Constructing Identity On Weibo

Identity can be used as a resource activated in context and invoked by interlocutors in order to facilitate the realization of interaction goals. From the perspective of pragmatics, this thesis strives to introduce Weibo as a valuable study object in terms of identity construction; in the meantime, taking Jack Ma’s microposts as examples, it attempts to offer one possible way to investigate the multi-faceted identities one can achieve through the discursive practice on Weibo. In this thesis, Ma’s microposts are directly excerpted and translated as the corpus, and the issues like identity types, language strategies, interaction goals and effect evaluation are illustrated in detail.This thesis investigates four kinds of identities Ma constructs through his micropost discourse as follows:a considerate and approachable leader, an authoritative board chairman, a knowledgeable advice-giver, and an ordinary Weibo user. The theories of rapport management, membership categorization analysis, the sentence pattern of imperative and quotidian (re)framing are adopted respectively for detailed analysis. It is found that Weibo, a newly-emerging but rapidly-developing microblogging service, can also be the fertile ground where individuals strive to present and construct different identities in order to produce certain effects and realize specific interaction goals. In addition, the summarized functions of discourse identity also illustrate the public figures’ major motivations of constructing particular identities on Weibo, which ultimately have to do with promoting their career and popularity. Finally, given the particularity of identity on Weibo, the use of different theories to analyze diverse identities helps to fulfill a better understanding of interlocutors’motivations in the virtual space and provides one feasible method for future study.