Dramaturgy,
Impression Management and
Social Networking Sites
By Jennifer Brown
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women
merely players. -William Shakespeare
Since Erving Goffman's death in 1982, technology has dramatically altered the nature of human interactions, with social networking sites (SNSs) being a large factor. “By mid-2008 Wikipedia listed more than 120 SNSs, some claiming very high numbers of registered users.. Particular sites enjoy greater popularity in certain regions of the world or with specific linguistic groups.. MySpace (with an estimated 110 million users), Facebook (70 million), and Bebo (40 million) were popular in the United States... The sites are based on users providing personal information - building profiles with information on background, interests, work, and so on, uploading photographs, and in some cases music and videos - “making friends” with other users” (Gorman 2007). In shifting the medium of communication, these ubiquitous websites have also affected the nature of impression management (or lack thereof).
Goffman took a dramaturgical approach to the self, viewing the self “not [as] a possession of the actor but rather the product of the dramatic interaction between actor and audience” (Ritzer 2007: 137). This self, according to Goffman, is expressed in an “all the world's a stage” concept, wherein social life is viewed “as a series of dramatic performances akin to those that take place in the theater” (Ritzer 2007: 137). The process of maintaining this self within a dramaturgical context is called impression management. The import of social networking sites lies in the fact that the so-called “stage” of these interactions has shifted from a face-to-face setting, which was Goffman's focus, to one of online interaction.
For example, the “front stage,” the part of the performance that observers use to define the performer and the situation, has greatly expanded (Ritzer 2007: 137). With increased forms of communication, there are more opportunities to define the self. The user's profile and activities on the networking site become the performance. As one scholar explains, “today, our self-portraits are democratic and digital... They are interactive, inviting viewers not merely to look at, but also to respond to, the life portrayed online” (Rosen 2007). The website itself is the setting of the dramaturgical performance; the personal front, “items of expressive equipment that the audience identifies with the performers,” is reflected in features of the user's profile (Ritzer 2007: 138).
The import of this aid to defining “self” is reflected in users' strong emotions about features of profiles on respective SNSs. MySpace and Facebook, the social networking giants in the United States, have opposing options of self-expression through profiles. Myspace, which precluded Facebook, allows users to personalize their profile with images, music, videos, and color schemes, resulting in what some consider “visual and audio clutter...with silly, hyper-flashing graphics... [and] images of kittens and cartoons... often [resembling] an overdecorated high school yearbook” (Rosen 2007). Facebook, by contrast, streamlines profiles by limiting what users can do. As a result, users seeking extreme self-expression have tended to flock to MySpace, whereas users wishing to convey a more professional image tend to use Facebook's streamlined look as their personal front. However, when Facebook was no longer limited to college campuses and became available to a wider demographic, users new to Facebook began to clamor for the chance to express themselves, creating groups such as “PIMP YOUR PROFILE (Background and table colors.)” and “The Official Petition for Colored Profiles on Facebook.”
The drive for self-expression has led to some practices that Goffman would probably consider poor impression management. Goffman's concept of mystification, for example, is often completely disregarded on SNSs. According to Goffman, the idea is that “actors... restrict the contact between themselves and the audience. They do not want the audience to see the very mundane things that go into a performance” (Ritzer 2007: 140). The “status” feature of Facebook is infamous as a tool used to share “too much information” (TMI) too often. Users can update their status, often from their phones, to share recent activities or thoughts with their online community, but some people get carried away. “How Not to Look Dumb on Facebook”, merely one of a myriad of Facebook groups dedicated to the topic, shares one girl's rapid succession of updates of a personal nature (name withheld):
(User) is omg like worst day ever. text. (updated 3 minutes ago)
(User) is i hate my life. text. (updated 2 minutes ago)
(User) is omg i hate you so much </3. text. (updated 2 minutes ago)
(User)is i dont wanna talk to anyone. text. (updated 46 seconds ago)
(User) is feeling kinda better. text. (updated 20 seconds ago)
This is a perfect example of how SNSs are beginning to blur the lines between the front stage, the back stage, and outside. Backstage is supposed to be more informal and comes with a sense of safety, as “performers can reliably expect [that] no members of their front audience [will] appear in back” (Ritzer 2007: 141). Social networking sites change things by essentially making the dramaturgical “performance” permanent. Unless the user has especially stringent privacy settings, many people can have access to performances not necessarily intended for them. It makes it much harder to compartmentalize different parts of one's life, which is an integral part of impression management.
Though not Goffman's term, compartmentalization is a tool the actor uses to manage his or her various audiences. Obviously it can refer to the different sectors of the front stage, back stage, and outside, but it also describes the differences in performances for different audiences. According to Goffman, actors try to to make the audience feel closer to the actor than is the actual reality. This can partly explain the “TMI” status updates, as perhaps users are engaging in forced intimacy by sharing personal information in an attempt to coerce the audience into a sense of closeness. The actor will also try to make the audience feel unique, as if this is the only performance with any bearing, but in order to accomplish this, “actors have to be sure that their audiences are segregated so that the falsity of the performance is not discovered” (Ritzer 2007: 140). Social networking sites make the user profile a single, tangible performance that is given equally and identically to every virtual audience, no matter how varied. Even the rare unique personal interactions (such as writing on someone's wall or commenting on a picture) are still public. It is impossible to compartmentalize one's audiences when the “setting” is permanent and universal to all the user's virtual “friends.”
The concern is clearly demonstrated each time Facebook changes its interface. Users often have trouble adjusting to new privacy settings as demonstrated in the group “Bring Back Limited Profile.” Users post comments (not necessarily grammatically correct) such as, “i have just noticed that its gone i need it the *** back i got a ex on my profile and i dnt want her seing my new gf as that will just cause argument this is stupid,” “Gr!! I refuse to have random DISTANT FAMILY members see what I'm upto on fb! Lol” and “i desperately need it back i dont want my MOM knows everything i do!” (Collins 2009; Roy 2009; Rani 2009). These statements, obscenities and all, are posted on completely public forums; the casual, backstage behavior is becoming public, front stage behavior. Family members, friends, and coworkers are no longer separated. Furthermore, the “outside” nearly disappears completely. With modern technology keeping people in perpetual contact , there is little that is outside the realm of performance and therefore little that can be concealed.
In these ways, Goffman's concepts can be used to demonstrate how social networking sites have dramatically transformed human interactions, at least in developed countries where SNSs are readily available. The sites have hindered impression management by blurring the line between front stage and backstage, provided a more democratically accessible and concrete “setting”, demystifying our everyday lives, and limiting the possibility of hiding things in dramaturgical performances. As is the usual, the technology has developed before the social etiquette and laws to regulate it, but as new generations become socialized to the concept, new rules and sociological concepts will likely follow.
Works Cited
Collins, Ashley James. (2009, September 11). Bring Back Limited Profile. Message posted to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?
Gorman, Lyn. 2007. “Online Social Networking.” Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. Ritzer, George (ed). Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Blackwell Reference Online. Retrieved November 9, 2009. <http://www.blackwellreference.com.ezproxy.umsl.edu/subscriber/tocnode?id=g9781405124331_chunk_g978140512433121_ss1-37>
Guinee, Michaela. (2008, August 3). How Not to Look Dumb on Facebook: Worst TMI Status You've Ever Seen [Msg 4]. Message posted to http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=20835288322&topic=5860#/topic.php?uid=20835288322&topic=5860
Randi, Nastita. (2009, June 3). Bring Back Limited Profile. Message posted to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10115333197&ref=search&sid=36104561.2170006031..1
Ritzer, George. 2007. Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots. 2nd ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Rosen, Christine. 2007. "Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism, "The New Atlantis." Number 17, Summer 2007, pp. 15-31. Retrieved November 10, 2009. <http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/virtual-friendship-and-the-new-narcissism>
Roy, Ritu. (2009, May 17). Bring Back Limited Profile. Message posted to http://www.facebook.com/group.php?
Pictures:
[0] http://www.trainfortopdollar.com/trainfortopdollar/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/social-networking.gif
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Facebook.svg
[2] http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/37/Bebo_logo.svg
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MySpace_logo.svg
[4] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bielsko-Bia%C5%82a,_Teatr_Polski,_scena.jpg
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Erving_Goffman.jpg
[6] http://www.ordinary-gentlemen.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/comedy-tragedy-mask.jpg
[7] http://www.flashyprofile.com/layouts/myspace-layouts/animated/myspace_animated_layout4.gif
[8] http://www.flashyprofile.com/layouts/myspace-layouts/animated/myspace_animated_layout3.gif
[9] http://www.flashyprofile.com/layouts/myspace-layouts/animated/myspace_animated_layout2.gif
[10] http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/jsi/lowres/jsin89l.jpg
[11] http://www.imipolex.org/paintings/fuzzy_portrait.jpg
[12] http://www.surpassyourdreams.com/social-networking.jpg
