The Presentation of Identity in Virtual Life A sociological study of self -presentation techniques through social media -Facebook as a model-

Abstract

In his dissertation “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life”, the sociologist Erving Goffman used the Theatre, which was a feature of that era as an analogy for Social Interaction; within it, individuals are divided between Performers on that stage who seek to create desirable impressions, and Audience of observers who manage that impression. In this sense, interaction for Goffman becomes "a form of social organization leading to communication". In the context of technological revolutions, many theoretical approaches have found a possibility of projection; building analytical and explanatory models for social interaction and digital communication phenomenon. as technology becomes a feature of this era develops many concepts and practices, such as virtual space, virtual relationships, virtual identities..., in the context of what Manuel Castells called the Networked Society. If Goffman's dramaturgical perspective is based on understanding the transfer of concepts from theater to daily life, the present study came to shed the light on how those concepts transfer from the daily life to the virtual life -social media specifically-. As individuals present their self-identities through their personal pages through Facebook settings; so the latter becomes a virtual theater that provides to simulate the characteristics of the actual self.