Self-presentation In Wechat Moments Of Undergraduates From Dramaturgical Theory

WeChat is a free application of Tencent for instant messaging services for smart terminals,enabling the rapid delivery of text,photos,voice and video via the Internet.Users can post moments and comment or thumb up their friends' moments.WeChat and moments have become the most widely used communication and social tools among undergraduates.From the perspective of Dramaturgical Theory of American sociologist Erving Goffman,this study uses virtual ethnography,text analysis and interviews to analyze self-presentation of undergraduates in WeChat moments and explain the categories,motivations,characteristics and conditions of self-presentation as well as impression management strategy,and then put forward problems and suggestions to guide students to use WeChat moments according to the law.The main part of the study involves five elements.Firstly,the type of WeChat moments,including eight kinds of moments:information,video sharing,travel scenery,daily life,hobbies,ideological and emotional,institutions and research and product information.Secondly,the motivation,including recording life,obtaining a sense of accomplishment and causing concern.Thirdly,the characteristics of self-presentation,such as the randomness of time and content,multi-performer identity,strong non-communication filter and hidding.Fourthly,the conditions of self-presentation,including the stage settings-physical equipment,personal prospects-the use of WeChat skills and experience,background-the text of social media norms.Fifthly,strategies of impression management:misleading performances,tricky performances and remedial performances.Throughout the research,the innovation lies in using virtual ethnography and studying WeChat moments in the perspective of Dramaturgical Theory.Virtual ethnography,also known as cyber-ethnography,using participatory observation as a research tool,emphasizes experience and feelings,and is more suitable for network and moments.Through literature review,it is found that literary research on WeChat moments isn't enough and less systematic,so the perspective of Dramaturgical Theory is also one of the innovations.