The Study On Influences Of Using Social Media On Identity Of Mothers With Two Children

When a woman turns into a mother,her voice would be easily tagged by our society.Technology has greatly transformed traditional impressions on communication around the globe.People are dominated by fragmented mobile or online connection,instead of television,radio and computer networks.To be specific,popular communication media include micro-blogs,Apps,short videos like Douyin,Kuaishou,Xigua Video.In the era of information explosion,everyone can freely express and share their views.Mothers with two children are no longer restricted from objective conditions such as "raising young children","inconvenient network" or "low income",but can express their opinions through audios or videos thanks to smartphones,networks and convenient express delivery in villages.Moreover,they can earn money through e-commerce platforms,which further boosts their confidence in sharing their ideas online.Even with increasing online sharing,most mothers with two children are still bound by their identity.On the one hand,it is a mother’s instinct to sacrifice her social and recreational time to looking after her children,and some even give up their jobs.On the other hand,they might be criticized by the public from both online and the realistic world.The label of"motherhood" constitute invisible social constraint,which propels them to "return to their family".A mother would like not to be trapped in a "love cage" any more after she notices a broader world.More and more female start to work as anchors on Douyin,Taobao and other e-commerce platforms.At once,they were forced to assume agricultural and industrial work because of physical disadvantages.The development of information technology and social media allows them to develop groups of sharing ideas and earning money through"communication".There is no denying that mothers with two children contribute an increasing proportion of the family’s income.The "children" will not be the only reason to drain a mother’s energy,but also the "loss of hope’.As is seen in short videos,mothers from villages share their videos of recording hardworking labor scenes in the farmlands with their children,or running in the countryside with laughter.There are also interesting stories between "wives from other places and local husbands",or videos of promoting products for fans.Middle-aged female anchors might also do cooking at the break of live streaming when they are busy in selling products through live marketing.Some mothers with two children like me would like to make progress through learning English while taking care of their children.Moreover,some women even reveal their ID cards in the live room to "expose their husbands’ misbehavior" or defend their rights.Various voices from mothers can be commonly found on the Internet,and mothers are becoming more and more skilled at using social media such as Weibo,WeChat,Douyin,and live streaming to search for information,make their voices heard,or to demonstrate their parenting duties and motherhood.The purpose of this research aims to study how mothers with two children at different ages,with various occupations,education levels,and places of residence use social media to change their family and social status in the information age;to explore how the media communication enhances women’s rights of discourse and their thinking;and to advocate women’s independence,confidence,courage,and innovation.Through adopting media empowerment theory and identity theory,this research applies research methods of in-depth interviews,questionnaires,and virtual ethnography to explore the important social issue whether women without employment opportunities due to childbirth and child rearing can regain some power through the use of social media,such as the right of express views,making social contacts and gaining working opportunities.Furthermore,this research also investigates whether mothers with two children can use social media to better practice motherhood,to reduce the impact on their careers and thus to recognize the identity of motherhood.According to this research,mothers with two children are found to actively and spontaneously seek online communities to gain the emotional companionship,and the majority of mothers with two children prefer to use social media such as Douyin and WeChat to expand their social circles.