The role of sharing photograph in new social media on the construction of identity: The case of Instagram

During the periods which photography has become a part of daily life, the voices of the debates on identity in the sociological field have been raising. The developments in communication technologies have brought a different dimension to the debates. Within this scope, the main objective of the study is to reveal the role of photo-based Instagram in identity building. The assumption of the thesis is that the photograph which is shared by individual in the Instagram area to make the individual's daily life practices apparent has a direct impact on the reproduction and transformation of identity. The research consists of three chapters except the introduction and conclusion. The second section consists of four main titles. The first title covers Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, field and capital in relation to the Instagram area. The second title is the product of a literature review that includes sociological discussions about the alteration in the historical process of researches on identity. In this context, the discussions about identity are examined from the periods when identity was understood as a static and strict phenomenon to the periods when identity is presented as a constructible phenomenon. The third title consists of the historical process of making photography a part of daily life; also, in a subheading, with the opportunities brought by the process, the possible transformation of identity or its contribution to production is discussed. The fourth chapter focuses on the historical development of the concept of new media, its creation of change on daily life, and relationship with identity construction. In addition to narration of the brief historical process of the research area Instagram, the data on the use of Instagram and the explanation of terms in the field are among the topics of this chapter. The third section covers the data obtained from the survey which is prepared for the purpose of the research; moreover, the analyzes and the interpretations based on the data. Finally, in the conclusion, the findings obtained as a result of analysis and interpretations are evaluated and examined within the framework of the study. As a result of the research, it is stated how photograph sharing in Instagram area plays a role in the construction of identity, in other words, the transformation and reproduction of identity. Keywords: Identity, Photograph, Bourdieu, Instagram