Who’s observing who?
, • Social media is an example of a dialogic form of communication (people are contributing to
content, user-generated content: photo’s, videos, status’)
• People are contributing to content
• People are interacting with each other – not just outward posting
• You are watching others – this interaction suggests that we are watching each other
• They are watching you
Questions to ask yourself
• Do you think about the consequences of a post?
• Do you think about what response people may have to them?
• Do you edit photos before posting them?
• Why might you do this?
Being watched
• We are influenced by those who watch us, we perform ourselves online
• Goffman (1959) – argued that there are two stages
• Front stage
• What you present to others
• Masks and prompts, use other people around you, to suggest something
about you
• Actioned-get where you want to be
• Adjust your presentation of yourself to the given audience
• Back stage
• Where people can shed their public role
• Don’t necessarily become “true self” but they shed the public elements such
as makeup, hair, the way that clothes are worn
Being watched: Impression Management
• Goffman (1959)
• The manipulation of cues to control and organise the impression we give to others –
normally thought of in the real world such as dressing up for a job vs hanging around
with your friends or trying to impress to a certain culture.
, • Social media is an example of a dialogic form of communication (people are contributing to
content, user-generated content: photo’s, videos, status’)
• People are contributing to content
• People are interacting with each other – not just outward posting
• You are watching others – this interaction suggests that we are watching each other
• They are watching you
Questions to ask yourself
• Do you think about the consequences of a post?
• Do you think about what response people may have to them?
• Do you edit photos before posting them?
• Why might you do this?
Being watched
• We are influenced by those who watch us, we perform ourselves online
• Goffman (1959) – argued that there are two stages
• Front stage
• What you present to others
• Masks and prompts, use other people around you, to suggest something
about you
• Actioned-get where you want to be
• Adjust your presentation of yourself to the given audience
• Back stage
• Where people can shed their public role
• Don’t necessarily become “true self” but they shed the public elements such
as makeup, hair, the way that clothes are worn
Being watched: Impression Management
• Goffman (1959)
• The manipulation of cues to control and organise the impression we give to others –
normally thought of in the real world such as dressing up for a job vs hanging around
with your friends or trying to impress to a certain culture.
