Abstract

The paper presents a content analysis of self-definitions extracted from 405 personal web pages of two kinds of identity portals: social networks and blogs. Its main theoretical support is symbolic interactionism of self. It considers that individuals posses a double facet: one that is active and specific, the "I", and another that is reflexive and social, the "me", which emerges from people's roles in society. Furthermore, the study's hypotheses are also derived from the perspective of modernity theory, which states that the individualisation process is so intense that people face the difficult task of having to build a stable and solid identity in a social frame full of opportunities, but unstable and risky. The data support the conclusion that differences in the structure of subjects' self-definitions, their objectivity, and anchorage, may be mostly explained by situational variables.