Intrapersonal Interactions on Social Media: Self‐Curatorship within the Museum of Self

What the paper says

This study investigates the intrapersonal dimension of social media use through an analysis of Chinese indie music enthusiasts' digital practices, exploring how individuals engage in self‐oriented social media activities for documenting, reflecting, and constructing the self. Through interviews and online ethnography, the study uncovers three key aspects: social media serves as a digital platform for self‐documentation and self‐reflection, forming the basis for digital intrapersonal interactions; the act of posting self‐oriented content is a pivotal moment for intrapersonal interactions, facilitating transition and integration between the “ I ” and the “ me ”; and intrapersonal interaction on social media demonstrates temporal dynamics in self‐construction processes, interweaving past, present, and future selves. Drawing from this empirical investigation, the study proposes concepts of museum of self and self‐curatorship to capture the unique nature of self‐oriented social media practices. The study aims to bridge the gap between the multi‐faceted understanding of self‐construction in symbolic interactionism and the lack of attention to intrapersonal interactions in social media research. It contributes to the ongoing dialogue within symbolic interactionism by further extending its framework into digital research, providing new insights into the processes of understanding and constructing the self in a digitally mediated era and highlighting the constructive interactions within an individual.