Construção de identidade nos espaços do WhatsApp no Quénia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34629/cpublica.863Palavras-chave:
WhatsApp, contra-públicos, participação, construção de identidade, substituição metafóricaResumo
Este artigo explora a materialidade da tecnologia do WhatsApp como uma ferramenta para a construção e negociação não convencionais de identidades. A partir de parte dos dados e resultados da minha tese de doutoramento, o artigo argumenta que as comunidades do WhatsApp, concebidas como contra-públicos digitais, ainda estão vinculadas a realidades offline. Essa dualidade permite tanto a negociação quanto a supressão de novas identidades. A fluidez da tecnologia do WhatsApp reformula o conceito de participação, que evolui para um discurso de identificação. Aqueles cujas posições subjetivas se alinham com as normas aceites ganham maior liberdade para participar, tornando-se, posteriormente, agentes de decisão. Essa dinâmica resulta na supressão de identidades alternativas e no surgimento de subjetividades políticas dominantes, em que o discurso passa a diferenciar entre "aqueles que podem participar" e "aqueles que não podem", substituindo metaforicamente o significado de participação pelo de identificação.
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