“First, let me take a selfie” - Young adults’ self representation on Instagram

The possibility to create an alternate identity is different today due to the digital world. Previous research on online self-presentation focused mostly on identity constructions in anonymous online environments, where users could choose to be anonymous. This study aims to move forward and study online self-presentation in the non-anonymous social media platforms that are more commonly used today, especially amongst young adults with the research questions: • How do young adults present themselves on Instagram? • Do young men and young women represent themselves differently on Instagram, if so, how? • Can differences be identified in the responses, i.e. likes and comments between young women and young men? And if so, how can these differences be described? The study has been limited to Instagram, since this is a popular platform for young adults, who are target group for my study. The material is 120 posts from six various Instagram users, three male and three female. The findings are that young adults represent themselves through selfies on Instagram. They represent themselves differently through filters, poses and also in the way they communicate with their followers. The female users were more prone to highlight their appearance and post selfies from indoors and preferably a home environment. The male users more often posted from outdoors and with some activity. The female users got more responses from their followers comparing in terms of comments and likes and often complimented by their looks which is associated with constructed gender roles of femininity and masculinity; men being outdoor and active while the woman is passive, beautiful and prefers to stay at home. However, the findings also showed indications of not replicating gender roles and myths about what is feminine and masculine, as some of the male users selfies had traits that associated to female presentation and the female selfies had traits associated to male stereotypical presentation