The Web of Identity

Gale Parchoma, Marguerite Koole

OAI: oai:igi-global.com:72377 • DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-1915-9.ch002

This chapter examines how learners develop a sense of self and belonging in networked learning environments. The authors propose that individuals create and negotiate their identities through an iterative process of dialogic and symbolic exchange with other individuals. The process is always in flux as individuals constantly readjust their understanding and actions within a given context. Individuals strive to reach comfortable levels of cognitive resonance in which they integrate experiences and beliefs of the external world into their personal narratives. To explain this process, the authors provide the Web of Identity (WoI) model. Based on the work of Goffman (1959) and Foucault (1988), this model is composed of five dramaturgical strategies: technology, power, social structure, cultural, and personal agency. These strategies both guide and enable the enactment of behaviour. For researchers, exploring identity and affiliation through the WoI lens raises a series of thought-provoking questions worthy of further investigation.

Human Aspects of Technology Media and Communications Social Computing Social Sciences and Humanities