Identitetsskapande på Internet : En kvalitativ studie om det sociala nätverket Facebook

As computerized communication and the Internet have evolved, the possibility to express and affirm one’s identity in new ways has also been created. Facebook, which has taken a leading role among the social fora on the Internet and succeeded worldwide, is my choice of study due to the number of people that actively choose to present themselves on it. The purpose of this thesis is to study the identity construction on Facebook through the activities a member partakes in, as well as how the presentation of oneself is written and if it is a result of a self-reflective process of the individual. The rationale for the qualitative study has been personal interviews in order to get an insight into how the individuals use and present themselves on Facebook and - in the interaction with others – how they construct their own identity. My hypothesis has been that we, in the interaction with others, have a great possibility to create and understand our own identities. The study results show that identity formation is a constant process and that it is indeed a self-reflective project. It is through the interaction with others the possibility to affirm and strengthen the identity not only to oneself but also towards others is created. Individuals choose to show certain parts of one’s identity, which often gives a misleading and biased image of the individual in question. However, there seems to be a high awareness of what the presentation signals and to whom. The membership of this social forum is a consequence of the sense of being a part of a greater union with others