Postmodernist perspective

• DFC offers a while new range of different ways where identity can be created and shared. For example, facebook
• Collins - to understand society, the chains of interraction between people must be understood. He suggests that by looking at how individuals construct their identity through the media, it may be possible to learn about how people see the world around them.
• Catfish, a TV series, was developed, which follows the journey of couples who have formed an online relationship but never met in person.

  Each programme tells the stories of people hoping to meet partners online
• Bjorklund, Facebook as a new form of autobiography:

  • DFC offers an ongoing autobiogarphy which can be continually manipulated and updated. Facebook, is like an autobiography, as it keeps records of how people see their lives
• Hart - Individuals today are writing & rewriting their autobiographies on a daily basis, which reflect their own values and values of their society. So, identity is created both online & offline.
• Case - the nature of social media makes it harder to remove mistakes, as every interaction is visible. Many don't realise what they say is stored by social media companies and is hard to remove or edit
• Elliot - pessimistic about the fragmented nature of identity as a result of sites like facebook, while others prefer to see new ways of seeing the self as only problematic when considering modern theories
• Hart - there is a tendency of traditional interpretations of the self to regard posting on facebook as trivial or superficial.

  However, a postmodern approach woukd say that events on facebook can be understood as culturally significant
• Foucault - surveillance is likely to become the most effective means of regulating behaviour & reducing crime. a person who knows they are being watched is less likely to commit crime. In a different way, people are controlled through information being collected through their activity online