Facebook is a social networking site which allows its users to create online identities and connect with others so that collective identities are formed. Though many of the collective identities that could be found on Facebook will be constructed of a heterogeneous group of people for the most part, they will be joined by certain common threads. This may be through demographic links e.g. where they live, or psychographic links e.g. hobbies. On Facebook people create these collective identities by joining groups or networks in which they can talk to other members of the group or add to the material on the group page.
An example of a psychographic collective identity formed through a Facebook group may be achieved by the group ‘Students against higher tuition fees’. I joined this group earlier this year and in doing so became a part of the collective identity. Millions of groups have been created on Facebook and there are any numbers of reasons as to why we would join any of these. Louis Althusser’s theory of interpellation could explain the formation of collective identities through groups such as those on Facebook. The title of the group must in someway shout out to the reader in a way that makes them identify with the message on a personal level. If this is achieved then they are likely to join the group and become a part of the collective identity. For example, in the aforementioned group that I joined the word ‘students’ immediately made the group call out to me personally and then this was followed up by a topic of interest to me ‘higher tuition fees’. Subsequently I joined the group and the collective identity attached.
The theory of interpellation is a way of explaining the initial attraction of the group to an individual. However, Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital could be used as a way of explaining reasons for joining such a group at a social level. By joining the group you are essentially endorsing the message which the group ‘embodies’. In this way you can not only add to the collective identity built by people with similar interests, but you can also build your own personal identity as people will be able to see you’re a member of this group and thus accept it’s values.
You Tube
You Tube is another site which has evolved during the Web 2.0 era. On this site collective identities are formed through uploading and responding to videos. Members can subscribe to other members’ channels if they like the type of text they upload. By watching, rating and/or commenting on a video, the user develops the collective identity based around that particular video and possibly to some degree the collective identity centred on the person that uploaded it. People that use this site can upload material that includes them, but if not then its content will still work within a discourse familiar to them.
The individual members of collective identities generally work within similar discourses. This is often the determining factor in the formation of collective identities as it relates to the way topics are dealt with, rather than the topic itself. So though there are not clearly drawn out groups, detailed individual identities or networks of friends like with social networking sites there are still collective identities formed due to the text working with common discourses. You Tube has been at the forefront of turning consumers into producers. This has allowed for more accurate representations of current society as they can represent themselves using discourses they understand.
The members of collective identities on You Tube are again likely recruit their audience through the interpellation process. By calling out through the title and/or the initial still that is shown with the title the text will recruit its audience by connecting with them at a personal level. An increasingly large part of the You Tube appeal is the ‘remix’ culture which fits in nicely with Judith Butler’s ‘Queer Theory’. Audiences are very complex entities in the digital era and many of the collective identities formed via You Tube, possibly more than anywhere else at this time, result from ‘sweding’ videos or music often for a comedy effect by playing with the narrative structure and general plot of the text.
Blogger
Blogger is a website which allows members to post blogs on topics of their choosing. They can then follow other blogs and others can follow theirs. It works on a smaller scale than social networking sites as the material written is likely to be more esoteric in nature. The main difference between blogs and social networking sites is that blogs are generally used to write larger amounts of content that often follow a similar theme. In this sense blogs can obtain firmer collective identities as the material written and discourses used are likely to be more common to the groups. The followers of a particular blog are likely to have fairly homogeneous views regarding the topic at hand.
An example of a collective identity on Blogger may be my media class. We use Blogger in order to compile our work digitally so that an external moderator will be able to access it easily. There is a clear common discourse regarding media from which our work stems as this is the purpose of our blogs and much of what each of us know comes from a common source being our teacher. The approach of everyone’s work is different but the discourse is clearly the same and as such we comprise a specific collective identity on Blogger.
For this particular example Althusser’s theory would not explain the formation of the collective identity as we did not join by choice. However, Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital could still be applied to some extent. We use the blog in order to showcase the work we are producing during the second year of A-levels. Therefore the quality, style and amount of work could all be used as a form of embodied capital within the group, or in relation to the moderator.
Twitter is the latest phenomena to emerge as a result of Web 2.0. It has been developed as a reaction to the increasingly interactive lives people are leading. The proliferation of wireless technologies allowing internet access anywhere and anytime has made a site such a twitter possible. The basic concept is that members post their thoughts throughout the day in 140 characters or less. Members can then follow other members and be followed by them. It can be a way for friends to interact on a regular basis but the largest collective identities have been created through the celebrity members of the site.
Stephen Fry for example has grown to become one of the most followed people on Twitter due to his interesting and often witty comments. With the growing celebrity culture that has enveloped our society Twitter just provides another way for a collective to enter the lives of an individual (celebrity). Followers of a person on twitter can respond to their posts and in this way interactive debates can result leading to the development of collective identities. The homogeneous traits that lead to the formation of collective identities on Twitter are likely to be almost completely psychographic as the site is built for the sharing of thoughts and feelings.
I would again say for this example and Twitter as a whole that embodied capital is the theory that can best explain the process behind the formation of collective identities. If we consider the extent to which the celebrity culture now grips our society alongside the statement ‘knowledge is power’ then knowing celebrities inside out surely brings with it some form of cultural power within a social group or collective identity. Twitter provides an illusion for ordinary members or the public that they are in a sense friends with the celebrities. They can hear their thoughts and interactively converse with them and this provides a reason for the collective identity and the power that the members receive from it.
Review Centre
Review Centre is a website on which users can read and write reviews on everything from films to gardening. It is a way for people to attain and share information on particular topics which are likely to be esoteric in nature. Unlike the social networking sites this site is not a place for users to create and broadcast personal identities but merely a way to share knowledge and opinions on a variety of topics. Collective identities are still formed on this website to some degree as multiple people will write on and read about the same topic.
For example, there are currently 158 reviews on ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ which was released in November 2009 and directed by Chris Weitz. Though these 158 reviews are likely to be comprised of divergent views they are all concerning this one film and subsequently a collective identity is formed around this common thread. The collective does not necessarily have to have mutual views on the topic at hand, and in this case most don’t, but there merely needs to be an interest in some shape or form on a common topic.
The collective identities formed on review sites are different from any of the other sites I have mentioned as the views and even the discourses used to approach the subject matter can vary greatly. Nonetheless there is still a common topic at the heart of the debate and as such all the collective have an interest whether it is detrimental or favourable. Though the views of the collective are antipathetic they can still be considered as part of a collective identity in this case based on the reviewing of a particular film.
Althusser’s theory of interpellation and Bourdieu’s theory of cultural capital are again the best ways to describe the formation of collective identities this time within a review site. The topic up for review becomes the item that calls out to the audience thus grabbing their attention and sparking an interest to write or read the reviews. Then secondly on a social level using the idea of embodied capital this may be again a way of gaining some sort of power. By getting their personal views across and maybe influencing the thinking of another they can spread their concepts and thus become more powerful as they, on a small scale, have a follower.
