Exploring Presentations of the Self: Tourist Identity and Representation on Facebook

Abstract

The aim of this study is to explore how tourists present and manage impressions of the self as tourist, on Facebook, while travelling. This study applies a qualitative content analysis to the tourism-related, user-generated content of individual Facebook pages with the aim of exploring mid-travel tourism identity representation on Facebook. A literature review uncovered a shortage of academic research on the mid-travel phase of tourism consumption, prompting the focus of this study. The study is framed through the lens of symbolic interactionism, the theoretical perspective guiding this research journey. Eight semi-structured interviews were carried out, and a constant comparative analysis was applied to generate three main themes, each with subsequent sub-themes. The results include a discussion on place and self representation, perpetuating popular destination images, situating the self as part of a collective, and social media engagement and reciprocity. Opportunities for future research in social media tourism are elucidated.