Digital Communication as a Factor in the Formation of User Identity

The subject of this article is the impact of virtual communication on the process of formation and transformation of the identity of Internet users. The methodological basis of the article is the approach developed by symbolic interactionists (presented in the works of Ch. Cooley, J. Mead and I. Hoffman) and applied by the author to analyze the modern situation taking into account the changed conditions and ways of communication. Personal identity, according to this approach, has a socio-communicative nature and is formed in the process of interactions, i.e. meaningful communicative actions of individuals aimed at the realization of certain goals. Similarities and differences between traditional communication in small groups and digital communication in communities in terms of the principles of information exchange are revealed. The similarities consist in the dialogical nature of communication, the presence of feedback and similar forms of communication. The differences consist in the characteristics of feedback (its indirectness and uncertainty), in the uncertainty of group boundaries (potential boundlessness of groups under the illusion of their boundedness) and hence the characteristics of the participants in the interaction.