Online Identity Analysis Model: Analysing the Construction of the Self in Digital Environments

Social media is changing the way individuals collaborate, learn and express themselves, allowing for the construction of an identity and a reputation that encompasses over many other digital spaces. In a context where the online identity of individuals may reveal the sum of their experiences and skills, reflecting the path of their personal, academic and professional lives, this paper introduces a conceptual framework and a model developed to analyse the construction of the self in online environments. The model was used in a research study developed at University of Aveiro, Portugal, aiming to analyse how identity is built and managed in formal and informal digital environments and reveals the existence of two main online identity profiles-context driven and user-driven identity profiles.

[1]  Sue Bennett,et al.  The 'digital natives' debate: A critical review of the evidence , 2008, Br. J. Educ. Technol..

[2]  Steven Warburton.  Digital Identity Matters , 2010 .

[3]  Jason Martin,et al.  Identity construction on Facebook: Digital empowerment in anchored relationships , 2008, Comput. Hum. Behav..

[4]  Julie Coiro,et al.  Central issues in new literacies and new literacies research , 2008 .

[5]  M. Prensky.  Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1 , 2001 .

[6]  Matthias Jarke,et al.  The future of e-learning: a shift to knowledge networking and social software , 2007, Int. J. Knowl. Learn..

[7]  Mark Childs,et al.  Identity: A Primer , 2011 .

[8]  Krishna P. Gummadi,et al.  You are who you know: inferring user profiles in online social networks , 2010, WSDM '10.

[9]  Christine Greenhow,et al.  Learning, Teaching, and Scholarship in a Digital Age , 2009 .

[10]  Jaakko Kurhila.  “Unauthorized” Use of Social Software to Support Formal Higher Education , 2006 .

[11]  danah boyd,et al.  Faceted Id/Entity : managing representation in a digital world , 2002 .

[12]  D. Boyd.  Why Youth (Heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life , 2007 .

[13]  E. Goffman.  The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life , 1959 .

[14]  R. Eynon,et al.  Digital natives: where is the evidence? , 2010 .

[15]  Christine Greenhow,et al.  Informal learning and identity formation in online social networks , 2009 .

[16]  Anna Peachey,et al.  Virtual Worlds and Identity , 2011 .