Performing Not-Not-Me in SoMe: A New Theatrical Typology of Self-Presentation Online

Abstract

Erving Goffman’s dramaturgical model in The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life (1959) is frequently used to analyze online self-presentations in social media (SoMe) and other social network sites (SNS). The term “self-presentation” seems to be here to stay. We argue that Goffman’s dramaturgical model belongs to another era, and that online self-presentation needs new theoretical approaches and new content. Compared to its predominant usage in SoMe research, our approach involves a perspective shift from what do SoMe users present (e.g., social role, identity/identities, idealized self, authentic self, brand) to how they perform it, concerning the style of acting and dressing, the use of props, makeup, symbols and signs, emotions, and expressions. Since participation on SoMe platforms is largely about how SoMe users present themselves and how they want to be received, theatricality and performing arts theories can inform this how with a new and nuanced conceptual apparatus. Therefore, we create a theory-based typology on the concepts of theatricality, simple and complex acting, not-acting, not-not-me, imagined audience awareness, and absorption. We present six types of theatrical self-presentations and conditions, types suitable for analysis of SoMe performances.