Facebook replaced flowing multiple selves with a single mandatory real identity

Evidence

Instead of the conception of identity that was prevalent in the Internet’s early days – flowing, multiple selves (e.g., Turkle, 1995) – Facebook authorizes selves that are “real” if, and only if, they are unitary. Indeed, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed that all people only have one identity and performing more than one shows a lack of integrity (Kirkpatrick, 2011). Instead, Facebook promotes a culture of users being “transparent.” — Crystal Abidin and Megan Lindsay Brown (eds.), Microcelebrity Around the Globe, 370

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes 2001: A Space Odyssey and Turkle’s earlier distributed-self model — a direct reversal of the classic cyberculture ideal of fluid online identity. — connects to: Platform rules recondition authenticity, sociality, and acceptance into branded terms — Crystal Abidin and Megan Lindsay Brown (eds.), Microcelebrity Around the Globe:…, 394; Social network platforms are engineered to brand everyday users for advertisers — Crystal Abidin and Megan Lindsay Brown (eds.), Microcelebrity Around the Globe:…, 334; Facebook exploits the psychological needs of young people during identity formation. — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1421 (+5 more)
• QUESTION: Zuckerberg’s one-identity claim (‘performing more than one shows a lack of integrity’) is a striking normative stance worth tracing to its rhetorical origins.

Broader Connections

• Facebook exploits the psychological needs of young people during identity formation. #expands (0.80) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1421
• Facebook cultivated the self-as-brand among ordinary individuals #expands (0.80) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1004
• Social media does not transmit identity but requires its continuous self-production. #complicates (0.75) — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 1463
• Facebook’s curated self-presentation created a misleading realm of unreality #qualifies (0.75) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1013
• Facebook’s adolescent-designed practices were institutionalized for the whole population #exemplifies (0.70) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1423