Publication: Sosyal ağlarda benliğin sunumu : Linkedin üzerine bir inceleme
Abstract
İnsan, var oluşundan bu yana kendini ve benliğini anlama çabasındadır. Benlik, kimilerine göre doğuştan gelen kimilerine göre sonradan kazanılan bir fenomen olmasının yanı sıra sunulan bir performans öznesi görevi görmektedir. Goffman’ın “Günlük Yaşamda Benliğin Sunumu” bağlamında performans olarak sunulan benlik sosyal medya ile sayısallaşmıştır. Sunulan benliğin dijitalleşmesi, kontrol edilebilirliğini artırmış; bu da benliği metalaştırmıştır. Bu durumda, özne nesneyi kendi yaratmasına rağmen bir süre sonra nesnenin hakimiyetinde varlığını yitirmiştir. Nesnenin hakimiyetindeki öznenin kimlik denetimi bir yanılsama yaratmaktadır çünkü kontrol edilen aslında kendisidir. Bu bağlamda sosyal medya profillerinin “izlenim denetimine” aşırı açıklığı, profilleri gerçekliklerinden uzaklaştırmaktadır. Benlik sunumu, dijital profillerde yerini imaj yönetimine bırakmıştır. Sosyal medyada önemli olan benliğin gerçekliği veya bütünselliği değil; performansın ne kadar göz doyurduğudur. Göstergelere indirgenen profillerde yaratılan gerçeklik, bir süre sonra gerçeğin yerini almakta ve Baudrillard’ın deyimiyle “hiper gerçek” bir dünya yaratmaktadır. Bu odak noktasından hareketle gerçekleştirilen çalışma, LinkedIn kullanıcılarının profillerinin benlik performanslarını analiz etmeyi ve bu performansların gerçekliğini sorgulamayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu kapsamda, yarı yapılandırılmış yüz yüze görüşme tekniğine dayanan betimsel bir alan araştırması gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışma sonucunda, katılımcıların profillerini idealize etme eğiliminde oldukları ve bunu bir “zorunluluk” olarak gördükleri bulgulanmıştır.
Since its existence, human beings have been striving to understand themselves and their identity. The self is considered by some as an innate phenomenon, while others see it as something acquired later in life; in addition, it serves as a subject of performed identity. In the context of Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, the self, presented as a performance, has been digitized through social media. The digitalization of the presented self has increased its controllability, leading to its commodification. In this case, although the subject initially creates the object, over time, it loses its existence under the dominance of the object. The identity control of the subject under the dominance of the object creates an illusion because, in reality, what is being controlled is the self itself. In this context, the extreme openness of social media profiles to impression management distances these profiles from their reality. Self-presentation has been replaced by image management in digital profiles. On social media, what matters is not the authenticity or integrity of the self, but rather how visually satisfying the performance is. The reality created in profiles reduced to mere signs eventually replaces the actual reality, creating what Baudrillard refers to as a hyperreal world. Based on this perspective, this study aims to analyze the self-performances of LinkedIn users' profiles and to question the authenticity of these performances. Within this scope, a descriptive field study based on semi-structured face-to-face interviews was conducted. The study found that participants tend to idealize their profiles and perceive this as a necessity”.
Since its existence, human beings have been striving to understand themselves and their identity. The self is considered by some as an innate phenomenon, while others see it as something acquired later in life; in addition, it serves as a subject of performed identity. In the context of Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, the self, presented as a performance, has been digitized through social media. The digitalization of the presented self has increased its controllability, leading to its commodification. In this case, although the subject initially creates the object, over time, it loses its existence under the dominance of the object. The identity control of the subject under the dominance of the object creates an illusion because, in reality, what is being controlled is the self itself. In this context, the extreme openness of social media profiles to impression management distances these profiles from their reality. Self-presentation has been replaced by image management in digital profiles. On social media, what matters is not the authenticity or integrity of the self, but rather how visually satisfying the performance is. The reality created in profiles reduced to mere signs eventually replaces the actual reality, creating what Baudrillard refers to as a hyperreal world. Based on this perspective, this study aims to analyze the self-performances of LinkedIn users' profiles and to question the authenticity of these performances. Within this scope, a descriptive field study based on semi-structured face-to-face interviews was conducted. The study found that participants tend to idealize their profiles and perceive this as a necessity”.