WHAT IS IN A SCHOOL BAG: SOCIAL IDENTITY, SCHOOL BAGS AND SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATION

Date

2023-5-24

Author

Özcan, Şerife Zeynep

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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This research explores the ways in which internet-native high school students construct aspects of themselves and composes their daily life by modifying their school bags. A school bag used for everyday life can be practical and personal, providing opportunities for self-expression. It also plays a role in online practices related to school life and extracurricular activities. To narrow down the scope of the research, an initial investigation was conducted by observing students' daily lives and analyzing their online activities on forums and social media platforms. Based on the insights gained, data was collected through semi-structured interviews with 23 high school students who were well-versed in social media platforms and had provided photographic evidence of their modified school bags. The research findings illustrate the multifaceted relationship that high school students have with their school bags. The practical use of school bags shows how students employ them as tools for organizing and managing their daily lives, while the modifications that students make to their bags establish connections to aspects of self that allow them to construct a self-support system, a way of relating and communicating with others, a way of materializing their life goals or values. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the use of everyday life objects while also revealing how the means of material objects are reproduced through interactions with social media.

Subject Keywords

school bag, generation z, materiality, modifications, practice theory, social media

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/104515

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis