Walter Hart

2-24-11
Mind, Self, and Facebook

Mind, Self, and Facebook

Sociologists must develop postmodern tools in order to interpret the postmodern self.
Interpreting the self is problematic for contemporary sociologists. The discipline of sociology
has relied on the theories of Herbert Mead and Ervin Goffman to interpret the construction of the
self. Meads Mind Self and Society was published in 1934 and Goffmans Presentation of Self in
Everyday Life was published in 1959. The theories in these works were constructed in response
to the social dilemmas of modernity1 and therefore, are not sufficient to interpret the
development of the self in postmodernity. The postmodern individual interacts with the self, the
community, and the world in ways that differ from the modern era. The shift from modernity2 to
postmodernity is confusing to many sociologists. Instead of interpreting the postmodern self,
sociologists condemn the postmodern self as fragmented, narcissistic, fantasy driven, empty,
image driven, and superficial (E 136,138, Agger 1988). The postmodern self may be all of these,
some of these, or none of these. Without the correct theoretical orientation, the interpretation of
the self is difficult. Mead and Goffmans theories provide tools to interpret the self in
postmodern society, but these tools are insufficient. In this paper I posit that to interpret the
postmodern self and postmodern society, sociologists must move away from the modern eras
interpretation of the self, utilize postmodern technology to reorient theories in order to address
postmodern dilemmas, and utilize the tools of modern social theory, within the postmodern
context. First, I examine how modern sociological theory is similar to postmodern theory and
how theorists are frustrated with postmodernity because they are still attempting to apply modern
analysis to the postmodern dilemmas. Next, I suggest that sociologists should resist criticizing
1 Sociology is usually considered an Enlightenmnet project, and outcome of the Frenchman Auguste Comte s attempt to create a science
of society that would rival the sophistication and methodologies of Newton s physics. Comte went as far as to term sociology social
physics. Agger
,
2 The term often given to this new social order, which involved both the enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, is modernity, and the
process of achieving it is termed modernization by sociologists. Agger
,

Walter Hart
2-24-11
Mind, Self, and Facebook
postmodern self construction and instead utilize the fragments of the culture, such as Facebook,
to develop a radical micro-sociology to illuminate the unique nature of the self during the
postmodern turn3.
Postmodern theory resists global, total narratives and values social analysis that is
captured in fragments, requiring local, individual level, even intuitive methodologies. (Agger
1988, 91) Contemporary sociologists also privilege the local fragments over the global
narratives. Charles Tilly (1984) claims that grand narratives are meant to be timeless and
placeless should be replaced with concrete, historical analysis of real people, places, and things.
Similarly, Randall Collins (2005) posits a radical micro-sociology that privileges the study of
situations and chains of interaction. Through chains of interaction, symbols are assigned
meanings that make up the structure of our consciousness and the lenses through which we
see. (Collins 2005, 374) Micro-sociology reveals the self as socially constructed and historically
situated. Collins fragmented, individual, and local method of study contends, there is no
guarantee that the larger historical pattern always flows in one direction. Instead Collins states
that selves, considered normal today, will likely be different then the kinds of selves considered
normal 200 years from now4. Tilly and Collins do not seem to be at odds with the postmodern
rejection of grand narratives but resistance is encountered when Anthony Elliot (2001) addresses
the postmodern construction of the self in Concepts of the Self. Elliot traces the development of
symbolic interaction theory from Mead and Goffman, through Freud and psychoanalysis, onto
Foucault, and eventually into the postmodern theories. It is in the discussion of the postmodern
self that pessimistic view of the self and society emerges. Elliot chronicles sociological

3 The phrase postmodern turn is taken from Best, Steven and Kellner, Douglass.
. Postmodern Theory. NY: The Guilford Press.
Collins
,
and there is no guarantee that the larger historical pattern always flows in one direction.. There is no (egelian
evolution revealing that the pure essence of the human being is individuality and inwardness.
4

Walter Hart
2-24-11
Mind, Self, and Facebook
descriptions of the postmodern dislocation and decomposition of identity.5 (Elliot 2001, 132) I
interpret Elliots assertion that the grand objectives of the enlightenment (including Truth,
Justice, Reason, and Equality) dissolve or become irrelevant, (Elliot 131) is either a nostalgic
longing for the comfort of modern simplicity or a confusion regarding the shifting dynamics of
culture. I contend that this discomfort stems from attempting to apply theories of modernity to
postmodern dilemmas. Further, Elliots fear of the dissolution of truth, justice, reason, and
equality is understandable in a postmodern age where reality seems unordered and ultimately
unknowable. (Best and Kellner 1991, 9) Huston Smith contends that unordered, postmodern
skepticism is only a transition to yet another intellectual perspective, one that will be
characterized by a more holistic and spiritual outlook. (Best and Kellner 1991, 9) Postmodernity
is a time of transition in world history and sociologists should utilize the fragments of the culture
to develop a new micro-sociology. By moving away from the modern interpretations of the self,
sociologists can free themselves to embrace the changing culture and utilize cultural fragments,
like Facebook, to analyze how postmodern selves and cultures are developing from within a
postmodern medium of communication.
Once sociologists move away from the modern paradigm and begin to utilize the tools of
postmodernity, they will be able to re-appropriate modern theories of social research. Although
not explicitly postmodern, Diane Bjorklunds 1998 book, Interpreting the Self: Two Hundred
Years of American Autobiography, analyzes change in the historical development of the self.
Bjorklund uses autobiographies to study real people, places, and things within their historical
context, as Tilly suggested. She chooses the autobiography because of the way the authors
imagine themselves within the community. Autobiographers employ a number of rhetorical

Elliot is discussing Richard Sennet s views on the postmodern self

Walter Hart
2-24-11
Mind, Self, and Facebook
techniques that reflect the values of their society. Likewise, in 2011, individuals are daily
authoring and re-authoring micro-autobiographies on Facebook. Today, the presentation of self
takes on multiple forms on-line and off-line. Selves are being formed as they place themselves in
the role of the other to communicate. The response they call out in others when they post a status
or upload a picture evokes the same response in the poster. Communities are developing and
strengthening as content is produced. When selves are observed un-critically, they appear
disconnected, superficial, commercialized, and trivial. But when selves are observed
sociologically, we see identities being negotiated in real time. We dont have to wait sixty years
for the autobiography to be written. Individuals are authoring real time stories with cultural
significance. When sociologists conquer their fear of the unknown postmodern future, they will
be able to approach this postmodern form of communication and develop a deeper understanding
of identity construction and social interaction. Embracing the postmodern reality will also allow
for a more accurate critique of the social formation and domination that exists when selves
psyches are engaged by the culture industries, which induce people to spend hours watching
television and Web surfing, consuming advertising images that form identity. (Agger 2004:107)
The pessimistic worldview many sociologists hold is prohibiting opportunities for social research
and social critique.
Now that we have loosened our grip on modernity and have begun to utilize the
postmodern tools of interaction, we can re-appropriate modern social theory. Bjorklunds method
of analyzing autobiographies is a good model to start with. Bjorklund noted:
We discern the individual voices of the autobiographers, but we
also discover the culture speaking through the self. These selfnarratives, however, have even more to offer when we also
recognize them as rhetorical accomplishments. Autobiographers
use vocabularies of the self, not only to make sense of their lives

Walter Hart
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Mind, Self, and Facebook
but also to present a praiseworthy self to their audiences.
(Bjorklund 158,159)
Similar to postmodern theorists, Bjorklund privileges the localized nature of autobiographies to
draw conclusions about the larger society. Her study analyzed 110 autobiographies from 1800 to
1980. Her analysis explores their use of shared cultural ideas about the self as well as the social
situational constraints of impression management. (Bjorklund 1998, Xi) Facebook, like
autobiographies, are an amalgam of cultural ideas, scruples, art, imagination, rhetoric, and selfpresentation. (Bjorklund, x) Both keep a record of how people interpret their own lives.
Bjorklund extracts how the self is developed by analyzing how each author, over different time
periods, dealt with the literary constraints of modesty, honesty, and the need to be interesting.
She then looked at how the authors emphasis on components of the self (passion, reason, and
will) differed over the four time periods. A third way that Bjorklund interpreted the self through
autobiographies was by analyzing how the authors spoke about their relationships with others.
The micro-autobiographies, written in Facebook, are not the same as traditional
autobiographies, but they are expressions of individuals sharing their lives, reflecting on their
identity, and anticipating the response of their audience. These similarities make it possible for
us to appropriate Bjorklunds modern sociological methods for the study of postmodern study.
Although many sociologists conduct research in ways that are similar to postmodern styles of
research there is still confusion or fear of the unknown, changing dynamics of society. This
postmodern turn is a cultural shift that sociologist must confront. Once they are able to move
away from the sacred texts of modernity they will be able to embrace the new postmodern
technologies. By moving towards the postmodern, they will be able to gain better understanding
of how the postmodern self is developing. They will be able to conduct better postmodern
research and critique. When sociologists stop longing for the comfort of modernity they can join
the excitement of the new era with its new possibilities. Instead of nostalgic research that stands
in condemnation of the postmodern self, they can join the dialogue and help shape the free flow
of information, political power, social networking, media, and discourse that may lead to a better
stage of society. Once sociology accepts the transition out of modernity, it can adapt the grand
narratives of modernity and re-appropriate them to study the development of the postmodern
self.

Walter Hart
2-24-11
Mind, Self, and Facebook
Works Cited
Agger, Ben. 2004a. The Virtual Self: A Contemporary Sociology. Malden: Blackwell Publishing.
Best, Steven and Kellner, Douglass. 1991. Postmodern Theory: Critical Interrogations. NY: The
Guilford Press.
Bjorklund, Diane. 1998. Interpreting the Self: Two Hundred Years of American Autobiography.
Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Elliot, Anthony. 2001. Concepts of the Self. Malden: Blackwell Publishers Inc.