ABSTRACT
It can be argued that late 20th-century cultural shifts in the salience of identity were fertile ground or minimally a timely occurrence for the development of computer-mediated communication and especially so for the growth of online social networking sites. Worldwide we experienced many contestations to historic constructions of social identity in the late 20th century. In the last half of the century, the politics of nationality, race, gender, sexuality, and hegemonic power were challenged by ideological rebellion in economic, social, and political spheres. Colonial power was challenged and in most cases defeated. Th e articulation of global economic disparities was mainstreamed. Opposition to racial and ethnic inequality and oppression, whether it was de jure or de facto, was widespread across nations. Motivated by an antagonism to the normative claims of Western societies, a postmodern and critical theorizing and political activity took hold in many societies uncovering and disclosing identity and cultural
possibilities that could defi ne who we “are” as individual social beings, and who we “are” as members of groups.
