What Is Symbolic Interactionism?

In recent decades the widespread diffusion of technology has led to the emergence of a culture centered around digital communication, specifically through the form of Instant Messaging (IM). This phenomena is particularly fascinating to sociologists, specifically those in the field of symbolic Interactionism. Symbolic interactionism theory (Interactionism) has been primarily attributed to the American Philosopher and Sociologist George Herbert Mead but it's origins can also be traced to Max Weber's assertion that individuals act according to their interpretations of the world. Interactionism is a micro level sociological perspective that analyzes communication to understanding our social world. This means evaluating the way people exchange
ideas, beliefs and attitudes (Benokraitis, 2017) . As Instant Messaging has become ubiquitous in United States popular culture, there has been dramatic changes in our shared Lexicon and the folkways of communication. A folkway is a norm directing everyday interactions and practices (Benokraitis, 2017). Text Messaging has become one of the most frequently used forms of communication because the fast pace nature means efficiency that rivals face-to-face interactions. In previous decades there existed folkways dictating the use of grammar and spelling in written communication but the 21st century has seen the complete destruction of those folkways. Unconventional punctuation, obscure abbreviations,incorrect spelling and most importantly the use of emoticons has become commonplace.
Folkways in digital communication often vary based on generation.
Newer generations were socialized by their peer groups to communicate very distinctly because of the prevalence of technology in their lives. Socialization is the process by which people learn culture and become functioning members of society through positive and negative sanctions (Benokraitis, 2017). People are socialized by their peer groups which is a collection of people similar in age, social status or interests and are especially influential on adolescents (Benokraitis, 2017). For example, in some peer groups putting a period at the end of a text has a symbolic meaning beyond the actual punctuation mark. Celia kim of the University of Binghamton led a team of researchers conducting a survey on undergraduates to evaluate the effect of putting periods at the end of texts. A survey is a type of study involving some kind of response collected from the subjects such as questionnaires (Benokraitis, 2017). The survey concluded that when used among undergraduates the use of a period made the text come off as insincere or aggressive (Feltman R, 2015). This represents the development of a new folkway from the use of digital communication. As more and more people recognize that periods have symbolic meaning the less acceptable it will be to use them
unintentionally. Emoticons, like periods, are symbols crucial to conveying emotion through text.
What is interesting to Symbolic interactionists is the socially constructed meanings behind symbols, not the literal symbol. Emoticons have become vital tools to increase the valence of a message, increasing it's positivity or negativity. For example, even though the emoticon with no mouth is seemingly neutral , researches found that it was most often used in the context of something the author found negative (Walther, 2001). While these elementary symbols may seem trivial to most, interactionists recognize their importance. Ina 2015 case brought to the supreme court, a man stood trial for making threats on Facebook after his wife left him. He claimed his posts were fictitious because his emoji usage suggested “jest”. His lawyer wanted the court to read the posts rather then listen to the prosecutor read them orally. The prosecutors refuted that having conversations read aloud was similar to playing recordings from wiretaps.The judge , ruled, “They are meant to be read. The Jury should note the punctuation and emoticons “(Weiser, 2015 par.18 ). This decision was significant because it formally recognized the complexity, symbolism and relevance of emoticons and punctuation in text messaging. It is then the job of symbolic interactionists to analyze the actual intent behind their usage. One way this could be done is through dramaturgical
analysis. Our phones can be described as a stage, emoticons are the facial expressions, punctuation is the voice inflection and spelling is the pronunciation and pacing of the lines delivered. By thinking of the digital world as a stage one could evaluate the symbolic interactions through dramaturgical analysis. Dramaturgical analysis was developed by sociologist Erving Goffman (1959- 1967) who thought of life like a play. Thus, he developed a branch of symbolic interactionism that examines social interaction as if it occurred on a stage. He contends that everyone is an actor in their social interactions and that we present different versions of ourselves depending on our role (Benokraitis, 2017). According to the sociologist Nijole Benokraitis, role is, “the behavior expected of a person who has a particular status” (Benokraitis, 2017, p.85. For example, when a teenager talks to their parents their role is a subordinate, so it's expected they act respectful. The same is true when a employee communicates with their boss or a student talks to their teacher. We act out different roles depending on who we are talking to. This is the process of social interaction (Benokraitis, 2017). When we understand this it is easy to see life as a series of performances on a stage but can the same be applied to our mobile devices? Our mobile communication follows many of the same principals because it is also a form of social interaction. We tailor our text messages based on our role. When communicating with a parent a teenager would use less acronyms and possibly better spelling and grammar to show respect. Where as a teen when communicating with their friends might use more abbreviations and sporadic punctuation. Social Media is definitely a stage where people present the best possible versions of themselves. Digital communication has revolutionized the way we communicate through the creation of new folkways, a symbol based keyboard and a new type of stage to perform our roles on but the principles guiding our social interaction has remained the same.