Profile Image: Ways of Self (re )presentation on the Facebook Social Network
This chapter focuses on the description of the profile image and the entire communicative ecosystem on the Facebook social network. In doing so, it presents the results of the inventory and classification of 7200 profile pictures of Facebook users from 24 different cities around the world. The classification criteria were initially based on a model which includes entity, treatment and framing (ETF) of the image. Although our study does not focus specifically on youth, we also present a number of results in relation to this demographic group, as it experiences digital technologies as an answer to its expressive needs and the kinds of identity exploration which characterise our modern social life. Finally, we introduce some conclusions about the integration of digital technologies into everyday life.