Self-Identity in the Digital Age: A Preliminary Study of College Students’ Interactions on Instagram

Abstract

This study aims to examine how college students construct and negotiate their self-identity through visual representation practices on the Instagram platform. In the digital era, social media has become a new space for individuals especially students to express themselves, build personal image, and manage impressions in front of the public. This research adopts a descriptive qualitative approach, utilizing netnographic observation and in-depth interviews with several students from the University of Bengkulu as informants. The findings reveal that Instagram is strategically used as a performative space, where students consciously curate visual content that reflects the positive, productive, and ideal sides of themselves. Popular posts include academic activities, organizational experiences, internships, and lifestyle content that emphasize aesthetics and personal branding. Visual curation is carried out with careful planning, from photo selection, filters, and captions to tone consistency and feed arrangement. This reflects impression management practices as described in Erving Goffman's dramaturgical perspective. Students’ digital identities are flexible and continuously revised in response to social dynamics, trends, and the need to impress audiences ranging from peers, lecturers, and family to potential employers. However, this practice also creates social pressure to appear flawless and admirable. The more authentic, vulnerable, and complex aspects of self are often hidden and only expressed in more private digital spaces, such as close friends stories, direct messages, or secondary (finsta) accounts. Thus, self-representation on Instagram is not merely a reflection of personality but a socially constructed performance that is constantly negotiated.