The Presence, Performance, and Publics of Online Interactions

Abstract

Symbolic interactionists have long focused on how context and settings influence interaction dynamics. While developments in digital media have transformed mediated interaction, the key components of social interaction persist, and symbolic interactionism continues to have implications. This chapter discusses how symbolic interactionism elucidates three main aspects of mediated interaction: 1) perception of the presence of others, 2) online presentations of the self, and 3) the ambiguous public and subsequent unique intersubjectivities of online interactions. The growing multimodality of digital media increases cues in mediated interaction and varies the degree of presence online, thus changing how interactants perceive others and themselves. Consequently, new strategies of online self-presentation are used to balance self-idealization and anticipated authenticity. Meanwhile, the invisible audience, context collapse, and blurred boundaries between public and private domains present new challenges.