Netnography of the Self in Selfies

Since last twenty years, human race has experience digital revolution. This revolution has three major dimensions i.e. penetration of internet in society, growth of social media and social networking and growth of mobile (smart) & wearable technologies. with quick surge in technologies, an idea of ‘selfie’ has emerged and transformed. In sociological terms, the emergence of ‘selfie’ can be located in domain of new culture that transformed representation self, social relationships, social interactions and social consumptions. The study adopts quantitative and qualitative Netnography techniques to explore and describe sociologically relevant theories to grasp this phenomenon of selfie. For this purpose, the study adopts dramaturgy, sociosemiotic and dialectical frameworks. Based on descriptive diagnostic explorations the study provides sensibleness for symbolic utilization, discursive stratagems, communicative representations and performance tactics with reference to (re)presentation of self within various social interactions and social order. This research aimed to understand selfie behavior in social networking sites (SNSs). The research was conducted on the basis of the functional theories of attitude, verified self-presentation attitude, and self- expression attitude that affect selfie behaviors (i.e., taking selfies, posting selfies, and taking selfies for fashion product exposure). The moderating effect of satisfaction toward one’s appearance was identified. Self-presentation attitude exerted a significant effect on the number of selfies posted and those uploaded for fashion product exposure. When satisfaction toward one’s appearance was high, self-presentation attitude increased the influence of the behaviors of posting selfies and uploading selfies for fashion product exposure. Self-expression attitude also significantly influenced the number of selfies taken due to the moderating effect of satisfaction toward one’s appearance. The rise of digital and visual communication has brought an increased focus to the places that people occupy. While places are created through various meaning-making processes, one way of establishing the meaning of a place is by inserting oneself into spaces by taking selfies. The places depicted in selfies may reflect a desire to associate oneself with the place, to make a statement challenging that place or the dominant meaning associated with it, or to create new meaning concerning the place and the self. Drawing on the concepts of Third space and heterotopias, we proffer a framework for the practice of taking and sharing selfies that depict a place. We argue that people colonize points in space to reproduce, counter, or mix the meanings of places. People then both draw from and contribute to the construction of places and are motivated to “place” themselves to provide alternative or personalized perspectives of these places but also to represent their self