosenberg, Jenny, and Nichole Egbert. “Online Impression Management: Personality Traits and Concerns for Secondary Goals as Predictors of Self-Presentation Tactics on Facebook.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2011. 17 (1) (October 17): 1–18.

• Tong, Stephanie Tom, Brandon Van Der Heide, Lindsey Langwell, and Joseph B. Walther. “Too Much of a Good Thing? The Relationship Between Number of Friends and Interpersonal Impressions on Facebook.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 2008. 13 (3) (April): 531–549.

• Wilson, Kathryn, Stephanie Fornasier, and Katherine M White. “Psychological Predictors of Young Adults’ Use of Social Networking Sites.” Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking. 2010. 13 (2) (May): 173-177.