| Abstract [eng] |
Digital culture is penetrating into all spheres of life, the object of this study – the construction of self-identity is also undergoing lots of transformations. An expression of identity is changing, it is more and more actively constructed through visual communication, that is why a new perception of identity is necessary. It was noticed that we are already living in a constant connectivity, therefore a hypothesis was raised stating that – the line between life online and offline has become blurred in an existential equivalence of the digital and the analog. It was assumed that the identity which is constructed through visual communication on the Internet is differently shaped by gender and generation factor. Therefore the aim of this study is to find out how self-identity is being shaped and constructing through visual communication in the digital era. The analysis of scientific literature and case study methods were employed to achieve the goal of the thesis. The analysis of scientific literature has revealed three most important factors for the expression of identity until ubiquitous computing: experience, communication and technology. Nowadays those three elements still remain essential for identity construction. However, the environment in which the identity is being constructed has changed. At the time when the access to the Internet is no longer a problem and virtual communities have become so popular, the identity is being constructed in the continuum between the real and the virtual worlds. Users through photos, videos and status updates are invited to tell and at the same time to create their own life story, thus the identity appears to be transmediated. A case study was employed for the empirical analysis of identity building, which is transmediated and constructed in the medium of the digital and the analog world. 402 users of social network Facebook were chosen for the study using a method of a convenience sampling. The results of the study have revealed that social network becomes a field of search of identity for the youngest (12–19 age) users, belonging to the digital generation. They understand that self-representation on the Internet influences their reputation in the real world. The social network becomes a field of changing the identity building for older (20–30 age) users, also belonging to the digital generation. The oldest (31–55 age) users of Facebook have already formed their identity much earlier, before the advance of the virtual reality, that is why when they found themselves in this digital world, they have applied the principles of the real life into the virtual space. The research has confirmed the hypothesis, that perception of identity in the digital culture transforms into the new transmediated identity which is in the continuous process of formation between the digital and the physical. Although fake profiles have not occurred, such postulate is possible, therefore the object of further research could be the expression of identity in such profiles. |
