Externalized Identity
Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2024 5:24 am
I’m a compulsive checker because I check the whole time. I’m using it a lot, so I’m a prime example of constant checking . . . So I’m, I’m really trying to, to control it in a way and not to um. So it can be very liberating as well, not to have it, but if I don’t have it I feel naked. (FG3)
P4: Now that we’ve gone three weeks without it, it is quite freeing not having a social media account. But I’ll admit I’ve never ever gone, definitely not a month, without social media since I was like 11, 12. That’s bad, and that’s 8 years of just constant social media all day every day checking your phone and this is the first time I’ve gone without it. I think I’ll fall back into it. (FG2)
The concept of the smartphone as an extension of the self was present in most participants’ perceptions of the device. Thus, five distinct categories were constructed to explain how this extension impacted norway mobile code individuals’ lives and daily interactions, representing a holistic view of smartphone use. These five categories were considered subordinate categories to the core category. The subordinate categories were labeled “externalized identity,” “constant connectivity,” “mediating intimacy,” “authenticating experiences,” and “forfeiting agency.”
Many participants personalized their smartphones to suit their identities or host a representation of themselves. Phones accumulated information, pictures, and music that were relatively unique to everyone. In Focus Group 2, participants explained that by installing and deleting apps that suited their lifestyles, phones reflected their likes and dislikes. This seemed to increase their affinity and connection to their phones. Similarly, several participants chose images for the smartphone background that were significant to themselves, their relationships, their family, or their sense of humor. Social media apps were further described as ones that allowed individuals to present their character to the world through their device. The smartphone was integral to managing this online persona, as individuals could project their identity across many apps, throughout the day, from a single device.
P4: Now that we’ve gone three weeks without it, it is quite freeing not having a social media account. But I’ll admit I’ve never ever gone, definitely not a month, without social media since I was like 11, 12. That’s bad, and that’s 8 years of just constant social media all day every day checking your phone and this is the first time I’ve gone without it. I think I’ll fall back into it. (FG2)
The concept of the smartphone as an extension of the self was present in most participants’ perceptions of the device. Thus, five distinct categories were constructed to explain how this extension impacted norway mobile code individuals’ lives and daily interactions, representing a holistic view of smartphone use. These five categories were considered subordinate categories to the core category. The subordinate categories were labeled “externalized identity,” “constant connectivity,” “mediating intimacy,” “authenticating experiences,” and “forfeiting agency.”
Many participants personalized their smartphones to suit their identities or host a representation of themselves. Phones accumulated information, pictures, and music that were relatively unique to everyone. In Focus Group 2, participants explained that by installing and deleting apps that suited their lifestyles, phones reflected their likes and dislikes. This seemed to increase their affinity and connection to their phones. Similarly, several participants chose images for the smartphone background that were significant to themselves, their relationships, their family, or their sense of humor. Social media apps were further described as ones that allowed individuals to present their character to the world through their device. The smartphone was integral to managing this online persona, as individuals could project their identity across many apps, throughout the day, from a single device.