Identity presentation in social media : A research on Inönü University students

Nowadays, the importance of social media is increasing day by day. Particularly, the widespread the use of Internet and ease of access to the Internet allow to social media to become widespread. Without doubt the most curious users of this environment are young people studying at the university. Young people who have the opportunity to establish new communication and new relations in the social media environment have started to present their lives naturally in this environment. Young people sharing their profiles through their social media environment also see the shares their friends have made in this environment and are affected by their sharing. The main purpose of the study is to examine the impact of social media on the lives and identities of young people and how they present their identity in the social media environment. In this study, it is aimed to determine whether there is a difference between the identities of young people in their real lives and the profiles they create in virtual environment and if there is a difference, it is aimed to reveal where these differences originate. Also, it was tried to determine whether the faculty that they read affect identity presentations in social media environment. In-depth interview method was used in the research. The questions created for the purpose of the study were directed to a total of 30 people (15 females and 15 males) studying at İnönü University (Faculty of Communication, Faculty of Theology and Faculty of Fine Arts). The data collected with the help of semi-structured interview form were compared with each other and similar and different points were tried to be put forward.