Abstract
This article proposes to analyze the contributions of Instagram in constructing the identity performances of self-declared black and “parda” teenage girls in Recife since cyberspace constitutes a space for conflicts, representation, and the production of subjectivities. The study takes a qualitative approach with an interdisciplinary nature, based on field research in a school environment. Participant observation, field diary, digital ethnography, and semi-structured interviews were used. The data was analyzed using discourse analysis in connection with the social representations theory. It was possible to understand that the social network Instagram has been configured as a limited environment for self-representation and identity performance since racist and sexist discourses operated in online and offline spaces, which act favorably towards silencing these girls. In this way, the platform has established itself as another means of structuring the intersectional oppressions experienced in the “real” world.
Keywords:
adolescents; digital ethnography; identity; Instagram