Self-presentation In The WeChat Circle Of Friends

This dissertation explores how and why do users(mainly females aged between 18?30)present themselves in Moments on Wechat within frameworks of Goffman's dramaturgy,Meymwitz's media ecology theory,and relating theories in psychology using case study,survey,interview and text analysis methods.Our main research questions are:1.Why do users actively present themselves in Moments?Are the motivations different from those in other situations?2.What strategies of self-presentation are applied in Moments?Why do people spam?3.How does the level of self-monitoring affect self-presentation in Moments?4.To what extent is the 'self' in Moments genuine?5.How does situation merging in Moments confuse self-presentation in it,and how do users deal with this complexity.Meanwhile an approach different from Goffman's dramaturgy to observing and understanding self-presentation on social networks is introduced and discussed.These are the main conclusions:most users engage in self-presentation in Moments in order to facilitate social interaction and construct selves and only a few expect to gain material and social rewards.Self-promotion,ingratiation,exemplification,supplication and intimidation are the most frequently applied strategies of self-presenting in Moments(ranked according to frequency from highest to lowest).People spam in Moments as a way of self-symbolizing and self-completing which enables them to acquire social validation for certain identities and roles they claim,and it often works.Difference in self-monitoring doesn't affect self-presenting behaviors as significantly as it does outside Moments according to our research.The self in Moments and in one's mind are neither identical to nor conflicting with each other,instead,the former is filtrated from the latter through consciousness and the media.In the highly merged and complex situation as Moments some users get "self-presentation paralysis" while others manage to simplify the situation by choosing viewers for their updates using the "Tags"and "Share to" features,which not only relaxes the themselves but also leads to more flexible and genuine self display as well.Also when we free ourselves from Goffman's Dramaturgy perspective we find self-presentation in Moments deconstructing and constructing the producing and communicating of meaning simultaneously.