My research focuses on the relation between an online social platform’s affordances and constraints and the type of self-expression that takes place on the platform. A platform’s software is informed by many factors such as the platform’s business model, the limitations and possibilities of the technology it uses and the goals of the platform’s owners. As such, these factors also have impact on what platform users may choose to share – or not to share – through it, and in what form. My research aims to highlight this dynamic between a platform and its users, and reveal these often unseen factors that shape our online self-presentation.
