Giovani e rappresentazioni delle maschilità nei social network

Abstract

Social network platforms represent spaces where boys and girls can experiment with their identity by working on the processes of self-presentation and impression management. Based on a qualitative research that involved 36 Italian males aged from fourteen to eighteen years old, the paper focuses on how masculine identity is produced, reproduced and performed by boys in social network sites. The analysis suggests that social network can be seen as spaces where boys build and perform gender, frequently in contraposition to the idea they have about girls and what they retain female characteristics.