Study of the Process of Identifying Women in Social Networks (Case Study: Women Instagram Users)

The change in the nature of social media and the expansion of cyberspace in the field of social networks such as Instagram for cyberspace users, especially women with a visual nature in an informal and attractive space, has played a significant role in building their personal identity and lifestyle. The purpose of this study is to investigate the reason and motivation of the presence of these women, how they communicate and influence their followers and how the process of identifying them changes with their activities as producers and consumers in this new space. The main issue is that female users of the Instagram social network know the nature and what their personal identity is before working on the social network (a priori identity), then their personal identity by being and working in this new Instagram space and time and space communication (identity in Exposure) and how they define the changes and consequences of the process of identifying themselves and other women (posterior identity). Therefore, these women are trying to show their distinctive and attractive identity and image by working in this network and in this way, a sense of belonging and role-playing is created in them in different groups.

The present study has collected data with the existing conceptual literature in the field of theoretical approaches to identity, with a qualitative approach and using the underlying method of Strauss and Corbin, and with a semi-structured interview technique. 30 active Instagram users (female) were selected by Snowball sampling method and targeted and interviewed in person and online.  

The findings represent four main categories, including "choosing to show oneself in the global female bio", "Instagram, the field of interaction with the influential audience", "reconstruction of meaning and process identification" and "reconstruction of interactions in the field of private life". The core category in this study is "integrated and postmodern emerging identity" that encompasses other categories. Also, in the category of process identification, three types of antique identity types, face-to-face identity and posterior identity have been formed. The component of types is a priori the product of certain frameworks such as education and employment, while the component of identity in the face of voluntary expression and posterior identity is fluidity and change.

In general, in order to answer the research questions, the above results show that in most cases, the acquisition of identity for Iranian women users before working on Instagram (former identity) has been through education or employment in the community and less want the opportunity to implement informal identities they have had and traditional female roles, although this identity has sometimes been internalized by gender beliefs and the rules of the family institution. With the proliferation of identity-building resources and the entry of social networks, including Instagram, these women have the opportunity to perform and informally represent arbitrary, created identities that take the form of a combination of traditional (maternal, housekeeping) and modern female roles (identity in confrontation). Over time, from their continuous and daily membership and activity, they have been able to constantly rethink their position and identity in order to strengthen their purpose and agency, and to build their own self, which is only in the form of defined frameworks in a set. It should not be a specific time and on the other hand it should not be free and unrestrained (posterior identity). Also, women who follow themselves should be clearly influenced by this.