Biographies in pictures. Social media - spaces for imagining

How do we present ourselves on social media, and how does this relate to our life stories? This book presents the results of a study on how platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and, at times, TikTok are used to shape and reflect personal biographies. What is it about? Many people create social media profiles without intending to make money from them. They curate collections of photos and post stories, reels, or videos to present themselves as they see themselves and want to be seen. Over time, this creates a kind of imaginative space around a person. People share not only what is currently happening in their lives, but also images from the pastand, more broadly, who they would like to be and how they hope others will perceive them. The questions explored: How do the image collections people create and share on social media connect to their personal life stories? What role do social media profiles play at different life stagesduring the teenage years, in adulthood, or in older age? Are there new forms of self-presentation that would not exist without social media? How was the research done? The study examined the social media profiles of 51 people from three age groups in Austria and Brazil: ages 1419, 3040, and 60+. This made it possible to compare different life stages across two societal contexts. Participants were invited to share their social media profiles and tell their life story in a biographical interview. They were also asked to show and talk about photos that mattered to themfrom private analogue photo albums, from phones or computers, and from their social media accounts. In total, the researchers analysed around 47,000 images and 257 hours of interviews, using several methods of image analysis and biographical research. The main findings: What social media self-presentation means in a persons life becomes clearer when it is considered alongside private photo collectionsboth analogue and digitaland linked to how people narrate their life story. Across all age groups, the study identified four typical ways people use social media in relation to their biography: a) to connect different areas of life and different experiences, b) to create new self-images that contrast with everyday reality, c) to place different, even conflicting worlds side by side and keep biographical options open, d) to express difficult experiences (for example, sexual abuse or violence) through images in order to integrate them into ones life. The book also discusses forms of self-presentation that can be described as hypermedial: exaggerated, immersive, or seemingly fake portrayals that are often debated in controversial ways. Who is this book for? For anyone who wants to understand how social media helps shape our self-image and our biographiesand why profiles are not simply just pictures. In short: this book shows how social media becomes part of our biographieswhether you are 16, 35, or 70.