Blog Post #4
Prompt 2: The chapter examines the intersections between identity and performance. Pick one element of identity discussed in the chapter (e.g., race, gender, sexuality, etc.) and explore how that element is “reflected in social media practices and reproduced by representations online” (Humphreys, 2016, p. 145). Bring in examples from various social media platforms to support your claims.
Existing social categories provide a closet full of costumes and accessories for one adorn themselves and communicate their identity in the form of a performance. One’s social identity is the “intersection” of how others see them and how they see themselves (Humphreys, 2016, p. 132). Online presentation of the self entails a similar yet enhanced opportunity for users to convey self, often in an attempt to portray their idealized self. In the virtual world, how does one identify based on physical features, such as race? A more intriguing offshoot of online performance based on one’s race is when the cultural categories of identities associated with one race are adopted by someone of a different race. Say, when a “^%$#” race individual acts “too white,” or a non-black individual is judged to be “too black.”
Blog (of George) 