Question

Read the material in the textbook on the dramaturgical approach (pp 105-106). Give an example of how your "presentation of self" in a given context (for example, work, school etc) using the terms presented in the reading. How do you think that social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, etc affect our presentation of self? Do you think Goffman's terms such as front, etc still apply in cyber-based social interactions? Can Goffman be used to explain increasing rates trolling and cyber-bullying? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Everyone in this world is a very good actor as we are able to fit ourselves in different roles such as, father, son, grandfather, employee, employer etc. But there are others who act depending on people like Goffman explains that people adapt to the roles they are given in a play. So, their acts are meant to impress others, the audience.

We are very different in social networking sites as we try to present ourselves very decently and neatly to others in terms of what we type, post and the type of photos and videos that we upload or forward. People keep changing their identity, just like the actors fitting themselves in different roles sin different dramas. The primary objective is to impress others, that’s why people even take a selfie in front of a moving train, roaring sea etc.

Goffman say that the actors act differently while they wear the costume for a particular role and when they come to the back, their behavior changes. This is also otherwise called impression management. The way we act and do things in social networking sites very well fit into the impression management. When people find a difference between how people behaved in front of others and on the media or social networking sites, people create trolls about those behaviors. Cyber-bullying can be attributed to Goffman’s theory because people exaggerate things far from reality when they post an image, video etc. to impress others.

Whatever it may be, the dual life today has caused more trouble for many people because they have started to put on a mask to present themselves in social media but out of it they have a different face. So they are suffering from cognitive dissonance where they try to identify which one is their real self.