IDENTITY CONSTRUCTION IN SOCIAL MEDIA: AN ANALYSIS OF NIGERIAN FACEBOOK USERS’ PROFILES

Abstract

This study focuses on the display of identity on Facebook, and more specifically, on how Nigerian Facebook users express their identities on their profiles in order to find out the linguistic features they employ in creating their identities on their profiles. The theoretical contexts of this work are Tory Higgin’s self-discrepancy theory and Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical framework. The study is based on the analysis of the interview of fifteen participants who were conveniently sampled, and their netnographic study of their profiles on Facebook. Content analysis was used as a method for data analysis. The study shows that Nigerian Facebook users display a range of identity categories which include national identity, religious identity, gender identity and ethnic identity. The results also show that people tend to portray their idealized and ought selves on Facebook more than their actual selves in order to seek social validation and acceptance. In conclusion, Nigerian Facebook users use linguistic features which are unique to Nigerians in portraying their identities on Facebook. These features mark them out from non-Nigerians.