Are You a Micro-Celebrity?

Found this great qualitative manuscript (grounded theory) online about Facebook users, of which i am prolific, but relevant for bloggers too!!!

A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THE FACEBOOK SOCIAL NETWORK: 

THE DESIRE TO INFLUENCE, ASSOCIATE AND CONSTRUCT 

A REPRESENTATIVE AND IDEAL IDENTITY

ABSTRACT

What better place to be your absolute funniest, most attractive, interesting and appealing
self than a Facebook profile? Social networking websites (SNWs) have opened the doors of
communication, allowing people from around the world to engage in identity creations and
relationship development. As the leading SNW, Facebook boasts over 400 million active users,
engaging in the Website on a daily basis to facilitate an ongoing dialogue of their identity and
generating influence amongst their networks. Facebook users employ a number of features
including notes (blog), games, chat, joining fan pages, starting groups, posting statuses, and
writing on other’s walls. Through these experiences, users develop their self-concept and 
affiliative identities to create their image, and to produce their own spotlight through a microcelebrity experience on Facebook. This study extends prior research of computer-mediated
environments (personal Websites) to develop theory of how people contemporarily define
themselves in their social online space. The Facebook user celebrity experience is brought about
through connected networks/fan base, a highly regarded image, and associations that are
developed throughout this analysis

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