UNDERSTANDING THE SELF

Political Self

Political System

Theories of Leadership

Open Space Technology

Concept and promoting

sense of nationalism
LESSON

6
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

1. define the concept of online identity;

2. Understand the influence of social media in creating

and presenting the digital self;

3. Examine the influence of the internet to gender and

sexuality; and

4. Demonstrate responsible and appropriate ways of

presenting oneself or behaving online.
ACTIVITY: Actual vs. Digital Self

Directions: Using the Venn Diagram (next slide),

try listing down some behaviors, traits, qualities, or
preferences that you show online (digital self) that
may be similar or different from your actual self.
ACTUAL SELF DIGITAL SELF
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
Does spending too much time in
cyberspace affect one’s
personality?

Is there a big difference between the self online

and the real self?

Can an adolescent survive the day without

going online?
Social Media Users —
How Many People Use Social Media In 2022

With 2.9 billion members, Facebook is the most popular social

networking site in the world. Whatsapp and Youtube, two other
social media networks, each have more than two billion members.

There are 7.9 billion people on the globe, and at least 4.9 billion of
them are online, which are enormous numbers. This indicates that
over two-thirds of internet users and one in three people worldwide
utilize social media sites.

The world has transformed because of social media. These

technologies are being widely and quickly adopted, redefining how we
coordinate to demands, locate partners, and obtain new information.
Social Media Users Statistics
 There are 4.6 billion social media users in the world as of 2022.
 It is forecasted that there will be 5.85 billion social media users
worldwide by 2027.
 Facebook is the biggest social media platform in terms of user
base. It has 2.91 billion users as of 2022.
 On average, the typical social media user interacts with 6.6 social
media platforms.
 Eastern Asia has the most social media users (26%) as of 2022.
 Social media is used by 85% of the world’s 5.27 billion mobile
phone users.
 China, with 1,021 million users, is the country with the most social
media users as of 2022. India ranks second with 755 million, and
the United States makes it to the third spot with 302 million users.
Social Media Users Statistics

 In the world, the average person uses social media for two hours
and thirty-five minutes every day.
 Millennials and Gen Z are the most frequent users of social media
platforms.
 The fastest-growing social network is TikTok, which has had a
startling 105% user increase in the US during the last two years.
How Many Social Media Users Are There Globally?

Over 4.6 billion people are accessing social media worldwide as of

2022. An average social media user hops between 6 to 7 social
media every month.
Let us see the number of social media users in the world from
2017 to 2027:
How Many Social Media Users Are There Globally?

Year Number of Social Media Users

2017 2.73 billion
2018 3.1 billion
2019 3.51 billion
2020 3.9 billion
2021 4.26 billion
2022 4.59 billion
2023* 4.89 billion
2024* 5.17 billion
2025* 5.42 billion
2026* 5.64 billion
2027* 5.85 billion
* Forecasted.
Here is a table showing the top 20 countries with the Most
Number of Social Media Users as of 2022:
Predicted
Country Users as of 2022 Number of Users
in 2027.
China 1,021.96 million 1,212.38 million
India 755.47 million 1,177.5 million
USA 302.25 million 327.22 million
Indonesia 217.53 million 261.7 million
Brazil 165.45 million 188.35 million
Russia 115.05 million 126.37 million
Japan 101.98 million 113.03 million
Mexico 98.21 million 122.07 million
Philippines 84.07 million 92.68 million
Vietnam 72.29 million 81.63 million
Predicted
Country Users as of 2022 Number of Users
in 2027.
Turkey 67.11 million 76.58 million
UK 61.67 million 65.23 million
Germany 60.88 million 73.15 million
Thailand 56.27 million 59.32 million
France 48.71 million 56.62 million
South Korea 46.09 million 47.61 million
Italy 43.31 million 46.89 million
Nigeria 38.47 million 91.55 million
Canada 34.47 million 38.93 million
Bangladesh 24.49 million 33.6 million
Gender and Social Media Users

 54% of men and 46% of women make up the global social media
users as of 2022.

 76% of all females and 72% of all males in the US have a social
media account.

 In the United Kingdom, 80% of all males and 84% of all females
have a social media account.
Here is a table showing the gender of social media users around world regions:

World Region Share of Male Users Share of Female Users

North America 46% 54%

South America 48% 52%

West Europe 50% 50%

Southern Africa 48% 52%

South Asia 73% 27%

Oceania 47% 53%

Source: Ruby, D. (2022) . Social Media Users — How Many People Use Social Media In 2022
https://www.demandsage.com/social-media-users/
What is an online identity?
It is the totality of a person’s appearance, expression, behavior, and
interaction within the digital platform, particularly the internet.

We now live in a vast, changing, and highly digital world, and the self
has adapted and has immersed itself in this new environment. Thus,
the emergence of an online identity. This online identity is often
created to engage in virtual communities found in various websites
and social networking sites.

Oftentimes, online identities are mere versions of the self that a

person projects in online interactions. As a result, these projections of
the self are sometimes different from a person’s actual self or
personality in actual social interactions. But why do people
present their identities differently online?
Unmasking the Digital Self: Online Self-presentation

The digital world presents a different reality as compared to the

actual physical reality that people usually live in. In digital realities,
interactions occur behind the screen so documenting the daily life and
experiences through posting photos and videos, and sharing interests
and life events as they happen now characterize the new form.
In this kind of set-up, people present themselves differently and
create an image, people carefully select personal information which
they disclose online. This process of self-presentation enables the
individual to control other people’s perception to oneself, thereby
reinforcing the creation of online identities (Goffman 1959; Leary
1995 as cited in Belk 2013)
 Extended Self in a Digital World

as explained by Belk (2013), one’s self appears to “extend” into the

digital world based on the information people divulge online,
including, but not limited to, photos, places they check in, narratives,
preferences, and interests.
Social media platforms provide people with tools which they can use
to present themselves more creatively to a public audience. When
people interact and communicate online, they exercise control over
their self-presentation and self-disclosure, because anonymity on the
internet is like a blanket of security against other people’s dissent or
judgment.
 Valkenburg and Peter (20110 listed factors, such as anonymity
of one’s identity and audiovisual anonymity, asynchronicity, and
accessibility in online communication fosters more extensive self-
disclosure and a managed self-presentation of online identities.
Moreover, “the internet enhanced self-disclosure hypothesis” of
Valkenburg and Peter (2009) suggests that since exposure to the
internet and visual communities fosters a feeling of connectedness
and well-being, they are more likely to disclose even intimate
information about themselves online.

In fact, Wood et al. (2016) has cited studies indicating that college
students who consciously enhance their online identities by
projecting a positive disposition and well-being in Facebook are more
likely to feel a greater subjective well-being. Any feedback received by
these individuals to this self-presentation may later on be integrated
into their real sense of self and identitiy, thereby influencing it too
(Valkenburg and Peter 2011).

Being a widely accepted behavior in cyberspace, the individual easily

discloses a lot of aspects about himself behind the veil of anonymity.
The digital world allows people to present themselves in ways that
they want to be seen without having to deal with the now seemingly
awkward face-to-face conversations. Ridley (2012) and Suler (2004)
would refer to this extensive online sharing as the disinhibition effect,
where people feels so much freedom to express their “true selves”
without the fear of being seen or judged (cited in Belk 2013) .
The online disinhibition effect describes the loosening of social
restrictions and inhibitions that are normally present in face-to-face
interactions that takes place in interactions on the Internet

Suler (2004) describes two main categories of behavior that fall

under the online disinhibition effect:

1. Benign disinhibition
2. Toxic disinhibition
Categories of Online Disinhibition

1. Benign Disinhibition. Not all disinhibition is a bad thing.

Sometimes people share very personal things about
themselves. It could be a cathartic experience which gives
opportunity to reveal secret emotions, fears and wishes.
They show unusual act of kindness and generosity,
sometimes going out of their way to help others. On the
benign side, the disinhibition indicates and attempt to
understand and explore oneself, to work through problems,
and find new ways of being. People can be extremely
generous and kind to others in the virtual world.
Another benign disinhibition is to combat loneliness and
depression through online interaction. Social interaction may
moderate negative moods (Morahan-Martin and
Schumacher, 2003).

Online disinhibition can also enhance self-esteem and self-

confidence. Using the internet could be an avenue to find
satisfying relationships to provide emotional support.
(Valkenburg and Peter, 2011).

Individuals with low self-esteem are more comfortable with

online interactions (Johnson, 2004)
Example of
Benign
Disinhibition
2. Toxic Disinhibition. Disinhibition can also be ugly. People
have witnessed rude language, harsh criticism, anger, hatred,
even threats online. Others even go to the dark side of the
internet where they can access pornography, crimes, and
other forms of violence. These are all toxic disinhibition.
People tend to go to virtual spaces which they are not
supposed to explore.

Not every person will be disinhibited in the same way or to

the same level in virtual interactions. Individuals can be
predisposed to being more disinhibited based on their
personalities. The intensity of a person’s underlying feelings,
needs, and drives affects susceptibility to online disinhibition
as well.
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place using electronic
technology. Electronic technology includes devices and
equipment such as cellphones., computers and tablets as well
as communication tools including social media sites, text
messages, chat and websites
(https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/index.htm).

This only applies to minors. It is the willful and repeatedly

harm inflicted through the use of computer, cellphones and
other electronic device (Hinduja and Patchin, 2011). It can be
in the form of harassing, threatening, humiliating, hassling of
peers, spreading humors, creating web pages, videos and fake
social network profiles to make fun of others.
It can also be through taking photos and videos of others
without their knowledge and distributing them online.

Cyber Harassment is the use of Information and

Communications Technology (ICT) to harass, control,
manipulate or habitually disparage a child, adult, business or
group without a direct or implied threat of physical harm
(https://www.ipredator.co/cyber-harassment/).

It is the adult form of cyber bullying.

Sample of toxic
disinhibition
I, Me, Myself and My User ID Online Identity
Similar to a mirror room,
your online persona can
be described as an
intangible representation
of you; the sum of many
outputs which each offer The term digital identity (DI)
a different outlook, a refers to anything that
different perspective of describes a persona an
who you are. individual presents across all
the digital spaces that he or
she is represented in.
The Evolving Concept of the Extended Digital Self

When Belk first introduced the concept of extended self in 1988,

he investigated the individual consumer behavior in a context of
a then emerging technological environment. At that time when
technology was not yet at its peak, he theorized that a person’s
concept of self can be influenced by certain digital technologies
allowing for the creation of an extended self which most often
comes into play in the digital world. According to Belk (2013),
there are five original formulations of the digital self:
Dematerialization, Re-embodiment, Sharing, Co-
construction of the self, and Distributed Memory. But since
the technological environment had immensely evolved through
time, an individual’s digital self has also evolved with the digital
world and this may have resulted to many changes in the
creation of a person’s online and offline identity.
 Self-revelation
From among five formulations, sharing relates most to the digital
self. One important aspect that has evolved in this formulation is
that sharing can now be closely associated with self-revelation. In
their social networking profiles, people can easily project a
productive and successful image of themselves without being
tagged arrogant. Posts or narratives that reveal about a person’s
material possessions, recent purchases, or life successes are
widely acceptable and not frowned upon, unlike if brought up in
normal conversations.
In Facebook, for example, this self-disclosure immediately gets
reinforced since people can immediately react to any such
information through a variety of emojis readily available in a
single click.
 Loss of Control
In presenting the digital “self” online, the individual user caters to
a greater public audience. Once a status is updated or a photo is
posted, it becomes readily accessible to the viewing public and
the owner of such information somehow loses control over this
information. To illustrate this loss of control, a widely shared post
or photo that becomes a trending topic online could result to
either a positive or negative outcome.
On one side, the viewing public may become more socially aware
of events happening around them and, thus, be more helpful or
active in the community. On the other side, various self-
representations online may reach even unintended audiences and
the image one originally wishes to portray may be subject to
criticisms or misinterpretations.
SELF-PRESENTATION STRATEGIES AND
IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT

How do people present

themselves offline? How
about online?
Self-presentation is a
range of strategies that
people adopt to shape
what others think of
them.
Types of Self Presentation
1. Self –promotion – trying to show that he/she is
competent, effective or a winner; better and capable than
others so they will admire him/her. This person expects
respect. He/she speaks proudly about their experience,
education or achievement. He/she always makes people
aware of their accomplishments.

2. Ingratiation – has a desire to be likeable and longing for

attention. They expect affection. Takes an interest in one’s
personal lives to show them that they are friendly. He/she
often uses flattery and favours to make others like them.
3. Exemplification – has an intention to achieve worth from
others. He/she expects others to feel guilty by their actions.
This person tries to appear like a hard-working dedicated
employee to make other feel less worthy than they are (has
intention to make others feel that they are not as good as
him). He/she stays at work late so that people will know that
they are hard-working.

4. Intimidation – tries to appear dangerous or ruthless.

He/she expects others to be afraid of them (instilling fear).
People do this when they are expecting others to finish a
task. For instance, the boss intimidates subordinates to get a
job done. He/she shows others that they can make life
difficult for them if they are pushed too far.
5. Supplication – The person using supplication, would like
to appear helpless handicapped or unfortunate). He/she aims
to achieve nurturance from others. This person would act as if
they know less than others so people will help them out.
He/she pretends not to understand something to gain
someone’s help (Hewstone, et al., 2015)

Self enhancement refers to the tendency to think of oneself

in a favorable light, whereas impression management
refers to a deliberate attempt to distort one’s responses in
order to create a favourable impression with others.
Impression Management
This could be the perception of a certain person (including
you), a material possession or an event.

The theory goes on to explain that we try to make the

perception consistent to our goal.

• Example: A girl who only shares good things about her

boyfriend to her parents may be trying to present him as a
good catch so they can stay together.
IMPACT OF ONLINE INTERACTION ON THE SELF
The development of the person’s social aspects can be greatly
influenced by technology due to an insufficient amount of real
life social encounters (Diaz et al., 2014). Although online
encounters are easy and more convenient than real life
encounters, facial expression, body language, eye contact and
conversation skills suffer.

Based on the analysis of teenagers’ online experience, studies

showed that ‘others’ on the internet constitute a distinctive
“looking glass” that produces a “digital self” that differs from
the self formed offline. While online, a person’s status in the
face-to-face world may not be known to
Others and may not have that much of an impact. Authority
figures express their status and power in the way they dress,
body language and in the trappings of their environmental
setting. The absence and presence of these cues in the text
environment identifies the impact of the status of the person
online.

Abuse of technology always leads to negative consequences.

Even if there are cases when social media negatively impacts
users, it would be unfair if only the technology would be
blamed. For instance, it would be unfair to blame
automakers for accidents if the driver is drunk while on the
road. The same case applies to online users. It is the
responsibility of the users to be cautious on what they post
on social media.
Although posting has its advantages, the users should be
extra careful of the text messages and images they post
especially those that might cause harm to others and to
themselves as well.

BOUNDARIES OF THE SELF ONLINE

Personal boundaries are the set of guidelines, rules or
limits that a person creates to identify reasonable, safe and
permissible ways for people to behave towards them and how
they respond in case someone breaks these rules and
oversteps the limits.
People may interact with each
other in real time. Others may
take minutes, hours, days or
even months to reply. Not
having to cope with someone’s
immediate reaction disinhibits
people. This connotes
asynchronicity. It allows the
person to think more carefully
about what he/she would like to
say before posting, which could
help when someone has trouble
with face-to-face interactions.
Public vs Private on Social Media

In many online environments, people cannot see others.

Nobody can judge the statements and images because of the
cloak of invisibility. In the public mode, the post will be
treated as open book. Because of security, many online users
are using the private mode. Invisibility is also a gauge to
misrepresent oneself. A man may represent himself as a
woman and vice versa. These are the possibilities of using
technology which cannot be attained in face-to-face
interaction. In virtual interactions, people cannot always be
sure when/where someone is present. It gives the courage to
do things which cannot be done in face-to-face interaction.
KEEPING IT PRIVATE

Most people would likely be stunned by the amount of

information that they give away online to the general
public. Between your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and
other accounts, it’s often not difficult to gain a lot of insight
into a person.

It’s certainly a cautionary tale and a great reminder to be

careful of what we publish. With security settings often
changing, you need to pay attention to what you’re posting
for the whole world to see.
MAKING IT PUBLIC

All of that said, there are many cases where posting items
in public is a good thing.
• Making connections
• Google Authorship
• Be retweetable

The world of social media can be an awesome place, and

sharing content for the world to see can be a very valuable
thing. Just remember to be aware of what you’re putting out
there, and how the privacy controls work on any site that
you use.
GENDER AND SEXUALITY ONLINE
In studies conducted relating the effects of the internet in the
sexual development of adolescents often revolve around concepts
of sexual exploration and online sexual solicitation
(Valkenburg and Peter 2011). Online communication and the
voluminous amount of information available on the internet enable
individual users to engage in sexual self-exploration. Since the
internet helps keep individuals real identities from their real
families and friends, they become more open and expressive on
sensitive sexual issues that are often shunned in normal face-to-
face conversations. The blanket of anonymity on the internet
facilitates discussions on teenage sex, sexual orientations, and
even sex-related health issues without the fear of being
discriminated against or judged, especially for gays and lesbians
who are often subject of gender discrimination attacks.
Managing the Digital Self: Responsible Online
Self-presentation
Below are the questions that you may ask yourself before presenting
yourself online. Before posting or sharing anything online, you may
think about the following:
• Is this post or story necessary?
• Is there a real benefit to this post or am I just making noise online
without purpose?
• Have we (as a family or parent/child) resolved this issue? An issue
still being worked out in the home, or one that is either vulnerable
or highly emotional, should not be made public.
• Is it appropriate? Does it stay within the boundaries of our family
values?
• Will this seem as funny in five, ten or 15 years? Or is this post
better suited for sharing with a small group of family members?
Or maybe not at all?
End of Lesson 6