Self-identity can be described as a global reflection and understanding of one’s character. It is relatively comprised of relative personal assessment including personal skills and abilities, hobbies, occupation, personal attributes, and physical attributes. In essence, personal identity is not restricted to the present and usually used interchangeably with self-esteem. In other words, it is overall self-worth of an individual. Various factors, however, tend to affect our self-identity in different ways. Such factors include our cultural backgrounds, ethnicity, nature, and environment around us, abilities and skills among others. One of the main factors that have contributed to the various changes and greatly impact identity from across the world is technology and its associated applications. Recently various technological applications have taken places such as information systems, Information Technology (IT) applications, social networks, and social media, the use of the internet in different avenues such as marketing and commerce. Nearly fifty percent of the population in the world tend to use the internet on a routine basis. Of great interest, social media has become a routine activity for everyone possessing a smartphone or can access the internet through various mobile devices.

However. Continued use of social media usually leads to addiction which eventually may lead to adverse effects on the identity of an individual. The main goal of this research is to evaluate and establish the various ways in which social media usually impacts the identity of individuals across the world. The study will also focus on the different changes that have been taking place as a result of technological advancements that have contributed to change the various aspects of identity such as culture and self-comparison. The research will finally focus on the various attributes of social media and the different qualities of social media that influence ones to identify over time.

Keywords: social media, self-identity, social networks, technological advancement, internet, information, communication.

Introduction

Over the last few decades, there has been a rampant technological advancement that has been taking place that as greatly impacted on information technology and communication. Especially with the introduction of the smartphones that have increased access to the internet, people has switched to the communication means offered by technology (Boyd, 2014). Primarily most population in the world are now using a smartphone for communication purposes. Technology has gone further beyond conventional communication means to share information globally. Essentially people from different countries across the globe can easily access information from any region at a press of a button. The introduction of social media and other social networks have improved information access. People from different continents, countries, nationalities, ethnicities and different cultural backgrounds can meet virtually over the social networks and share different information.

Boyd(2014), argues that social media provides an online platform where people meet virtually through the help of the internet and a smartphone or any other devices that are internet-enabled to meet virtually and communicate. Even business companies have embraced social media as a marketing tool. They usually meet their customers online and market their products. The idea behind social marketing is to exhaust the expansive market posed by different social platforms such as Facebook, twitter, skype and the recent one WhatsApp. Most people especially the use possess a smartphone in the modern digital world hence increasing the use of social media.  However, every technology as its various benefits and drawbacks. Social media has various benefits such as identified herein. However, various negative implications are posed by this technology. Continued use of social media is usually addictive. The implication is that most people especially the young may spend much of their time on social media instead of other activities that have economic value (Seargeant & Tagg, 2014). In this context, this study will focus on its impacts on the identity of a person based on the changes of different attributes of personal identity.

In the modern community, technology has contributed much changes in lifestyle among the lives of the young people.  Following its continued advancements, it has sparked the increase in the use of social networks and social media. Nearly all young people are using the social media platforms to develop and control their varied identities online. However, the feedback received from the different presentations they make online can significantly influence their wellbeing and personality. The feedback is usually as a result of the interactions over the social media with other participants and the flow of information. There is a significant number of young people who are getting engaged online and on various social media platforms. This number has continued to increase to up o seventy percent in 2010(Schivinski& Dabrowski, 2016). The social networking sites usually allow people to create a public profile within a system that is normally bounded, upload o present different materials and information to a list of different connections together with those made by other users within the system the different social networking sites usually provide freedom to the opinions and views in a welcoming environment and one that is safe with the chose group.

Seargeant& Tagg(2014) argues that the use of the social media network platforms usually gives a critical platform for emotional, cognitive and social development of a young person which tends to account a bigger part of their lifetime.  They usually spend much of their time on the social media platforms and online and it the platforms as avenues for interaction and connect with their friends and also to maximize on the peer network. They are also able to use online mediums to control their agency with much control over the different interactions and communications and others in an environment that adult-free. The freedom offered to young people through these platforms provides them with an opportunity to control their identity. They tend to consider online environments as their own space and a comforting site where they usually feel they can comfortably present their what they believe they are as well as themselves in the way they feel comfortable for them. This freedom, however, impacts significantly on the wellbeing of the individual.

According to Boyd (2014), most of the teenage aged between 13 and 16 years tend to use social media on a routine basis. Most of them are usually attracted to the different networking sites by the notion that it is their space where they tend to experience life with their colleagues and pears without any surveillance or control by their adults.  They usually feel that he is a place where they can construct and present their identity with the company of the other peers tends to demonstrate their self-esteem and self-actualization which is a social process.

Background Literature

Technology has advanced and slowly diffused into different applications both in business and social settings. Focusing on the impacts of the same on social communications, it has led to the development of social networks and digital platforms that have created an avenue for interaction and information sharing among people from different cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, and race (Hudson et al., 2015). The social media platforms have increased the accessibility of information from the globe. The information obtained has an impact on the individual sometimes triggering the minds which are influenced to change the behaviors of a person and perspectives. In this regards, most young people tend to learn and copy various behaviors and practices from other colleagues from a different social background. For instance, the majority of the young people from African and Asian continents have over years been copying various practices and cultural behaviors from the westerns(Seargeant & Tagg, 2014). This in adverse effects leads to cultural alienation. However, information is power, some of the information accessed through social media are helpful and tends to change the lives of individuals positively.

Different changes in the social sphere have been witnessed resulting from social media. A lot of activities are happening over social media. It is worth noting that social media platforms have all kind of information. A person can access information of any nature, similarly one can just upload anything on these platforms. It means, therefore since they have no restriction on age, even young people who are underage can access everything which includes explicit information that can potentially harm the child.  This study, therefore, originates from the repercussions of increased activities and the potential harm of social media on the identity of individual users.

Rationale/Justification of The Research

Social media is a growing concern for everyone in society. It is unclear of the potential dangers of the same on the social settings. Over the past few years, people have only focused on the positive role of social media and overlooked the adverse impacts especially on culture and self-identity(Schivinski& Dabrowski, 2016). This research aims at investigating the various ways through which it is impacting on self-identity or self-esteem. Identity is personal self-belonging and tends to describe a person. Among other different factors influencing identity, is the social media. The study will provide an understanding of the social media effects on the various identity. It will provide a clear understanding of the various ways that can be used in regulating social media to ensure it does not alter the identity of individual users. The study shall, therefore, provide a guideline and a template on the use of social media about self-identity. The researcher finds the significance of the research in the clarity of the effects of social media on the identity of a person.

Aims of the Study

The study has various goals that the researcher aims to accomplish upon the completion of this study. They include:

• To understand social media and self-identity
• To evaluate the role of social media in communication and the various impacts on the identity of individual users
• To investigate the various impacts of social media on the interaction of people and information sharing based on the various aspect of individual background.
• To understand rational of the social media in shaping one’s identity.
• To understand and establish the different ways in which social media can be improved to reduce the adverse impacts on individual identity of its users.

Literature Support

There are numerous ways in which social media has continued to influence individual behavior changes and eventually the indemnity of a person. Among the recent technologies in communications and mobile networks, social media has significantly changed the nature of communication. Conventionally, people used to communicate using cell phones which were not internet enabled (Househ et al.,2014). Communication, therefore, was only audio and hardly could one access global information since he then cell phones never accessed the internet. However, following the improvement and advancement of technology in mobile communications has contributed to various improvements in social communication. Firstly, social communication has diversified into various platforms and social avenue. The world has been reduced into a global village, such that anyone can know what has just happened in a country in a different continent a few seconds after the event. The social media platform provides an interactive site where people from across the world meets, interact and share information of any nature. The information obtained however has a great psychological effect on the recipients. As noted above, the young people and youth are most affected. Various impacts of the addition to social media include cultural alienation. Culture a critical attribute of identity. It usually defines someone regarding color, language, dressing and fashion, food among others. The young people tend to copy foreign cultures. As identified above, most young generations from the developing nations are slowly assimilating the western culture regarding fashion, food and social behavior. This tends to dilute and erode the native culture of individuals in these countries. Cultural erosion hence leads to loss of identity since there are no mixed cultures(Househ et al.,2014).  For instance, though as a result of immigration, multiculturalism in Canada has contributed to the loss of identity. When talking of identity in Canada, one must consider survival as a key theme.

Most of the social media users obtain information from the online social platforms where they interact with different information, people and items from foreign countries. Most of the young people who are most addicted to these platforms lose their identity in efforts to copy foreign cultures and behaviors from colleagues from other cultures. About 80 per cent of the youth aged between 15 to 30 years own a smartphone that is connected to the internet. This has therefore contributed to the number of social media users to rise with a greater percentage. For instance, various countries such as U.S., Canada, Asian countries and parts of Africa has registered greater numbers comparative with the entire countries population who usually use social media on routine basis besides the total number of people with social media accounts(Goodrich & De Mooij, 2014).

Social media has promoted interaction of people from various backgrounds and brought them together. The interactions have promoted trade activities, intermarriage initiated via online/social media dating, and most importantly promotes international integration(Househ et al., 2014). At this point, people surrender their cultural roots and adopts the new culture and lifestyle posed by the growing technological world.  The nature of information of information accessed through social media becomes very sensitive in shaping one identity. Most people in the current generations tend to lack identity due to the kind of lifestyles and practices the child is introduced to at a young age. Schivinski& Dabrowski (2016) contends that, technology has become a lifestyle in most urban areas and cities across the world. This influences the environment in which young people are growing in. Social media has become the fabric that holds social structures in the societies we live in. Perhaps we are responsible for the current changes and loss of our cultural roots hence lacking identity. Everyone is now connected to a social media platform. It has become a routine since it forms the basis of communication. Nearly all routine activities are carried out through online platforms by use of social media. People can send audio messages, videos, and visuals through this platform. The converse is true. It is easy to access everything type of information from the instant and the social platforms via these platforms. One only need to connect the smartphone with some internet which readily available in nearly two-thirds of the world’s population.

Goodrich& De Mooij (2014) contends thatbusiness activities are also using social media for all their activities including marketing and selling. Most of the consumers are online. Business takes advantage of the interactions and information sharing over the platforms to access a wider and expansive market for their products. The consumers can be able to access these products online and make their buying decision. The payment is still online. In other words, consumers can now purchase products of their choice at the comfort of their bed by the use of their smartphones. Payment is online, and eventually, the company can deliver the product at their doorsteps. Businesses also easily access any type of information necessary for their activities through social media. For instance, they can get information concerning the nature of the international market that would Assis in designing and manufacturing of their customers (Hudson et al., 2015).

However, the information accessed through social media can also be damaging especially to the community. Social media provides access to all type of information (Schivinski& Dabrowski, 2016). Anyone can upload or download from these sites any information. This is however not limited to age or the content. It makes it possible therefore for any person of any age to access any material. Most of the young/underaged children are easily accessing all forms of material content including pornography. In turn, such information has continued to promote immorality and decline in cultural values and practices.  They also tend to copy foreign cultural practices at delicate ages which tend to violate their cultural identity. Social media, therefore, acts as a big tool from which the young generation is learning and developing foreign cultures(Goodrich & De Mooij, 2014). The child tends to lose identity following the adoption of a new lifestyle.

According to Hudson et al., (2015), many of the young people, however, tend to have a comparison of what their peers tend to offer online. Since they have perceived the social media platforms as a place where they conformably create and control their identities, they usually share and different information from which they tend to compare (Goodrich & De Mooij, 2014). The comparison usually makes most young people find themselves in an identity crisis since they ack specific stand comparing oneself with others creates the identity crisis among the youth among other online users. With the various social media platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook becoming popular among the young generation, it is a place they feel free and present their identity since they feel it is a safe environment for them. These sites are a usually uncontrolled, unregulated and adult-free place where young people meet, interact and explore different identity aspects and hence create a positive impact on individual well-being and identity (Hudson et al., 2015).

Discussion and Conclusion

Online and social media experience have either a positive or negative impact on the way people chose to present themselves online and construct their identity. Continued use of social media leads to addition. However, the interactions and accessibility of information from social media sites tend to influence the behavior of an individual and hence change in identity. The use of social media among the young has adverse effects as they try to create their identities. The young people usually interact with their peers over the online platforms and exchange all forms of information. They tend to compare their identities with their colleagues which leads to loss of identity. The continued use of this platform among the young generation can also be detrimental to their wellbeing since they seem to be isolated socially, although it has emerged as the most popular means of communication(Schivinski& Dabrowski, 2016).

To conclude, the study has explored the use of social media and its impacts on identity. The research has found that young people are mostly affected by social media since they usually visit the site on a routine basis.  The various online experience by the young people tends to affect their well-being. It was found that both the negative and positive online experiences tend to influence and shape way different people and especially the young presents themselves and hence affects their feeling on their identity.

References

Boyd, D. (2014). It’s complicated: The social lives of networked teens. Yale University Press.

Goodrich, K., & De Mooij, M. (2014). How ‘social’are social media? A cross-cultural comparison of online and offline purchase decision influences. Journal of Marketing Communications, 20(1-2), 103-116.

Househ, M., Borycki, E., & Kushniruk, A. (2014). Empowering patients through social media: the benefits and challenges. Health informatics journal, 20(1), 50-58.

Hudson, S., Roth, M. S., Madden, T. J., & Hudson, R. (2015). The effects of social media on emotions, brand relationship quality, and word of mouth: An empirical study of music festival attendees. Tourism Management, 47, 68-76.

Schivinski, B., & Dabrowski, D. (2016). The effect of social media communication on consumer perceptions of brands. Journal of Marketing Communications, 22(2), 189-214.

Seargeant, P., & Tagg, C. (Eds.). (2014). The language of social media: Identity and community on the internet. Springer.