Acta Informatica Pragensia 2022, 11(2), 218-240 | DOI: 10.18267/j.aip.1814591

Exploring Facebook Identity Construction of Vietnamese Netizens

Hai Chung Pham ORCID...1, Lien Nguyen2,3, Phuong Tran2, Thuy Tran4
1 School of Journalism and Communication, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 336 Nguyen Trai Str., Hanoi, Vietnam
2 Hanoi University, Km9, Nguyen Trai Road, Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi, Vietnam
3 RMIT University Vietnam, Handi Resco Building, 521 Kim Ma, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi, Vietnam
4 School of Culture and Communication, The University of Melbourne, Grattan Street, Parkville, Victoria, 3010, Australia

Studying the ways in which people construct their identities in online environments is a pressing contemporary concern. The research reported in this article was designed to examine the uses of, and influences on, Vietnamese respondents’ identity formation on Facebook. Data were collected by means of a social survey and the application of the Zaltman metaphor elicitation technique, a procedure that searches for customers’ thoughts and emotions by digging deep into the visual and non-visual illustrations that customers collect or make on their own. The findings show how Vietnamese Facebook users present themselves and how they thereby facilitate their self-expansion and maintain their sense of self-esteem. According to the analysis, it can be suggested that Facebook is where adults portray their socially conformed versions against social reflection. They use this platform to seek validation, demonstrate their professional side to make them look better in the eyes of society. Drivers of online identity formation are revealed through negotiating with conflicts in their existing identities. The level of self-modification amongst respondents is adjusted in relation to their social vigilance, conformity and motivations in and between social categorization.

Keywords: Identity construction; Vietnamese netizens; Self-esteem; Social discrepancy; Young people.

Received: February 22, 2022; Revised: May 1, 2022; Accepted: May 18, 2022; Prepublished online: May 21, 2022; Published: August 19, 2022  Show citation

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Chung Pham, H., Nguyen, L., Tran, P., & Tran, T. (2022). Exploring Facebook Identity Construction of Vietnamese Netizens. Acta Informatica Pragensia, 11(2), 218-240. doi: 10.18267/j.aip.181
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