Social Networking Sites (SNS) and the ‘Narcissistic Turn’ The Politics of Self-Exposure - Collaborative Technologies and Applications for Interactive Information Design - page 83

Chapter 6
Social Networking Sites (SNS)
and the 'Narcissistic Turn'
The Politics of Self-Exposure

Yasmin Ibrahim
University of Brighton, UK

AbstrACt

The advent of the Internet hailed the ability of users to transform their identity and expression and ar-
ticulation of the 'self ' through their digital interactions. The Internet in its early days enabled the user
to re-define identity through the text-based environment of the internet without declaring their offline
persona or identity. In comparison new social software like Facebook have brought about a narcissistic
turn where private details are placed on a global arena for public spectacle creating new ways of con-
necting and gazing into the lives of the others. It raises new social issues for societies including the rise
of identity fraud, infringement of privacy, the seeking of private pleasures through public spectacle as
well as the validation of one's identity through peer recognition and consumption.

introduCtion

Facebook, signify a 'narcissistic turn' where offline
identities are publicized online and constructed
through a multimedia platform to create new forms
of self-expression, gaze, spectacle, and sociabilities.
Equally, social networking is embedded within a
new economy of sharing and exchanging personal
information between friends and strangers. The
sharing and communication of personal details have
reached unprecedented levels with the proliferation
of e-commerce and social networking sites in recent
years (See Szomsor et al. 2008; Geyer et al. 2008;
Strater & Richter 2007; Stefanone 2008; Lampe et
al. 2006; Joinson 2008).

The Internet in its early days signified the re-birthing
of the individual and most prominently the 'self' as
technology enabled the user to re-mediate identity
through a text-based environment. Anonymity and
virtuality constituted a form of 'avatarism' where
individuals could re-invent their presence online
without declaring their offline persona or identity
(See Donath 1998; Froomkin 1995). In compari-
son, new social networking sites (SNS), such as