Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Pdh Student, Social Sciences Department of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
2 Assistant Professor of Sociology, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
Abstract
The social media has opened up new communication channels on Individual and social aspects of social actors' lives. Apart from providing easy communication between users in a wide range of time and space with the least constraints, these media provide them with new values, beliefs and styles of life, and the possibility of various manifestations of personal identity Which may not be possible in real areas of social life. Hence, the virtual world is a good place to explore and discover the identities of its users. In this regard, attention to symbolic nature, such as images of user profiles, can be considered as a means of representing the identities, beliefs, and values of individuals. The purpose of this study was to identify and represent the identities of telegram's users. For this purpose, the images of their profiles have been analyzed and typified by the method of social semiotics of image. Based on the findings, which included the analysis of more than 600 images, seven identity types were composed of nature-oriented identities, affective-oriented, individualistic, compilative, fact-oriented, imaginative, spiritualist oriented. Each of these identities has a semantic, interactive and combined representation, giving users the flexibility and power of maneuvering in their optimal self-portrayal in cyberspace.
Keywords
- Harrison, C. (2003). »Visual social semiotics: Understanding how still images make meaning«. Technical communication, 50(1), 46-60.
- Jewitt, C., & Oyama, R. (2001). »Visual meaning: A social semiotic approach«. Handbook of visual analysis, 134-156.
- Kress, G. & T. Van Leeuwen (1996). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge.
- Kress, G. & T. Van Leeuwen (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design. London: Routledge
- Nakamura, L. (1995). »Race in/for cyberspace: Identity tourism and racial passing on the Internet«. Works and Days, 13(1-2), 181-193.
- Quayle, E., & Taylor, M. (2001). »Child seduction and self-representation on the Internet«. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 4(5), 597-608.
- Talamo, A., & Ligorio, B. (2001). »Strategic identities in cyberspace«. CyberPsychology & Behavior, 4(1), 109-122.
- Talamo, A., & Ligorio, M. B. (2000, June). »Identity in the cyberspace: The social construction of identity through on-line virtual interactions«. In First Dialogical Self Conference (pp. 8-16).
- Van Leeuwen, T. (2005). Introducing social semiotics. Psychology Press.
)