Social networking technology: place and identity in mediated communities

This paper explores the rise of social networking technology as instances of mediated
communities. A dialectic between collectivity and place, resulting in the grounding of
a shared sense of the past in a particular place, is at the base of all communities. In
this sense community is, by its very definition, inherently ‘mediated’. We reformulate
the notion of a ‘virtual community’ to examine the particular modalities of mediation
across interactions occurring on Myspace. Data from two separate conversational
exchanges are taken from open access Myspace profiles. Drawing on an approach
broadly informed by the principles of Discursive Psychology (DP), we examine how
identity is constituted within interaction by drawing on symbolic resources. The
significance of place and off establishing a delicate relationship between the on-line
and off-line accomplishments is underlined. The paper develops the arguments of
Benwell & Stokoe (2006) and Dixon & Durrheim (2000) to arrive at an account of
‘place identity’ as the central dynamic in mediated community.