Goffman and Turkle’s ideas on contemporary social media (Essay Sample)

Goffman and Turkle’s ideas on contemporary social media Students Name Instructor Institution Date Social media and identity How people interact and communicate daily has changed since the introduction of social media. In today's social interaction, people can post videos, photos, and updates of themselves to a large audience, which determines the social interaction background and impression management. The latest trends in selfie cameras present technological norms where people can capture photos of themselves and edit what to show to the audience. Technological devices offer a visual expression of individuals on the social media platform (Gonzales and Hancock, 2008, p.184) Social media is a form of interaction among individuals where they share, create and exchange ideas virtually or via other networks without physical contact. Through social media, individuals get to present their identities. According to Goffman, individuals play different roles in day-to-day lives, but this only depends on the characterizing social stage or situation. With emerging social networking sites, people can interact and play different roles. Within this same platform, other parts occur depending on the level of networking engagements, and this arises a term Goffman regards as impression management (Matei,2008, p.410). This entails people's need to control their front-stage perceptions of others. Social media may hide one's identity. For example, if an individual posts a suggestive picture of themselves on social media platforms, they may limit their close friends or family members from viewing by choosing their target audience for any social media posts (Robarts and Bennett, 2011, p.310). On the other hand, Turkle postulates that social media has affected modern communication. In her concept of 'alone together,' she describes how, presently, people are addictively connected to their devices for social media and networking. In this theory, its well to conclude that technological changes have increased connections and diminished face-to-face communication (Robarts and Bennett, 2011, p.303). Goffman ideas on social media According to Goffman, how people present themselves on social media may be different, thus resulting in varying social identities. Within the social media platform, an individual may manipulate other people's perceptions and impressions about their identity. The only phase people get to shed their front and become themselves is when backstage because here, individuals take a breath from the social world and have less to worry about regarding their identity and formed stereotypes (Robarts and Bennett, 2011, p.307). The only way to best understand how individuals present themselves on social media and their actions is by viewing them as actors on the social stage. Through acting on stage, we take up a front role that projects a given image about oneself that may result in one's social identity. Our appearance, emotion, and behavior on stage create the front position. The social world demands individuals to portray different functions depending on the social image required on set. While considering team members, individuals take up a front role carefully to fit well in the social world and attain their personal goals. This may mean impression management through concealing a number of the performance factors entailed (Broms and Radmann,2022, p.470). An example is how a police officer maintains professionalism while on the front stage, including wearing the uniform. This presentation is conveyed to the audience, and the resulting impression is a competent and professional individual. In contrast, backstage, the police officer may present a different identity. Goffman's theoretical point of view opposes Marxist and functionalist socialization theories. He believes that a school offers socialization to children for passive acceptance of hierarchy and authority, which only prepares them for later life exploitation. Goffman suggests that many children accept rules and orders to get through the school system smoothly without any hassle. At the same time, they will not embrace authority acceptance later in life. From this theory, Goffman points out clearly that the only way to understand human beings is by engaging in participant observation. Once backstage, when not performing, we can see their accurate impression involving appearance, emotions, and behavior (Broms and Radmann,2022, p.469). According to Goffman, the conscious presentations of individuals on social media is scaffolding and can be eliminated if the performance purpose is attained. An example; putting up a front role and commitment in a job interview with a potential employer, and once the interview contact has ended, one tends to relax. Unlike social media, where one's front role involves a performance to the entire world and all times, it would be hard to relax or lose commitment as one is obliged to sustain their performance and impression to the target audience (Broms and Radmann,2022, p.472). Referring to the dramaturgical perspective, human interaction is complex. The best way to understand actions is to observe individuals or groups, focus on their ability to sustain their identities in public, and relate how their social identities differ from their actual behaviors when relaxed or backstage. Many people on social media aim to maintain a consistent performance routine to avoid losing their face or loss of individual identity (Kimmons and Veletsianos, 2014, p.298) Goffman links social interaction to a theatre and the everyday life of people as actors on stage, each individual taking a different role. In the theatre, there exist another audience composed of individuals observing the part played and giving their reaction to the performance. Like in theatre performances, social media interaction places an individual in a front stage region, where an individual performs before an audience (Broms and Radmann,2022, p.472). This front role impacts an individual's behavior due to their consciousness and expectations that the audience has of them; thus, while on stage may not reflect their true identities. His central idea is as people interact in any social setting, they undergo a process of impression management where every individual tries to behave and present themselves in a way that they do not embarrass themselves or others. In that, they ensure they act in a manner expected of them by the front role situation and the audience, thus not a true reflection of their social identities (Kimmons and Veletsianos, 2014, p.300) Goffman uses performance to postulate an individual's activities in front of a particular audience. Here the individual has the role of selling themselves to others in a way it delivers an identity impression of the situation (Kimmons and Veletsianos, 2014, p.301). Similarly, social media attracts different audiences that require individuals to alter their interactions depending on the social environment. According to Goffman, an individual encompasses three different stages that attract various performances. With impression management, people present self-identity on how they want to be perceived. With each situation, other scenes call for different assigned roles depending on the present audience. Take an instance of how a particular individual would behave in the workplace around their coworkers and how the same individual would behave around family meetings, gatherings, or even on a date with a partner. The two scenes will vary and present a different identity and side of such an individual (Kimmons and Veletsianos, 2014, p.301) Turkle and contemporary social media identity Turkle views social media as damaging education and family life, ranging from empathy breakdown of children to increased family ties distractions. Turkle points to an example of children sitting around a dinner table conversing with their friends while each holds an iPhone. People use social media to arouse their emotions through videos or posts. Instead of having continued and sustained meaningful interactions and communication with friends and family, most people prefer starting conversations on media platforms with whoever they bump into (Kimmons and Veletsianos, 2014, p.301). Turkle demonstrates how a colleague gets drained and experience fatigue through virtual social meetings occasionally relevant instead of investing time in physical work projects. According to Turkle, people struggle with challenges they face in their daily lives out of taking the upfront role that hinder their true thoughts, values, and talents and end up not revealing their true identities to people surrounding them (Broms and Radmann,2022, p.472). Turkle criticizes social media interaction and advocates for people to invest in sustainable and meaningful conversation with people who care, love, and share passion rather than wasting time on social interactions driven by impression. According to her, in today's workplace, people who have grown up avoiding communication show up to work with earphones. A similar case is observed in the college library, where people are together physically in their social world connected with their tiny social gadgets (Broms and Radmann,2022, p.472). A scene in the office with such behavior would be described as a quiet office that does not need to be broken. With social media presentations, Turkle worries about how peers and elders get comforted by robots, and most have forgotten the good old days of face-to-face communication. Social media has damaged interactions as young people choose to live online as a digital lifestyle focus. Turkle views social presentation through a generational prism, where people commit to using improper communication words and asking inappropriate questions (Loh and Walsh, 2021, p. 20563051211041646). Thus it would be a surprise to worry how young people can't have meaningful conversations and relationships and ...