| dc.description.abstract | Online Social Networks (OSNs) are widely accessible, and they produce a wealth of information on their user's behaviour. Previous research has shown that the user identity experiences a dynamic shift through self-presentation (SP) and self-development (SD). Yet, there is a lack of understanding with respect to how that shift affects the female’s identity development and what are the internal and external factors that shape women’s online social identity in specific contexts (i.e., Saudi women). By appropriating the Saudi Twittersphere’s texts and its users’ behaviours as primary data sources, a multi-phased, mixed-method, and cross-disciplinary methodology was charted. Phases 1 & 4 focused on measuring SP by examining posts from Twitter using content & network analysis, as well as machine learning techniques. Meanwhile, Phases 2 & 3 encompassed SD by examining users’ perceptions, expectations, and experiences of OSNs by conducting a survey and subsequent interviews. The results were synthesized using the qualitative meta-analysis (QMA) technique to generate the women’s contextual online social identity formation model (WCOSIF), taking into consideration key contextual and cultural factors related to Saudi Arabia. The ultimate result showed that there are four stages of (WCOSIF) that Saudi women had gone through: exposure, transformation, emergence, and social actualization. The stages had developed through three main identity types: reflective (SP), narrative, and active identity (SD). The reflective identity helped to evolve the social identity and form the exposure to the transformation stage with the help of three main factors: self-discovery, reflection-retention, and identity cultivation. In the meanwhile, the narrative identity helped to evolve the Saudi women’s identity from the transformation to the emergence phase through time-interval growth and using the retreat, regroup, and re-engage strategy. Finally, the active identity (SD) helped to evolve the social identity from the emergence to the self-actualization stage via social openness, systemic effects, and collective effervescence. This research aims to add value to the model-building of OSNs research and enhance the contextual knowledge of technologies and users’ behaviour in certain settings. Specifically, the model has many implications that can be used in the Saudi context, with particular regard to Saudi women. | en_US |
