College Students’ New Media Usage And Identity Construction In Urumqi

With the rapid development of Internet information technology and mobile internet device, transformation’s taken place to lifestyle, ideas and communication mode because of the new media. Not only does modernity, globalization and rapid development change people’s previous lifestyle, ideas and communication mode, they also influence people’s identity construction. College students are active new media practitioners, as well as its early contacts and active users. Accordingly, this research mainly focus on college students’ new media usage and their identity construction. This paper will attempt to figure out how social culture works in the process of college students using new media and constructing their identity from the perspective of media practice. As with research methodology, based on identity theory, this research will combine qualitative research with quantitative research, conform to social-cultural concept of audience research, and finally take college students’ new media usage and relevant social culture context into whole consideration by series of research methods, including questionnaires, participant observation, in-depth interviews and case studies, etc. In detail, this paper will study questions as follows. How about collage students’ new media usage in Urumqi? With what using features, identity construction? How do those identities embody? Whether it can be an important way to form self-identity, ethnic identity, citizenship? What have new media be entitled to construct identity? How do college students construct their identity through new media? How does new media influence students upon constructing identity?Study finds that: firstly, new media usage of the college students embodies characteristics of mobility, personalization, subjectivity, optionality, integration and diversity. The process of college students’ new media usage is the production of interactive texts and significance. Students can build up multiple identities of self-ego, member of ethnic-groups and interests of citizens when using the new media.Secondly, the students’ self-identity is established in different new media practices. First of all, college students build self identity in the interaction of self-presentation with comments from others; Second, students can construct their self ego through gazing at “others” and interpreting differences; Again, the new media’s "role play on the stage" is also an important channel to shape identity; Finally, students can also positioning identity by the new media’s advantage of reflection. Students’ identity construction in new media usage shows the characteristics of multi-level and multiplicity.Thirdly, new media’s become an important field of ethnic identity construction of college students. Ethnic identity of minority students is built by the jointed effect between homogeneity and heterogeneity factors in new media usage. Language is one of the important elements of new media in the ethnic identity construction. Virtual community provides new scene for construction of the ethnic identity. The use of new media has gradually become the new channels for the formation of ethnic collective memory, and at the same time also brings changes occurred in the boundary of ethnic identity. Under the background of globalization, new media usage has a superficial and impermanent influence of ethnic identity.Fourthly, countries impression and political participation as well as festivals participation from college students’ using new media are important influential factors of citizenship identity construction. New media is a significant way for students to ritualized focus on media events, be empowered to participate in the public discussion, and repeat, share and establish collective memories. By focusing on new media use in the Spring Festival gala, the author found that college students under the globalization and modernity have no loss of traditional culture or alienate with their country, instead they establish new contacts with the country, which has become new situation and new ties to construct ethnic-state co-existence community and enhance national cohesion country through the use of new media.All in all, with the rapid development of information technology, the characteristics of new media’s openness and interactivity have been more highlighted, and college students produce self-significance, construct their self identity, ethnic identity and citizenship through a series of new media usage. New media is not only the mediation of interaction with the outside world, it also has a part played in constructing identity.