Walter Hart 2-24-11 Mind, Self, and Facebook

Mind, Self, and Facebook

Sociologists must develop postmodern tools in order to interpret the postmodern self. Interpreting the self is problematic for contemporary sociologists. The discipline of sociology has relied on the theories of Herbert Mead and Ervin Goffman to interpret the construction of the self. Meads Mind Self and Society was published in 1934 and Goffmans Presentation of Self in Everyday Life was published in 1959. The theories in these works were constructed in response to the social dilemmas of modernity1 and therefore, are not sufficient to interpret the development of the self in postmodernity. The postmodern individual interacts with the self, the community, and the world in ways that differ from the modern era. The shift from modernity2 to postmodernity is confusing to many sociologists. Instead of interpreting the postmodern self, sociologists condemn the postmodern self as fragmented, narcissistic, fantasy driven, empty, image driven, and superficial (E 136,138, Agger 1988). The postmodern self may be all of these, some of these, or none of these. Without the correct theoretical orientation, the interpretation of the self is difficult. Mead and Goffmans theories provide tools to interpret the self in postmodern society, but these tools are insufficient. In this paper I posit that to interpret the postmodern self and postmodern society, sociologists must move away from the modern eras interpretation of the self, utilize postmodern technology to reorient theories in order to address postmodern dilemmas, and utilize the tools of modern social theory, within the postmodern context. First, I examine how modern sociological theory is similar to postmodern theory and how theorists are frustrated with postmodernity because they are still attempting to apply modern analysis to the postmodern dilemmas. Next, I suggest that sociologists should resist criticizing
1 Sociology is usually considered an Enlightenmnet project, and outcome of the Frenchman Auguste Comtes attempt to create a science of society that would rival the sophistication and methodologies of Newtons physics. Comte went as far as to term sociology social physics. (Agger 1988, 45) 2 The term often given to this new social order, which involved both the enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, is modernity, and the process of achieving it is termed modernization by sociologists. (Agger 1988, 48)

Walter Hart 2-24-11 Mind, Self, and Facebook postmodern self construction and instead utilize the fragments of the culture, such as Facebook, to develop a radical micro-sociology to illuminate the unique nature of the self during the postmodern turn3. Postmodern theory resists global, total narratives and values social analysis that is captured in fragments, requiring local, individual level, even intuitive methodologies. (Agger 1988, 91) Contemporary sociologists also privilege the local fragments over the global narratives. Charles Tilly (1984) claims that grand narratives are meant to be timeless and placeless should be replaced with concrete, historical analysis of real people, places, and things. Similarly, Randall Collins (2005) posits a radical micro-sociology that privileges the study of situations and chains of interaction. Through chains of interaction, symbols are assigned meanings that make up the structure of our consciousness and the lenses through which we see. (Collins 2005, 374) Micro-sociology reveals the self as socially constructed and historically situated. Collins fragmented, individual, and local method of study contends, there is no guarantee that the larger historical pattern always flows in one direction. Instead Collins states that selves, considered normal today, will likely be different then the kinds of selves considered normal 200 years from now4. Tilly and Collins do not seem to be at odds with the postmodern rejection of grand narratives but resistance is encountered when Anthony Elliot (2001) addresses the postmodern construction of the self in Concepts of the Self. Elliot traces the development of symbolic interaction theory from Mead and Goffman, through Freud and psychoanalysis, onto Foucault, and eventually into the postmodern theories. It is in the discussion of the postmodern self that pessimistic view of the self and society emerges. Elliot chronicles sociological

3 The phrase postmodern turn is taken from Best, Steven and Kellner, Douglass. 1991. Postmodern Theory. NY: The Guilford Press. 4 (Collins 2001, 372) and there is no guarantee that the larger historical pattern always flows in one direction.. There is no Hegelian evolution revealing that the pure essence of the human being is individuality and inwardness.

Walter Hart 2-24-11 Mind, Self, and Facebook descriptions of the postmodern dislocation and decomposition of identity.5 (Elliot 2001, 132) I interpret Elliots assertion that the grand objectives of the enlightenment (including Truth, Justice, Reason, and Equality) dissolve or become irrelevant, (Elliot 131) is either a nostalgic longing for the comfort of modern simplicity or a confusion regarding the shifting dynamics of culture. I contend that this discomfort stems from attempting to apply theories of modernity to postmodern dilemmas. Further, Elliots fear of the dissolution of truth, justice, reason, and equality is understandable in a postmodern age where reality seems unordered and ultimately unknowable. (Best and Kellner 1991, 9) Huston Smith contends that unordered, postmodern skepticism is only a transition to yet another intellectual perspective, one that will be characterized by a more holistic and spiritual outlook. (Best and Kellner 1991, 9) Postmodernity is a time of transition in world history and sociologists should utilize the fragments of the culture to develop a new micro-sociology. By moving away from the modern interpretations of the self, sociologists can free themselves to embrace the changing culture and utilize cultural fragments, like Facebook, to analyze how postmodern selves and cultures are developing from within a postmodern medium of communication. Once sociologists move away from the modern paradigm and begin to utilize the tools of postmodernity, they will be able to re-appropriate modern theories of social research. Although not explicitly postmodern, Diane Bjorklunds 1998 book, Interpreting the Self: Two Hundred Years of American Autobiography, analyzes change in the historical development of the self. Bjorklund uses autobiographies to study real people, places, and things within their historical context, as Tilly suggested. She chooses the autobiography because of the way the authors imagine themselves within the community. Autobiographers employ a number of rhetorical

Elliot is discussing Richard Sennets views on the postmodern self

Walter Hart 2-24-11 Mind, Self, and Facebook techniques that reflect the values of their society. Likewise, in 2011, individuals are daily authoring and re-authoring micro-autobiographies on Facebook. Today, the presentation of self takes on multiple forms on-line and off-line. Selves are being formed as they place themselves in the role of the other to communicate. The response they call out in others when they post a status or upload a picture evokes the same response in the poster. Communities are developing and strengthening as content is produced. When selves are observed un-critically, they appear disconnected, superficial, commercialized, and trivial. But when selves are observed sociologically, we see identities being negotiated in real time. We dont have to wait sixty years for the autobiography to be written. Individuals are authoring real time stories with cultural significance. When sociologists conquer their fear of the unknown postmodern future, they will be able to approach this postmodern form of communication and develop a deeper understanding of identity construction and social interaction. Embracing the postmodern reality will also allow for a more accurate critique of the social formation and domination that exists when selves psyches are engaged by the culture industries, which induce people to spend hours watching television and Web surfing, consuming advertising images that form identity. (Agger 2004:107) The pessimistic worldview many sociologists hold is prohibiting opportunities for social research and social critique. Now that we have loosened our grip on modernity and have begun to utilize the postmodern tools of interaction, we can re-appropriate modern social theory. Bjorklunds method of analyzing autobiographies is a good model to start with. Bjorklund noted: We discern the individual voices of the autobiographers, but we also discover the culture speaking through the self. These selfnarratives, however, have even more to offer when we also recognize them as rhetorical accomplishments. Autobiographers use vocabularies of the self, not only to make sense of their lives

Walter Hart 2-24-11 Mind, Self, and Facebook but also to present a praiseworthy self to their audiences. (Bjorklund 158,159) Similar to postmodern theorists, Bjorklund privileges the localized nature of autobiographies to draw conclusions about the larger society. Her study analyzed 110 autobiographies from 1800 to 1980. Her analysis explores their use of shared cultural ideas about the self as well as the social situational constraints of impression management. (Bjorklund 1998, Xi) Facebook, like autobiographies, are an amalgam of cultural ideas, scruples, art, imagination, rhetoric, and selfpresentation. (Bjorklund, x) Both keep a record of how people interpret their own lives. Bjorklund extracts how the self is developed by analyzing how each author, over different time periods, dealt with the literary constraints of modesty, honesty, and the need to be interesting. She then looked at how the authors emphasis on components of the self (passion, reason, and will) differed over the four time periods. A third way that Bjorklund interpreted the self through autobiographies was by analyzing how the authors spoke about their relationships with others. The micro-autobiographies, written in Facebook, are not the same as traditional autobiographies, but they are expressions of individuals sharing their lives, reflecting on their identity, and anticipating the response of their audience. These similarities make it possible for us to appropriate Bjorklunds modern sociological methods for the study of postmodern study. Although many sociologists conduct research in ways that are similar to postmodern styles of research there is still confusion or fear of the unknown, changing dynamics of society. This postmodern turn is a cultural shift that sociologist must confront. Once they are able to move away from the sacred texts of modernity they will be able to embrace the new postmodern technologies. By moving towards the postmodern, they will be able to gain better understanding of how the postmodern self is developing. They will be able to conduct better postmodern research and critique. When sociologists stop longing for the comfort of modernity they can join the excitement of the new era with its new possibilities. Instead of nostalgic research that stands in condemnation of the postmodern self, they can join the dialogue and help shape the free flow of information, political power, social networking, media, and discourse that may lead to a better stage of society. Once sociology accepts the transition out of modernity, it can adapt the grand narratives of modernity and re-appropriate them to study the development of the postmodern self.

Walter Hart 2-24-11 Mind, Self, and Facebook Works Cited Agger, Ben. 2004a. The Virtual Self: A Contemporary Sociology. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. Best, Steven and Kellner, Douglass. 1991. Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations. NY: The Guilford Press. Bjorklund, Diane. 1998. Interpreting the Self: Two Hundred Years of American Autobiography. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Elliot, Anthony. 2001. Concepts of the Self. Malden: Blackwell Publishers Inc.