L’illusion identitaire sur les réseaux sociaux. Étude d’une nouvelle pratique de la mise en scène de soi au temps de la distanciation sociale

Abstract

For the past year, people all over the world find themselves confronted with a global pandemic, affecting and limiting most aspects of their lives. We might assume then, that due to the emergence of new technologies, new media and particularly social networks, this crisis represents only a lesser threat to our social relations, a simple setback for the creation of new social links. However, locked up between four walls, new practices have emerged, sometimes surprising or frankly astonishing. Our social media profiles become, in these times of lock-down and social distancing, the only representations of ourselves, the only images we can send to others. It is therefore important to consider “our digital selves” and what these practices show us about a possible failure of our virtual avatars to provide us with social ties.