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Strategies of Provocation and Self-Promotion on Facebook Profile : A Communication of Negotiated Risks ×
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EPISTÉMÈ Vol.9 pp.177-209
Strategies of Provocation and Self-Promotion on Facebook Profile : A Communication of Negotiated Risks
Key Words : social network sites,self-exposure,digital identity,differentiation,self-esteem,provocation,communication
Abstract
Unlike consensual models of self-exposure that are prevalent on social networks sites, some Facebook users think of their profiles as a space devoted to provocation where they can claim their uniqueness and display their dissimilarity by transgressing the norms others comply with. Self-assertion is all the more dependent on questioning from others since transgression only makes sense under the gaze of a witness. The recognition expected by the user indeed hinges on the observer's gaze and his/her judgment, so that the user's provocative attitude is part of his/her strategy for building self-esteem. Based on the analysis of a concrete case, the article questions the real profits that can be gained by exposing oneself while it is a potential threat to one's image; it also questions how the individual assesses the risks incurred in his/her communicative modalities.