A Research Study: College Students, Social Media, and the Self

College Students, Social Media, and the Self Do social and digital technologies change the way we understand our “self?” Dissertation Proposal Paul Gordon Brown

paulgordonbrown@gmail.com

www.paulgordonbrown.com

@paulgordonbrown

overview‣ Purpose ‣ Question ‣ Literature ‣ Methodology ‣ Research Design

“I want to study not only what the computer is doing for us, but what it is doing to us.”

- Turkle

(Turkle, 2004, para 6)

purpose‣ Purpose ‣ Question ‣ Literature ‣ Methodology ‣ Research Design

The following study attempts to inform an understanding of this generation and their relationship with digital and social technologies. Specifically, it aims to understand how college students navigate environments that are saturated by digital and social technologies and how these environments impact students’ psychological sense of self.

89%89of adults 18-29 years old use social media

67%67%67%67access it on mobile

98%

89%

98of adults ages 18-29 are on the internet

7070

7043%

60%

89%

65+

50-64

30-49

70

78% 18-29 67%67%67access it on mobile

70 social media usesocial media useby age

(Brenner, 2013; Brenner & Smith, 2013; Pew Internet Project, n.d.)

of adults ages 18-29 are on the internet

younger generationsare using the internet,

social media, and mobiletechnologies at a high rate

(Evans, Forney, Guido, Patton, & Renn, 2010, p. 5; Woodard, Love, & Komives, 2000)

“Rapidly changing conditions within society have created dramatically different circumstances for students across time and location… student development must be considered in light of these changing scenarios.”

“The major achievement of normal development was a firm and fixed ‘sense of identity’”

- Gergen

Traditional theories held that…

(Gergen, 2000, p. 41)

self authorship(Baxter Magolda 1999, 2001; Kegan, 1994)

inner identity(Erikson, 1968; Erikson, 1980)

identity resolution(Marcia, 1966)

identity formation(Chickering & Reisser, 1993)

We no longer exist as playwrights or actors but as terminals of multiple networks.

-Baudrillard

(Baudrillard, 1987/2012, p. 23)

BLURRY HYBRIDIZED

SATURATED

The online profile“is and is not the user.”

(Martínez Alemán & Lynk Wartman, 2009, p. 23)

a “rupture” or “a series of decisive far-reaching breaks from the past”

(Bloland, 2005, p. 125)

an “implosion” or a collapse of boundaries

(Baudrillard, 1981/1995)

“singularity… a future period during which the pace of technological change will be so rapid, its impact so deep, that human life will be irreversibly transformed” (Kurzweil, 2005)

“The attempt in this case is to construct an ontology that replaces the vision of the bounded self as the atom of the social world.” social world.”

-Gergen

(Gergen, 2011, p. 112)

The following study attempts to inform an understanding of this generation and their relationship with digital and social technologies. Specifically, it aims to understand how college students navigate environments that are saturated by digital and social technologies and how these environments impact students’ psychological sense of self.

question‣ Purpose ‣ Question ‣ Literature ‣ Methodology ‣ Research Design

QuestionQuestionResearch

How do college students construct concepts of “self” in social media-saturated and hybridized contexts?

youth-normative perspective

“attempts to understand young people's experiences through their viewpoint”

this research assumes a

(Junco, 2014, p. xix)

“Many student affairs professionals use the term digital identity development to refer to online professional self-presentation; however, it is important to tease apart the differences between using social media as part of the exploration and development of identity and using social media to present oneself in a certain way. Labeling the latter digital identity development confounds a developmental process with a professional communication strategy. Furthermore, labeling online professional self-presentation digital identity development may keep the field of student affairs from more critically and deeply examining how the emerging adult identity development process is affected by online interactions.”

(Junco, 2014, p. 257)

“At one time it seemed to refer to a conscious sense of individual uniqueness, at another to an unconscious striving for a continuity of experience, and at a third, as a solidarity with a group’s ideals.”

- Erikson

(Erikson, 1968, p. 208)

On identity…

“In examining components of identity, we also need to consider the concept of self…

Who or what is the self that observes, learns and decides? If the self is an integrated system, who is in charge of coordinating it? Who organizes the facets of personality into an integrated whole.”

- Chickering & Reisser

(Chickering & Reisser, 1993, p. 201)

The term “self” refers to one’s sense of being.

One’s “sense of self” is the conscious experience of one’s internal life.

One’s “construction of self” is how one comes to consciously understand this sense of being.

The term “identity” is the actualization of this self.

“Identity” is what one is and carries with it a series of properties. Although “identity” and “self” have been conflated in discourse, they are understood here to be separate but related. “Self” is subject to “identity” as object. From one’s sense of self flows one’s identity (and potentially identities).

literature‣ Purpose ‣ Question ‣ Literature ‣ Methodology ‣ Research Design

‣ Fragmented ‣ Nascent and growing ‣ Can suffer from being quickly “out of date” ‣ Largely quantitative, outcomes-focused ‣ Theories and frames:

‣ (Co)Constructivsm ‣ Connectivism ‣ Critical Theory and Literacy

‣ Makes distinctions between formal and informal learning

literature

methodology‣ Purpose ‣ Question ‣ Literature ‣ Methodology ‣ Research Design

qualitative inquiry

grounded theory

(Charmaz, 2006; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1990)

Roger’s Diffusion of Innovation

(Rogers, 2003)

intentionally skewed purposeful

extreme

An eye towards the future…

intentionally skewed An eye towards the future…

sample

participantCollege students 18-24 years old‣ Completing/completed coursework in social media (half) ‣ Identified by college staff has heavy/sophisticated users (half)

heavy/sophisticated usage gauged bypre-interview questionnaire.

Student Profile‣ From a highly selective research university on a residential campus near a major metropolitan area in the Northeast ‣ Likely undergraduate juniors or seniors

participantCollege students 18-24 years old

Completing/completed coursework in social media

recruitment

15-25 participants.. but determined by data exhaustion

Pre-interview Questionnaire‣ Establish usage patterns of participant

Semistructured Interview (First Session, 1 hour)

‣ Probe how students understand self ‣ Examine how sense is made of online/offline life

Synchronous Ethnographic Tour * (Second Session, 1 hour)‣ Observe how students interact online ‣ How is identity constructed/understood

Follow-up as necessary—dictated by data

Pre-interview Questionnaire‣ Establish usage patterns of participant

data collection

*

(Martínez Alemán & Lynk Wartman, 2009, p. 23)

constantcomparativecomparative

iterative

saturation will occur when no new theorization emergesdetermines sample size

coding in vivo > focused > axial > theoretical

iterativememoing

(Saldaña, 2013)

(Charmaz, 2006; Glaser & Strauss, 1967; Strauss & Corbin, 1990)

in vivo > focused > axial > theoretical

anal

ysis

Researcher Lens‣ Triangulation ‣ Disconfirming Evidence ‣ Reflexivity

Study Participant Lens

‣ Member Checking ‣ Prolonged Engagement ‣ Collaboration

External Reviewer Reader Lens‣ Thick and Rich Descriptions ‣ Peer Debriefer

Researcher Lens‣ Triangulation

validity

(Creswell and Miller, 2000)

‣Ethical considerations ‣Positionality/Reflexivity ‣Limitations

conclusion‣ Purpose ‣ Question ‣ Literature ‣ Methodology ‣ Research Design

QuestionQuestionResearch

How do college students construct concepts of “self” in social media-saturated and hybridized contexts?

College Students, Social Media, and the Self Do social and digital technologies change the way we understand our “self?” Dissertation Proposal Paul Gordon Brown

paulgordonbrown@gmail.com

www.paulgordonbrown.com

@paulgordonbrown

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