Research Article

Social networking technology: place and identity in mediated communities

  1. Lewis Goodings1,
  2. Abigail Locke1,
  3. Steven D. Brown2,*

Article first published online: 25 OCT 2007

DOI: 10.1002/casp.939

Issue

Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology

Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology

Special Issue: Mediated Communities: Considerations for Applied Social Psychology

Volume 17, Issue 6, pages 463–476, November/December 2007

Additional Information

How to Cite

Goodings, L., Locke, A. and Brown, S. D. (2007), Social networking technology: place and identity in mediated communities. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 17: 463–476. doi: 10.1002/casp.939

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Human Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK

  2. 2

    School of Management, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

*School of Management, University of Leicester, Leicester, LE17DR, UK.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 25 OCT 2007
  2. Article first published online: 25 OCT 2007
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 21 MAY 2007

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Keywords:

  • sense of place;
  • place identity;
  • social networking;
  • discursive psychology;
  • mediated community

Abstract

This paper explores the rise of social networking technology as instances of mediated communities. A dialectic between collectivity and place, resulting in the grounding of a shared sense of the past in a particular place, is at the base of all communities. In this sense, community is, by its very definition, inherently ‘mediated’. We reformulate the notion of a ‘virtual community’ to examine the particular modalities of mediation across interactions occurring on Myspace. Data from two separate conversational exchanges are taken from open access Myspace profiles. Drawing on an approach broadly informed by the principles of Discursive Psychology (DP), we examine how identity is constituted within interaction by drawing on symbolic resources. The significance of place and of establishing a delicate relationship between the on-line and off-line accomplishments is underlined. The paper develops the arguments of Benwell & Stokoe (2006) and Dixon & Durrheim (2000) to arrive at an account of ‘place identity’ as the central dynamic in mediated community. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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