Fragmented self in multiple social media account:

A journey to define what is social media from muslim scholar perspective.

Around 1400 years ago (621), the fundamental Islamic leader went for a journey from
Masjidil haram (Saudi Arabia) to Masjidil Aqsa (Palestine) right now. Then he ascended
to heaven and spoke with god. After thousand years, the journey has not over. Yet it is
expanded from east to the west by his followers whom continue which we believe as
message from god. Now I am sitting face to face to my computer and there is
sophisticated technological system namely internet connection, server, browser, social
media, language programming and many more. It is complicated and beyond what he
thought back 1400 years ago. Now in the 21th century as muslim scholar, my journey
begin in the social media platforms. Not to preach and give speech about the messages
about Islam certainly but to describe what kind of control and freedom dominantly
leverage muslim scholar behaviour and act in social media world as space of self
expression. This paper is an extension of auto etnography project which conducted by me
about media tracking and dieting. The result is I am shifting and performing from one
platform to another. It cannot be generalised and represented that all muslim scholars
have a similar route like mine because this is my story, my journey, and my space. Enjoy!
Keywords
actor network theory; control and freedom; identity; public and private space; audiences
***
THE STORY BEGIN ...
I realize that I do not use different platforms for different purpose only but also I behave
differently on every platform. I started to wonder when and why it started. The way I
create identities in every social media platforms with the profile describing, photos, and
contents are not entirely the same. Despite I love to play with many roles in social media
like roger in American Dad who have more than thousand personas in every scene, there
are sense of invisible and visible surveillance who witness me everyday, every time, and
everywhere. Markham wrote individual is impacted by ever-increasing connection with
computers, technologies, and information (Markham 2013) which make the generation
C is has different experiences from the previous generation how they think and act about
the world. More specifically about how they articulate identity in social and cultural
context in digital era.
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I begin to conceptualise from control and freedom relate to actor network theory as big
umbrella to explain my his(story) and it is divided into four actors (Islamic values set,
mom, audiences (friends or followers), technological affordances) which shape the
network in social media. All of them are related each other, and I can say, they are
overlapping but somehow there must be a clear border among them because different
control and freedom I should take for granted. All the actors leads me how I behave and
creates profile in every social media platforms. Although the whole story is about my
journey,

but

at

the

end,

describe

social

media

as

personal

space

of

self-CONTROL-expression. As Chun pointed out that all electronic interactions

undermine the control of users by constantly sending involuntary representations
(Chun 2006). It can be from the the socio technical system which controlled by big
brother from IP address, personal identity information, daily pattern in social media use.
Borrowing the term Algorithmic self which described as through a complex and largely
invisible interaction with the algorithms that mediated the interface (Markham 2013).
***
First actor: Islamic values
Blackwell also said the self is entirely social product, he presents a dualistic image of self
when he argues that there is an unsocialized component to the self that drives the
individual into and out of social intercourse and sometimes impels the individual to
behave in ways out of keeping with social norms. (Blackwell 1997). There is set of rules
which constrain me to speak up my mind freely, mom also influence by this rules
because she devotes herself so much to our god and He (I use apostrophe because in
Islam we are not define god as a male or a female) represents in the world by Koran and
Hadith some people might say prophetic traditions.
Never insulting or cursing someone else, both in the real life and in the
digital world. Behind or in front of him/her someone else.
This term is one of many values which taught by Muhammad (peace be upon him) when
someone say harsh words about myself. Well as a human being I also have the right to
express myself however I have to control myself to what I write on wall, I tweet, photos I
upload to Instagram, and etc. Then the actor is related to my mom, a human figure
whom I respect the most after prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). She said
patience can beat hate. She just wants to apply Islamic values every aspect of her life both
the real and digital world.
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Later on in the afternoon she sent me a private message on Twitter, she wrote that I
must have more patience to face out any grudge comment to myself and better to
beware of what I wrote because I already knew the Islamic values which come from
our prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Instead of cursing someone on Twitter,
better for me to send him bless for his good life. She asked me to delete my tweet. I could
not fully understand mom because of this and I avoided arguing about who is right and
who is wrong, even though I was not fully accepted about it, then I erased my tweet.
I do not have any choice except to honor her and I do not want to be someone who will be
burnt in hell fire because abandoning and having a quarrel with mother as a woman
who has highest position among every women in the world based on the Islamic
value. None can replace her. It never gonna happen. Unconsciously I have been applied
Islamic values from our god to our prophet then to our mom then it is internalise in
myself.
Second actor: Mom
I realised when my mom got on Facebook, I began to use them more systematically and
strategically than I did before. I am looking at my online notes, which I performed
slightly different persona I have. In my journal, I wish to begin when doing that and
when my mother got on Facebook and told story. She did not post but she sent me
personal message policing my behavior. Instantly revert back to my 14 years self who
would not mind to please my mother and I realized book is not gonna be the place that I
could express all the part of my personalities. Maybe that work out the best because
Facebook become professional zone. Maybe she was right, but nonetheless I invest to
contain multitude and have my personality express so I decided to the other platform
and I want to be a different people in different platforms.
Once upon a time, I was bashing on ones page on Facebook because they insulted my
group idol (I just wonder if their page still exist). I admitted my words are harsh and
ruthless to someone in that page or to group either. Suddenly my mobile ringing and
that was my mom. She said that I have to look out on my mouth and behave like an
ideal grown man. Because someone sent her a message through facebook reported me
as a guilty that I writing inappropriate comments on Facebook.
Papacharissi narrowing idea of self nowadays is expressed a fluid abstraction
(Papacharissi 2011). It can be whatever self can possible be in social network. Mom
create identity as a police to monitor and control like panopticon not only me but also my
cousin in Social media. The story goes when I move to twitter.
Mom sent a private message on Twitter (again?) because of my tweet sort of resentful
to someone. Well I guess I wrote a tweet about someone who said my outlook
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appearance looks like terrorist with beard hanging down on my chin and I always
wear pants or trousers above ankle. That was horrible!
See! She is still the same figure, attitude, control, and action. The dissimilar thing is only
the space. Latour in his work of Actor Network Theory indicates in any given
relationship, they are human actor and they are non human actor and they relate to one
and another and put into motion effects.
I wish I can get my mom out the conversation button, but the button does not exist. As
result, my relationship with my mom had to go in this certain way. I had to change my
behavior, now there is additional network actor called this button. If I wish I could
activate this button to stop her from sing what I say, would allow me to do other things.
Each one of them set series into it. It is hard to talk about those interaction without
bringing in these other action because completely controlling it.
Actor three: Audiences
I duplicate myself into several individuals in very social media, Gergen mentioned this
phenomena as self-multiplication (Gergen, 1991). Because I realize there is a police who
monitors, I also realize the differences of audience in every social media. It is impossible
to bitch something bad about Denmark for example. Despite, yes! It is developed country
with high income standard, modern, and wealthy. But the bureaucracy system is still
under developed. Comparing with Korea where I got my residence card permit within 30
minutes, in here take more than 6 months with black mail the office in advance. I cannot
do that on Facebook because I have plenty Danes friends. Many if questions are flashing
on my mind, what if my friend hated me, what if they had no respect on me, what if they
perceived me as an ungrateful person because I got scholarship from Danish
Government but still I blame their bureaucracy system. Which in my culture it is
consider disrespectful.
Facebook is for everyone who know me or at least we already had a face to face
communication. They are friends from elementary school until graduate college. They
are also friends from many organizations that I have been joined in different places and
time. They are also work partners from several projects that I have been done. I seldom
accepted friend request from the person who has never met before. Meanwhile twitter is
friend is only close friend, probably we have been hanging out several times and if they
follow me I will follow back. But if they do not follow me I will never follow them. By
doing this, that person trust you and willing to share the connection and gain access to
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him/her space. If not, just waving my hand and say goodbye. I do not want to provide my
personal space for you either.
I started using twitter in the May 2009 when I was in Korea for student exchange, one
of my friend posting from facebook via twitter. At that time it was cool! A new
playground emerged and none knew (or perhaps only a few knew). Because I am
consider myself as a person who is stay updated with the new technology and novelty
then I signed up. I started talking about crap on my twitter, sometimes teased on some
friends who updated their twitter not hourly but secondly.
In Path only people who has already known me a lot, we have been friend in several years
or I have been worked with him or her in a long time. Or simply someone who I want to
be their close friends and maintain our relationship. I might say friendship in Facebook
is not based on quality but in Path is the reverse of it. Along with the idea of participants
more frequently consider the implications of excluding or explicitly rejecting a person as
opposed to the benefits of including them (Boyd, 2011).
Audiences also have a great impact to join or participate in social media. They discover
new spaces which sophisticated and without doubt I joined them to visit the playground.
When there is none there I felt alone and it is not common for me to talk to stranger in
social media platform. Along with the concept of participatory culture (Jenkin 2011)
which social interaction and participation among audiences play the central role in
shaping every social media platforms and audiences reciprocally give the meaning into it.
When there is no interaction in social media, it means dead. Although more than 90%
social media user is just doing lurking activity (wikipedia 2015) which mean lurking is a
new way of participate in social media. But still social interaction particularly with close
friends play an important effect, except if someone do not have a friend in real world.
I open my twitter and only a few people post some updates about their life today. They
are same person who always update and share everything about their life. Even
unimportant thing, I guess everyone start to leave twitter and use other social media.
But they do not want to miss updates on twitter. They are just linking between an
emerging social media and an old social media.
But I consider without friend my social media platform is just cemetery park, I only
communicate with strangers on my tumblr. Some friends in fact have a tumblr but they
are not avid as me. Playing with strangers is not as fun as playing with your friend. I
did not decide to shut down the tumblr, I keep update with third party application
which linked to tumblr like flipboard, social scope, Instagram, and Path.
Actor four: Technological affordances
As I mentioned before about the audiences who affect me to control what I write and
post on social media platforms, in fact I can post it either on my mother tongue or use
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certain code. But again, Facebook has translation feature which can translate my words
and about the code, not every audiences can understand utterly about what I post
literally. It mean my message is not conveyed correctly to the audiences. Rettberg glosses
Foucaults idea in technologies of self. He said that technologies of the self permit
individuals to effect by their own means or with the help of others a certain number of
operation on their bodies and souls, conduct, and way of being, so as to transform
themselves in order to attain certain state of happiness, purity, wisdom, perfection, or
immortality (Rettberg 2014).
Because of technological affordances, mom could sign up for Facebook account by herself.
Another person had to help her to solve this technological affordances. I assume mom is
quite being literacy in current technology such as computer and internet but not in social
media. She has an email account and as a matter of fact she works for the largest
telecommunication company in Indonesia therefore I doubt if she is not familiar with
current technology.
Sometimes I tagged him on video or photo but she did not leave any comment. I realize
she use Facebook as she want to, not as we want to. Yes! I want to make sort of
conversation on Facebook with her and other siblings but probably she is busy or
maybe she forgot the password. Yeah! several times she asked password to my little
sister. And sometimes my little sister was in her Facebook account to chat and reply
comments. She only said, this is not mom, this is me. Hilarious. How come she appear
on moms account, gladly she did not act bizarre on her account.
Identities making and acting
All four actors lead to the how I am creating identities and behaving in each social media
platform. Gergen noted how my experiences in social media platforms through the
saturated self and multiphrenia (Gergen 1991). All of the experience in the virtual
world enrich me in the sense making process of multiple identities in social media
platforms. Although at the first place I used to think it is a normal as a generation C or
the other scholars might be pointed as generation flux to have multiple email account,
multiple social media, multiple interaction with audiences, multiple view of each space,
and the other multiple possibilities which seems for the previous generation as a strange
way to live until emerge the term YOLO (you only live online), well for me it is just
doing an adventure and playing with identities that I cannot do in real live because back
to the control and freedom in the environment.
Theoretically or many people think that me, myself, and I is the central of identities
making in social media platforms. However Boyd pointed out that user or participants
do not have complete control over their self representation (Boyd 2011). It means
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participants create profile based on what they want to perceive from the audiences who
can gain access to the see the profile. Moreover, with whom participants willing to share
their profile with. Blackwell suggested that individuals are not able to choose freely
images of self they would have others accept but rather are constrained to define
themselves in congruence with the statuses, roles, and relationships they are accorded by
social order (Edgley, Lemert & Branaman, 1998).
These are four different screen shots from my profiles and recent updates in social
media.

Screencaps from facebook (profile page and wall from the left to right)

I created profile on facebook to show as a normal person as I can be even though I still
put my uniqueness. I am doing this because my audiences is diverse and come from
different social and cultural backgrounds. I do not want they perceive me as a deviant
just because I want to be myself. Controlling my inner deviant self is better to avoid
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stereotype and prejudice in the first impression. I perceive myself as a scholar, thinker,
young professional, and religious man.
Dominantly my updates is in Indonesian and English, I also have to control and filter
inappropriate contents which can hurt friends on facebook. I avoid to post something
related to religion friction, blasphemy toward someone, and etc. But sometimes I also
have a right to stand for what I believe because my timeline full of media bigotry and
blasphemy. To do so, I have freedom to control what I would like to do. As Burke wrote
behaviour is goal directed in the sense of their identity standard (Burke 2003).

Screencaps from

twitter (profile page and updates from left to right)

Meanwhile on twitter I constructed myself as a spammer, complainer, drag queen, queer,

religious man, sexy stripper, movie reviewer, and any magnitude possibilities. Well
perhaps twitter is my alter ego of facebook. Because the personas which appear is the
opposite what I want to perceive on facebook. The limited audiences make me free to
express what is on my mind (but for sure not entirely because of the actors, but mainly
the first two actors).
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Basically it is more comfortable and enjoyable if I tweet in my first language. I use my

second

language

if

could

not

find

synonym

in

bahasa.

Screencaps from Tumblr (profile page and contents from left to right)

In Tumblr I only describe myself in a simple way, because it suppose to be my digital

diary. The essential thing is in the content not in the profile. Although it is my digital
diary, still I manage the privacy, access, and visibility. Not all of my mind thrown it in
here. Both in Tumblr and Path audiences can think as they like as I want to be in here
base on the contents, it is not consistent because I posted something emotionally driven
comment.

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Screencaps from Path (profile page and moments from left to right)

There is no profile describing feature on path, profile and background picture and
contents is central of my identities.
If I put in one metaphor, Facebook is a mall, Twitter is my backyard and Path is
my bedroom, Tumblr is my diary. In a mall people coming and going to shop at
the department store, buying groceries at the supermarket, hanging out with some
friends at the cafe, making a photo at the photobox corner, working at the accessorise
store, and many things people can do on facebook. Meanwhile backyard is a place when
people can play with dogs, do aerobic or yoga and plant flower, but the place is more
private and only limited people can access the backyard depend on who the owner is.
Bedroom is very private area, no one can enter carelessly otherwise she or he will be
kicked out and not to be allowed to enter forever. Diary is a space designed for only me
can see and know about what I write. No one even parents do not know what story that I
wrote in there. Because I am not good at keeping things, sometimes it is accidentally read
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by anyone who found it. In fact that is not entire story of my life, just a piece of puzzle
which I create to build a image what I want to be.
I must admit as a human who need sort of motivation, tumblr is place where I can
compile great quotes and I read back and forth. The most favorite quote on tumblr and
I always remember until today even I wrote two or three years ago,
One day, everybody shall realize that the only motivator they need is the man in the
mirror
I also put the this emoji :) in the end of quote
The similarities among four social media platforms which I describe before, still (with big
sigh) there is control from the four actors. Some of them is visible in my contents and
profiles (if you can see, I never put my a whole face photo in every social media because it
is against the concept in Islam of lower you gaze. My photo either without face, masked,
or only the body not the face) but plenty of them are invisible or still on my mind.
Rettberg describe Foucaouls view about technology of power which determine the
conduct of individuals and submit them to certain ends or domination (Rettberg 2014) .
There is a feel of something or someone keep surveillancing me whatever I do on my
space. For example, I always think;

Is it appropriate to post this contents?

What do they think of me if I post contents like this?

Am I get a punishment from god if I post this?

Is it insulting audiences if I post like this?

Space of self-CONTROL-expression
Turkle describes about Virtual Personae, in relation of social media has effect to how
they are perform in every platform. She said the creation and projection of constructed
personae into virtual space(Turkle 1999). Each of spaces is not physical but the
technological one and technology creates the opportunity and it also limit me in some
way for instance had my mom joined facebook three years ago at the time there is no way
to filter people out of your past had she joined two months ago I might have very
different relationship to facebook on the other hand I might not because it have to be
student there because sometimes there is still capacity sometimes witnessing things that
you do not want to be spread to another section in which in twitter I feel having very kind
of specific handling and nobody really had interest in me. It is even more the case on the
path that people that I know in the short time. I would not even add anybody who I
didn't know.
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Then she decided to make Facebook account. I didnt remember who and how she
make her account, I guess my sister was helped her. I am not sure if my mom opened
the site and sign up for facebook.
If some scholar think that the control is done by advertiser company or governments
surveillance to civil, based on micro research in my case, control came from four
different actors. Related to personal identity, I could say, tracking identity from
government is less scarier than tracking identity from my god which lead me have bad
record of my life and I will be damned in judgement day if I am not behaved properly.
Some people might laugh at me, but in my conception god also exist in virtual world.
Inhabit Audiences also have an impact to whom I want to share my updates. Because in
Facebook, the audiences are more complicated from different background and culture
and across nations so I have to pay attention carefully to put an update in order to
respect other people believe and view. While in twitter and other social media platform
because it is mainly I use for friend who know me for several years so I am more open to
speak my opinion addressing a topic or issue.
***
Well this is not the end of my story since I am still continuously using social media to
interact with people, develop myself, understand the space where I am involved and live
in, or any possible activities in the future. It is going to be an auto biography if I write
everything on paper. The way I have constructed myself in every social media because of
some power who control me to behave and act accordingly. Even though they do not
stand or sit beside me, they are embedded in my body and mind. There is no way to run
or escape because they will follow me and haunted me everywhere. The fragmented self
in social media just a social product of self-CONTROL-expression. I believe as a mankind
I still have freedom. But my freedom under strong control of four actors that I describe
before. I have freedom but in certain way, is like a bird which has freedom to fly
everywhere, but it is impossible for them flying and and ascending to space. They will die
because lack of oxygen or the other reasons. The four actors protect me especially the
first two from unexpected dangerous and disaster in vast and infinite digital space for the
past, present, and future. Unfortunately, because of the limitations of the university rule
in writing paper, I have to close the red curtain and end my story here. This story is not
entirely represent me to understand my identities which lay in my mind and body. It is
only one fragmented story in particular time and space, then the journey never end until
I close my eyes and say goodbye to the world (at least my children and grand children
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will read and understand what is the meaning being a muslim scholar in social media
platforms in 21th century).
TO BE CONTINUE ...

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References
Chun, W. (2006). Control and freedom: Power and paranoia in the age of fiber optics.
Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
Edgley, C., Lemert, C., & Branaman, A. (1998). The Goffman Reader. Contemporary
Sociology,27(3), 314. doi:10.2307/2655225
Gergen, K. (1991). The saturated self. [New York]: Basic Books.
Jenkins, H., & Ford, S. (2013). Spreadable media creating value and meaning in a
networked culture. New York: New York University Press.
Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the Social (1st ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Retrieved from http://dss-edit.com/plu/Latour_Reassembling.pdf
Markham, A.N. (2013). The Algorithmic Self: Layered Accounts of Life and Identity in
the 21st century. Selected Papers of Internet Research 14.0, Denver, USA.
Papacharissi, Z. (2011). A networked self. New York: Routledge.
Rettberg, J. (2014). Seeing ourselves through technology: How we use selfies, blogs and
wearable devices to see and shape ourselves.
Reynolds, L. (2003). Symbolic Interactionist: Theories of Identity. In Handbook of
symbolic interactionism. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.
Turkle, S. (1999). Cyberspace and Identity. Contemporary Sociology, 28(6), 643.
doi:10.2307/2655534
1% rule (internet culture).n.d.in Wikipedia. Retrived March 23, 2014.

Re-Exam Digital Identities

Yudha Saputra
201402191