Social Media’s Role During Identity Changes Related to Major Life Events

Abstract

Major life events can cause great upheaval in one’s life. Many people perceive their identities to change due to major life events. During identity shifts, impression management and self-presentation, online communities, and social media affordances can allow individuals to better facilitate their experiences. To examine how people perceive their identity to change during major events and how they use social media in the process, we interviewed 28 participants who recently experienced major life events. We found that many people perceived their identity to change through various avenues that they felt were important to their identity: mental processes, identity roles, and identity fulfillment. However, some people perceive their identity to be maintained rather than changed. During identity changes or maintenance, participants utilized impression management and self-presentation to curate their online presence. Participants also used online communities to build relationships with similar others or virtual friends and enable more connections via what we call the domino effect. Social media sites also provided the affordances of editability, visibility control, and spreadability, which can help ease life transition and identity change processes.