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Chapter
Creating the visual narrative
DOI link for Creating the visual narrative
Creating the visual narrative book
Creating the visual narrative
DOI link for Creating the visual narrative
Creating the visual narrative book
ABSTRACT
In this chapter I introduce what these teens call their social media “highlights reel.” The profile picture is critical as it represents their social media first impression. These teens chose profile pictures that emphasize the physical self, as appearance matters. The other images, posted on timelines or albums, are there to “back up” the profile picture first impression. The emphasis on the physical self remains in all images, but they do include other aspects of their self-narrative such as friendships or activities in the backup pictures, although their depictions differ by gender. I present images and excerpts from my interviews to show how the “highlights reel” self-constructed on social media invokes Goffman’s (1959) concept of impression management. Their goal is to create a front stage performance that showcases the “best” parts of their narrative. While no image can tell the full story, the key point is to ensure that the images selected represent some of their greatest moments, and they invest effort in this process. These pictures feel like symbols of the “real me”; these are real interests, friends, and moments, even if the pictures were manufactured for social media. These images become visual micro-evidence of the self.