Bergs Yoy, Peters Pascale, Lub X D, Blomme R J
Strategy, Organization and Leadership, Nyenrode Business Universiteit, Breukelen, Netherlands.
Academy of Hotel and Facility Management, Breda University of Applied Sciences, Breda, Netherlands.
Front Psychol. 2023 Dec 14;14:1306248. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1306248. eCollection 2023.
Advanced media technologies have become an integral part of people's daily lives, providing them with new tools and environments for the formation and enactment of their identities. To date, the literature acknowledges that media technologies, such as social networking sites, are used to form and enact online identities, and that these platforms can simultaneously pose challenges to individuals' identity work. However, we know little about the precise online identity work strategies that individuals employ in response to the challenges they face over time.
This paper examines the online identity work dynamics of Instagram micro-influencers, for whom social network sites enable and guide them in forming and enacting their online identities on a daily basis. The study was guided by the following research question: what are the challenges that Instagram micro-influencers perceive online and what are the online identity work strategies that they employ in response to these challenges over time?
This study employs an extreme case approach to rigorously explore the lives of seven micro-influencers on Instagram. We combine in-depth data from narrative interviews, longitudinal data from online autobiographical narratives revealed through the participants' Instagram timelines, and follow-up interviews.
Our analysis revealed three main themes that highlight the challenges that Instagram micro-influencers face online: (1) amplified social expectations, (2) feelings of inauthenticity, and, as a result thereof, (3) psychological distress. We found that these challenges were viewed as catalysts for their online identity work processes. We identified three key online identity work strategies that the Instagram micro-influencers employed in response over time: (1) experimenting with their online identities, followed by either (2) segmenting between their online and offline identities, or (3) adding identities through online multiplicity.
Our research provides new insights into how individuals may respond to the challenge of managing their online identities over time by engaging in different online identity work strategies. This study highlights the importance of designing online media technologies that enable individuals to cope with online challenges. We emphasize the need to design online spaces for (1) the expression of authentic identities, (2) community building, and (3) online multiplicity.
先进的媒体技术已成为人们日常生活中不可或缺的一部分，为他们提供了塑造和展现身份的新工具与新环境。迄今为止，文献表明诸如社交网站等媒体技术被用于塑造和展现网络身份，并且这些平台可能同时给个人的身份塑造工作带来挑战。然而，我们对个人随着时间推移应对所面临挑战时所采用的精确网络身份塑造策略知之甚少。
本文考察了Instagram微影响者的网络身份塑造动态，社交网站使这些微影响者能够且引导他们每日塑造和展现自己的网络身份。该研究受以下研究问题的指引：Instagram微影响者在网络上察觉到哪些挑战，以及随着时间推移他们针对这些挑战采用了哪些网络身份塑造策略？
本研究采用极端案例法，严格探究Instagram上七位微影响者的生活。我们将叙事访谈的深度数据、通过参与者的Instagram时间线揭示的在线自传叙事的纵向数据以及后续访谈相结合。
我们的分析揭示了三个主要主题，突出了Instagram微影响者在网络上面临的挑战：（1）放大的社会期望，（2）不真实感，以及由此产生的（3）心理困扰。我们发现这些挑战被视为他们网络身份塑造过程的催化剂。我们确定了Instagram微影响者随着时间推移采用的三种关键网络身份塑造策略：（1）试验他们的网络身份，随后要么（2）在网络身份和线下身份之间进行区分，要么（3）通过网络多重性增加身份。
我们的研究为个人如何通过采用不同的网络身份塑造策略来应对长期管理网络身份的挑战提供了新见解。本研究强调了设计能使个人应对网络挑战的在线媒体技术的重要性。我们强调需要设计在线空间用于（1）真实身份的表达，（2）社区建设，以及（3）网络多重性。
