SIDE model (Social identity model of deindividuation effects) and language choice across online forums

While I was searching for studies about language choice in the Internet, I found one interesting article which compared two different type of online forums and user behaviors on each forum. The article introduced SIDE model to discuss the differences. SIDE means social identity model of deindividuation effects. The theory was developed as a critique of deindividuation effects. Deindividuation effects tells us that people in crowds show some unusual behaviors that rational individuals would not normally endorse. In contrast, SIDE proposes that anonymity effects are not blanket indiscriminate but can be explained through interaction with the social context. According to Birnie-Smith (2016), young Indonesian users associated strongly with group identities and conform to group norms on Kaskus online forum despite of the high level of anonymity. On Facebook, users adhered more strongly to their personal norms than they did on Kaskus due to the high level of personal identity with their real names. They also designed discourse for their majority audiences who are speaking Indonesian. Some used other languages, but it was regarded as deviation.

I admit that crowd psychology exists in an anonymous environment but I support more on the idea of “it depends on social context.” On Reddit, I use my pseudonym, but I am still me and try to follow my own discretion as well as group norms. I use only English on Reddit because it is a global forum. However, I use both English and Korean on Facebook depending on who I am addressing to. I also try to include general and neutral ideas because my audiences are on all different levels in terms of personal relationship and intimacy. I am going to talk more about context collapse on Facebook in my next blog. :-)

Source:

1.     Wkikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_identity_model_of_deindividuation_effects)

2.     Birnie-Smith, J. R. (2016). Ethnic identity and language choice across online forums. International Journal of Multilingualism, 13(2), 165-183.

(https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14790718.2015.1078806)