A Research On The Self-presentation Behavior Of "Wechat Reading" Users From The Perspective Of Goffman's Dramaturgical Theory

Individuals often show different behaviors because of their different social identities and social expectations,which coincide with the related concepts of stage performance in Erving Goffman's "Dramaturgical Theory".Similarly,as a digital social reading platform based on We Chat friends,"We Chat Reading" users are more or less accompanied by "performance behavior",in which the appearance of " substitute bookshelf" and "private reading" options gives users a "stage" to fully express themselves.In this thesis,from the perspective of American sociologist Goffman's "Dramaturgical Theory",combined with quantitative and qualitative analysis methods,this thesis focuses on individuals' self-presentation behaviors related to reading in We Chat Reading,and analyzes the "stage" characteristics embodied in We Chat Reading,an emerging digital reading platform.Then,the differences and characteristics of We Chat Reading users' self-presentation behaviors are analyzed,the motivations of different self-presentation strategies are analyzed,and the nature of user self-presentation behaviors is reflected,so as to help users better conduct self-presentation,promote the expansion of interpersonal communication,improve the user experience of digital social reading,and enrich and refine the self-presentation research on social platforms.The second chapter discusses the research on the "stage" characteristics of We Chat Reading.It can be found that the We Chat reading platform has presented the "stage"characteristics of reading by combining the drama elements in Goffman's"Dramaturgical Theory",including the"front stage”,"setting”,"audience isolation”,self-presentation strategy and so on.On the basis of the second chapter,according to the sample analysis data of the third and fourth chapters,it is found that,on the whole,We Chat friends are the main source of attention of We Chat Reading friends,laying a huge chain of acquaintances for the social reading of We Chat Reading.Most people are willing to make strange online book friends through We Chat Reading,which is further explained from the side.We Chat Reading has a great development space and prospect in the social aspects of Weak ties.In terms of "audience isolation" and "setting",about half of the users have made relevant Settings,indicating that users also have a certain"stage awareness" in reading.The score of active self-presentation strategy was slightly higher than that of non-active self-presentation strategy,indicating that users were more concerned about self-image when revealing reading-related thoughts.Users who did not perform "stage setting" had higher scores in the aspect of active self-presentation behavior,indicating that more active self-presentation users tended to show reading dynamics "undefensively".We Chat Reading user demographic remarkable differences in self-presentation behavior;the higher the frequency of using the platform,the higher the tendency of "stage performance" on the platform.The fifth chapter combines the conclusions of the previous chapters,and conducts in-depth interviews with users.It is found that the motivation of users with positive self-presentation strategy mainly focuses on: consolidating existing familiar people and broadening strangers' socialization;Non-active self-presentation strategy is mainly due to the monitoring of imagination,which tends to passively hide personal reading dynamics.The sixth chapter synthesizes the above analysis and puts forward relevant reflections and suggestions from three perspectives : First,from the perspective of users themselves,it is proposed to rationally use their "stage" function to shape and strengthen their idealized social "role";Use the self-presentation behavior of "others present" to drive community reading.Secondly,this part makes analysis and suggestions from the perspective of expanding CMC,and proposes to use "front stage" to promote weak connection(strangers)social contact and "stage function" to consolidate and expand offline strong connection(acquaintances)communication,so as to improve users' interpersonal communication effect on social reading platforms.Thirdly,from the perspective of We Chat reading platform,it is proposed to use We Chat friend base to strengthen the community atmosphere of reading "drama class";The countermeasures and suggestions are as follows: to create a "personalized" social stage for reading and to strengthen the setting of "stage" functions related to "audience isolation".