The impact of self-selected identity on productive or perverse social capital in social network sites

Abstract

Social network sites can provide a person with the freedom to represent themselves in various ways, thus exhibiting multiple variations of their identity. Research states that an individual’s identity is self-monitored depending on the contextual situation that they are in. The type of social capital that one derives from social network sites can be impacted by this self-monitoring ability. Current research has addressed how productive social capital can be gained in social network sites. However, limited research has addressed the issue of perverse social capital, especially in social network sites. We argue that social network sites are a particularly unique environment that can affect an individual’s representation of their identity, thus increasing the likelihood of producing perverse social capital. We examine how technology affects an individual’s selected self-identity, as measured through their self-monitoring ability, and how this altered behavior leads to productive or perverse social capital in social network sites.