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One of the most important reasons that the social network sites are popular especially among young people is the youth’s desire of self-presentation. This study investigates how young people constitute their digital identity and realize self-presentation in Facebook. com. The thesis investigates how young people structure their Facebook profiles in Facebook. com while constructing their digital identity and through which parts of their profiles they realize which self-presentation tactics. It further evaluates the perception of Facebook among the youth and their objectives for using Facebook.

The conceptual framework of the study is founded upon Goffman's dramaturgy theory and the concept of impression management. The data is collected and evaluated through integrating multiple research methodologies. The project, besides contributing to the literature on new media, social networks and youth, provides novel insights on how young people use social network sites and how that affects their identity construction. This study develops a framework to understand the use of certain profiles for certain kinds of self-presentation, and defines the prominent self-presentation tactics in the construction of digital identity.