Abstract
This article presents a sociolinguistic analysis of online identity construction through the lens of chronotope. Based on a longitudinal digital ethnography spanning 2019–2022, we examined 253 WeChat Moments posts collected from a participant referred to as ‘Green’. Our aim is to understand how individuals with migration experiences tactically draw on multimodal and translingual resources to construct a coherent online persona amid offline mobility, change and discontent. Our research uncovers that Green’s posts normalise an ‘alternative reality’ for her online persona presentation, wherein her offline experiences are reconfigured into ‘invokable histories’ contributing to the creation of ‘chronotopic behavioural scripts’. This reconfiguration of time-spaces yields a ‘collaged’ identity continuity, particularly evident during periods of restricted physical mobility such as pandemic lockdowns. This study not only provides a methodological enhancement to sociolinguistic research on identity but also contributes to ongoing discussions on temporal-spatial reconfigurations in social media communication.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-22 |
| Number of pages | 22 |
| Journal | New Media and Society |
| Early online date | 23 Feb 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | E-pub ahead of print - 23 Feb 2024 |
Keywords
- Chronotope
- identity continuity
- mobile communication
- online discourse