Veiling and Blogging: Social media as Sites of Identity Negotiation and Expression Among Saudi Women

1. How have dominant conceptualisations of gender, sexuality and/ or so-called ‘race’ influenced identity construction in online spaces? Have user at times subverted traditional expectation and in what ways?

Race has had the most substantial influence towards online identity, Saudi women are constantly pressured, effected by social rules. In which a women’s actions stand for her whole family. The representation of the family will impact how they’re seen by the society, if decided as unfitting it will bring disgrace to all the family members. In this this case with the internet, Saudi women can express their true selves without having to worry, by using few accounts not known by her family or society. (Guta and Karolak, 2015).

“Of course, using a nickname gives more freedom because you can write more and express yourself more. You can post your opinions more clearly without caring about offending people. Honestly if I use a nickname, I wouldn’t be thinking of my family.”

“Excerpts from the women’s responses are below, many translated from Arabic. In order to enable women to feel free to speak openly, we gave them the option of anonymity.”

2. What ‘digital divides’ are you aware of within Australia and beyond? Is this just a matter of access to technology or are there other forms? How might exposure to digital divides impact on one’s online identity?

“Multiple accounts are also common among respondents. Saudi women, thus creating a safe space where the female body, predominant in daily life, is non-existent and counts only ideas” (Guta and Karolak, 2015, p. 115). Since Arabic women are controlled by the laws in almost every aspect, they need to be careful about everything they do. In this case, many of Saudi woman have more than one online account (unlocked and locked accounts) because they have to protect some private information related to their daily lives in the private account while public account is for the common information.

3. In what ways have socially and politically marginalised individuals and groups pushed back against systemic power structures to create powerful online identities and communities? List as many examples as you can think of.

Saudi women are oppressed, they are reflected in the belief that a woman represents not only herself but the whole family. Therefore, female users are encouraged to have two accounts. This allows them to negotiate more than one online identity presented. It’s not good for a female to use her family name, unless she has two accounts. The online environment basically is like a patriarchy (Guta and Karolak, 2015).

Another example could be found in the African American community. After the Civil Rights movement in the 21st century, social media provided a platform for African Americans to have a voice, collectively and individually. They create other opportunities for African Americans to engage in politics aside from traditional venues such as voting and protesting. In 2009, African Americans dominated SNS platforms as it allows them freedom to continue to virtually shape its identity. As social spaces, social media have become tools to help African Americans share stories and pictures, and learn history form one another. The Black Identity was being molded, strengthened and reinforced.

4. What considerations must be taken into account in relation to online dating and identity-building? How do dating sites impact on people’s self-presentation in their profiles? What role do algorithms play in the evaluation of user compatibility? What does this suggest about the relationship between identity and artificial intelligence?

Popular dating apps such as Tinder features a left or right swipe function, which encourage users to be judgemental and pick their potential match based solely on their attractiveness. This trend has made individuals choose the best picture of themselves to represent who they are, to get validation by getting swiped more in the said online dating app platform. This has also encouraged some people to catfish (pretending to be someone else by using their pictures and personal information) to fantasize what it feels like to be attractive according to the beauty standards imposed in our society.

The level of how attractive a someone is on Tinder, according to their official interview with Fast Company reporter Austin Carr, is rated by an Elo rating system. Basically, you will become popular on Tinder based on how many people swiped right on you.

It is safe to say even with a complex algorithm Tinder uses to engage their users with one another, it is unlikely that an AI will entertain a Tinder user as they will eventually looking for something beyond what an AI is capable of delivering (such as exchanging complex emotional affection and meeting up in real life).