The analysis of self-presentation practices through contemporary art museum visits

Social media users try to make themselves visible by creating idealized identities in digital media in order to gain approval and appreciation. Individuals can express themselves especially through their consumption by revealing their identities on social media. Due to the special meanings attached to consumed products, to display consumption on social media is shown as a way of gaining prestige for users. Although physical consumption is shared more frequently on social media due to the idea that owning brands that are mostly consumed gives respect to users, today artistic events are also shared on social media to gain appreciation. While posing with works of art serve to create and make visible the digital identities of social media users, it also commodifies the work of art by reducing it to a visual background. This study focuses on the self-presentation practices and meanings used in the cultural consumption of works of art on social media. For this purpose, the posts which made on the Instagram account of the Odunpazarı Modern Museum in Eskişehir were examined, multimedia discourse analysis was used to analyze the photographs, field notes were taken through participant observation in the museum, and interviews has been done with the museum visitors. With the help of the data obtained, it is shown how museum visiting practices are reflected in social media, and the purpose for which these practices are carried out and what they mean are revealed with the help of the concepts of commodity fascism, symbolic consumption and symbolic capital. Keywords: Social Media, Self-presentation, Art, Cultural Consumption, OMM