Lived Consumer Bodies: An exploration of the role and impact of Social Media on identity construction

Abstract

Social media has radically altered how and where we consume, alongside how we connect with others, cementing growing social benefits and concerns. Existing academic discourse and theory relating to gender, identity, consumption, objectification and the lived consumer body is reviewed, underpinned by intersectional feminism to explore the role and impact of social media on women’s identity construction. As social media develops and platforms continue to evolve, this research adds a timely and vital contribution to understanding women’s experience on social media as consumers and commodities.
An in-depth qualitative interpretivist multi-case study has been undertaken to explore the lived experience of women as both social media content creators and consumers. Participants are majority women and LGBTQ+ influencers/content creators, selected due to their engagement online and interviewed using phenomenology to deeply explore social media phenomena.
Themes emerging from the research offer greater insight and understanding into aspects of social media and identity construction. This includes self-image, self-esteem, self-commodification, self-objectification and self-awareness, as participants reflect on their personal responsibility regarding social issues while also navigating enduring patriarchal stereotypes present online.
The contribution to knowledge presented in this thesis is four-fold, with three new conceptual frameworks and theoretical concepts developed from the richly contextualised account of social media content creation and consumption which emerged. Dimensions Shaping Identity addresses a gap in the literature pertaining to the role of social media on identity construction. The Social Media Self conceptualises the digital embodiment of how the ‘real self’ wishes to be perceived, an online expression of the ideal self. While Compensatory Self Consumption is presented as a new paradigm of repetitive and reinforcing behaviours, exhibited exclusively on social media which acts as both the catalyst and facilitator.
The final contribution is a methodological contribution which relates to researcher reflexivity, and the explicit use of the researcher’s reflexive journal adding further dimension to the methodological approach.

Date of Award	19 Jun 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Edge Hill University
Supervisor	HELEN WOODRUFFE-BURTON (Director of Studies) & KIM CASSIDY (Supervisor)