Digital Sociology: The Impact of Social Media on Identity Formation

Abstract

The burning appearance of social media has altered how people build, shape and bargain their existence over the internet. The paper will briefly mention the digital sociology and identity formation where they are overlapping and how online relationships are transforming the individual identity and collective identity. The paper is based on the sociological theories of self-presentation, symbolic interactionism, and networked individualism and argues how the use of social media applications like Instagram, X (now Twitter), Tik Tok and Facebook affects the identity of the users. The study is focused on performativity of online behavior and individuals perform pictures, stories, and relationships in an effort to create a prescribed image among themselves to different audiences. The identity construction in the online space of the study is a moving and continuous process mediated by the algorithmic visibility, the peer confirmation and culture trends and expressed through such aspects of the study as qualitative content analysis and literature review. Similar to the case of social media, which presents the possibility to express oneself socially, to empower and establish communities, the media imposes conformity and surveillance pressures, and self-comparison. The paper reveals the indeterminacy of the digital identities since they tend to shatter the traditional sociological understanding of self. Finally, but not the least, this paper identifies the worth of the critical sociological perception of the role the technological infrastructures play in defining human interactions and social belonging and politics of visibilities. Applying the concept of identity to the background of the sociological discussion on the issue of the digital world, the paper will play a role in the transformation of the current discourse on the impact of the digital process of communication on the society, and the changing nature of the interaction of technology and human self-concept.