The Selfie as profile photo on Facebook: an identity, sociability and entertainment resource

Authors

  • Angélica Molina Parral Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Mexico https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6400-9237
  • Dubravka Mindek Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Mexico

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15381/is.n48.25355

Keywords:

selfie, profile photo, network sociability

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the meanings attributed by a small group of young provincial female university students to the production and dissemination of the selfie as profile pictures on Facebook and to the social interaction that is woven around it. The empirical evidence supporting the work derives from interviews with nine women between the ages of 17 and 21, who are residents of the towns of Cuautla and Cuernavaca (located in the eastern Mexican state of Morelos), are undergraduate students and are users of Facebook, as well as observations made on this network. The main findings point to the fact that the selfie as a profile picture is a resource for identity, sociability and entertainment. The young women in the study produce and disseminate selfies as part of their leisure activities, without previous reflection or preparation. Neither does it seem that their selfies have been made so that the others who see them, reflect upon them.

Author Biographies

  • Angélica Molina Parral, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Mexico

    Doctora en Ciencias Sociales y profesora de la Facultad de Estudios Superiores de Cuautla, adscrita a la Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, México. Ha publicado ensayos gráficos en revistas como: revista estudiantil Ágora del Colegio de Estudios Internacionales de El Colegio de México, en la revista Metáforas al aire y en la revista Innombrable. Además, ha participado en la planeación y organización de diversos eventos en Morelos, así como, en exposiciones artísticas individuales y colectivas en diversos Estados de la República Mexicana.

  • Dubravka Mindek, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Mexico

    Es doctora en antropología por la Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Ciudad de México. Actualmente se desempeña como profesora-investigadora en el programa de Posgrado en ciencias sociales (maestría y doctorado) de la Facultad de Estudios Superiores de Cuautla, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos. Sus líneas de investigación incluyen género, parentesco, familias y matrimonios en diferentes contextos, sus diversidades y desigualdades. Su última publicación se titula “La performance como acto de resistencia frente a la discriminación y violencia de género, desde las románticas a las primeras vanguardistas españolas (1830-1930)”, en coautoría con Miguel Molina Alarcón. En: Arte y activismo contra violencia de género II (2021).

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Published

2023-05-18

Issue

No. 48 (2023)

Section

Artículos Originales

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Angélica Molina Parral, Dubravka Mindek

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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How to Cite

Molina Parral, A., & Mindek, D. (2023). The Selfie as profile photo on Facebook: an identity, sociability and entertainment resource. Investigaciones Sociales, 1(48), 191-207. https://doi.org/10.15381/is.n48.25355