Mapping Digital Identity: A Conceptual Framework for Identity Construction in Social Media
Ali Madouni, Hadjer Ben Salem
стр. 11 - 31
 
Заглавие: Mapping Digital Identity: A Conceptual Framework for Identity Construction in Social Media
Автори: Ali Madouni, Hadjer Ben Salem

Абстракт: This research creates a theoretical framework for understanding how young people build their identities in an age dominated by social media. Because the use of digital platforms is becoming increasingly common in connecting people together, how people create, present and perceive who they are has transitioned from being something that an individual creates based solely on their experiences to something that is dynamic and mediated by both their actions as individuals as well as the limitations placed upon them by platforms. To create the Digital Identity Matrix, several theoretical schools of thought including Goffman’s (1959) [1] Dramaturgy theory, and Bourdieu’s Theory of Fields and Capital, Narrative and Dialogical Identity, and Sociotechnical Affordances, have been synthesized. Using the Digital Identity Matrix, the construction of identity can be framed across two intersecting dimensions, and provide an understanding of the conflicts that exist in the creation of one’s digital self-on the one hand an individual wants to create an authentic (i.e., true to self) version of themselves, while at the same time striving for unification (i.e., coherence, or all elements working well together) of the constructed identity; yet on the other hand they feel pressure (from peers, society, etc.) to be authentic and performative and provide enough coherence between all of the characteristics of their constructed identity that they do not fracture themselves completely. The theoretical frameworks outlined in this paper provide a way for media and cultural studies to further understand identity-as a fluid, negotiated, context-dependent process in a digital cultural environment-and establish a basis for the design of future empirical-based research on this topic.

Ключови думи: Digital Identity; Digital Culture; Identity Construction; Social Media; Young Adults; Self-presentation; Sociotechnical Affordances; Cultural Capital; Narrative Identity.

Получена: 22-03-2026     Приета: 10-06-2026     Публикувана: 30-06-2026

Цитиране: A. Madouni, H. Ben Salem, "Mapping Digital Identity: A Conceptual Framework for Identity Construction in Social Media" In: Cultural and Historical Heritage: Preservation, Presentation, Digitalization (KIN Journal), 12(1), 2026. Sofia: Institute of Mathematics and Informatics – Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, ISSN 2367-8038, pp. 11-31. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55630/KINJ.2026.120101