Abstract
This chapter focuses on the description of the profile image and the entire communicative ecosystem on the Facebook social network. In doing so, it presents the results of the inventory and classification of 7200 profile pictures of Facebook users from 24 different cities around the world. The classification criteria were initially based on a model which includes entity, treatment and framing (ETF) of the image. Although our study does not focus specifically on youth, we also present a number of results in relation to this demographic group, as it experiences digital technologies as an answer to its expressive needs and the kinds of identity exploration which characterise our modern social life. Finally, we introduce some conclusions about the integration of digital technologies into everyday life.
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Notes
- 1.
We use here the word opera (the plural for opus) from its Latin origin: operari (operate, labour) which means a work.
- 2.
At that time, Facebook had not yet implemented the timeline layout which allows users to upload not only a profile image but also a cover image in their profiles.
- 3.
All images in tables are published with owner’s permission.
- 4.
PhotoScape and the online face-retouching tool PinkMirror, among others.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to express our gratitude to José Joaquín Recasens for partially translating the text from Spanish to English, and for revising and helping to adapt it to the editorial standards required for publication.
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Rueda-Ortiz, R., Giraldo, D. (2016). Profile Image: Ways of Self-(re-)presentation on the Facebook Social Network. In: Walrave, M., Ponnet, K., Vanderhoven, E., Haers, J., Segaert, B. (eds) Youth 2.0: Social Media and Adolescence. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27893-3_3
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