Curated Selves: Gen Z Identity Formation in the Age of Digital Duality
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64137/31079385/IJMHSS-V1I2P103Keywords:
Gen Z identity, Digital persona, Social comparison, Validation addiction, Dramaturgical model, Digital identity, Contemporary literature, Escapism, Curated selfAbstract
This paper explores how Gen Z negotiates identity within highly digitalized environments shaped by social comparison, curated personas, and validation-driven behaviours. Drawing from Festinger’s Social Comparison Theory, Goffman’s dramaturgical model, and contemporary approaches to digital identity, the article argues that digital culture has intensified identity fragmentation among young people. Through close reading of contemporary literary and popular texts including True Beauty, Aesthetica, Followers, and Sympathy this paper demonstrates that curated personas function both as coping mechanisms and sources of psychological strain. The findings suggest that while digital platforms offer spaces for creativity and empowerment, the pursuit of constant validation and visibility complicates authentic identity formation. The study concludes that digital identity becomes healthy only when online personas remain aligned with offline experiences, rather than replacing them
References
[1] Angelo Megan, Followers, Harper, 2020. [E-book] Available: HarperCollinsPublishers
[2] Danah Boyd, “It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens,” Yale UP, vol. 44, pp. 1171-1174, 2014.
[3] UNICEF, “Childhood in a Digital World,” Unicef.org, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.unicef.org/innocenti/reports/childhood-digital-world
[4] Rob Cover, Digital Identities: Creating and Communicating the Online Self, Academic Press, 2016.
[5] Jose van Dijck, The Culture of Connectivity: A Critical History of Social Media, Oxford: Oxford University Press, vol. 3, no. 56, pp. 1-3, 2013.
[6] Jasmine Fardouly, and R. Vartanian Lenny “Social Media and Body Image Concerns: Current Research and Future Directions,” Current Opinion in Psychology, vol. 9, pp. 509-514, 2016.
[7] Leon Festinger, “A Theory of Social Comparison Processes,” Human Relations, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 117-140, 1954.
[8] Ele Fountain, “Fake,” Pushkin Children’s Books, 2021.
[9] Erving Goffman, “The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life,” University of Edinburgh, 1956.
[10] Alice E. Marwick, “Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity, and Branding in the Social Media Age,” Yale UP, 2015.
[11] L. M. Pop, M. Iorga, and R. Iurcov, “Body-Esteem, Self-Esteem and Loneliness among Social Media Young Users,” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, vol. 19, no. 9, Apr. 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095064.
[12] Sustainability Directory, “Digital Identity Construction → Term,” Lifestyle → Sustainability Directory, Aug. 02, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://lifestyle.sustainability-directory.com/term/digital-identity-construction/
[13] Allie Rowbottom, Aesthetica, Soho Press, 2022. [E-book] Available: Penguin Random House.
[14] S. Sindhuja, and T. Mohanasundari, “Digital Dependency and Evolution of Identity in Megan Angelo’s Followers,” International Journal of Scientific Research in Science and Technology, vol. 11, no. 21, pp. 122–126, 2024.
[15] Margarita Robles-Carrillo, “Digital Identity: An Approach to its Nature, Concept, and Functionalities,” International Journal of Law and Information Technology, vol. 32, 2024.
[16] Sherry Turkle, Alone Together, Basic Books, New York, pp. 1-379, 2011.
[17] Sherry Turkle, Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age, Penguin, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 84-87, 2015.
[18] Jean M. Twenge, iGen: Why Today's Super‐Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy—and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood and What That Means for the Rest of Us, New York, NY: Atria Books, pp. 1-342, 2017.
[19] F. Freddy, The Escapist Culture of GenZ: A GenZ Perspective, LinkedIn, 2019. [Online]. Available: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/escapist-culture-genz-perspective-freddy-freedman
[20] Yaongyi, True Beauty, Naver Webtoon, 2018–2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/truebeauty/list?title_no=1436
