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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 321

Part of Session 185: Superdiversity and digital literacy practices (Other abstracts in this session)

Construction of global youth identities across on- and offline social practices

Authors: Stæhr, Andreas
Submitted by: Stæhr, Andreas (Uiversity of Copenhagen, Denmark)

During the latest decade social media have become an ever more integrated part of many young peoples’ everyday lives. Youths who have grown up with the internet and social media do not necessarily distinguish strictly between “online and offline” identity work. In fact studies such as Lampe, Ellison & Steinfield (2006) suggest that a substantial part of the friendships formed on Facebook are grounded in offline social practices or networks. This causes increased cohesion between on- and offline social relations. This cohesion is reflected in the way online identity performances are mirrored in offline practices, and vice versa. In the so-called Amager project (Stæhr 2010) we have followed a group of adolescents from a linguistically and culturally superdiverse (Vertovec 2010) area in Copenhagen. During a period of three years we have studied them in a range of different on- and offline contexts; such as in school, at home, during leisure time activities, and on Facebook. In Stæhr (2010), Ag (2010), and Madsen et. al (2010) we describe linguistic and social processes among our participant that can be characterised as superdiverse, such as how identities are constructed and negotiated in a complex interplay between for example diaspora relations, minority and majority categorization, socio-cultural aspects, and affiliations with local groupings. Furthermore we see how polylanguaging is a key feature of their linguistic behaviour. In this presentation I look into the role of Facebook as a platform for identity work and how aspects of superdiversity are relevant to the semiotic identity practices. I study (1) how identity work in online practices interacts with identity work in different offline contexts. Further I study (2) how urban youths construct and negotiate identities associated with global popular culture on Facebook and in other everyday settings. In this way I am able to look further into how identities are interactionally constructed across the fluid boundaries between on- and offline social practices. I shed light on this matter by analyzing Facebook interactions and various conversational data supported by ethnographic observations (Duranti 1997).

References:
Ag, Astrid (2010): Sprogbrug og identitetsarbejde hos senmoderne piger. Københavnerstudier i tosprogethed, vol. 53. Københavns Universitet.

Duranti, Allesandro (1997): Linguistic Anthropology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lampe, Cliff, Nicole Ellison & Charles Steinfield (2006): A Face(book) in the Crowd. Social Searching vs. Social Browsing. Proceedings of CSCW-2006 (pp. 167-170). New York: ACM Press

Madsen, L. Malai, Janus S. Møller & J. N. Jørgensen (2010): ”Street language” and ”integrated”: Language use and enregisterment among late modern urban girls. In: Madsen, Lian Malai, Janus Spindler Møller & J. Normann Jørgensen (2010), Idelogical constructions and enregisterment of linguistic youth styles, Vol 55. Copenhagen studies in bilingualism, University of Copenhagen.  

Stæhr, Andreas (2010): “Rappen reddede os” – Et studie af senmorderne storbydrenges identitetsarbejde i fritids- og skolemiljøer. Københavnerstudier i tosprogethed, vol. 54. Københavns Universitet

Vertovec, Steven (2010): Towards post-multiculturalism? Changing Communities, Conditions and Contexts of Diversity. International Social Science Journal, vol. 61, issue 199.