IDENTITY IN ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKS: ARTIFICIAL AND/OR REAL?

Abstract

The search for and research on identity is as powerful as the technological change in the history of the globalised world. Despite this, the subject of identity, which gained importance the last few years, has not received the attention it deserves. Furthermore, limited research, especially from a communicative perspective, has been conducted on social processes and phenomena which are used to create online identities. One reason might be the social implications from the formation and use of online identities and advancement in processes of their transference into the real world, which can have far reaching implications. Based on recent recommend-dations that future research should focus on a theoretical exploration of identities in online social networks (Acun 2011; Attrill & Jalil 2011), this study sets out to investigate and address these gaps and to present a theoretical overview of the social processes and phenomena in the formation of identity in online social networks. Drawing from social constructionism, social categorization, social identity and knowledge management theoretical paradigms, as well as a consideration of the notional constructs of identity and online social networks, the main theoretical approaches to and key criteria thereof are proposed. This paper therefore aims to serve the purpose to review the theoretical perspectives used to explain the formation of identities in online social networks and to identify the characteristics and factors that impede on it.