Keywords:
Facebook, Ghana, identity construction, social media, usernames
Abstract
Social networking sites (SNSs), such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter (now, X) and Instagram, have now become an important part of communication in our world today. As a socio-technical system, SNSs have given users the opportunity to create, to expand, and to maintain new relations in a wider community; resulting in negotiation of varied identities in that social space. The present study, thus, aims at identifying the nature of Facebook usernames that are adopted by Ghanaian technical university students and to ascertain the kinds of identities enacted by such names. The Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT) was, essentially, adopted for the explanation of the rampant use of social media, and the intentions behind such use. An onomastic corpus of one hundred Facebook usernames was randomly and purposively sampled for the study and analyzed qualitatively. Personal names and nicknames emerged as common Facebook usernames. Concerning the kinds of identities that are projected, the local names were perceived to indicate an identity of patriotism to both ethnic groups and the nation as a whole. Nicknames were also observed to reveal a friendly platform for communication. The present study contributes to literature on naming practices, social networking sites and identity construction.
