Identity dynamics in text messaging

Abstract Communication via text messaging has become a driving force to establish and maintain texters’ identities on social media. Drawing upon a pragmatic view of identity construction, this study probes into Chinese private tutors’ text messages on WeChat and the way they accommodate texts and emojis to adjust different digital identities. Findings show that Chinese private tutors’ digital identities should not be understood as something stable but rather as a changing process that is constructed and accommodated through different social contacts. They have projected identities in the messages either as authoritative teachers for students or as reliable providers of service for parents. The dynamic construction of social identity reflects the education-business nature of private supplementary tutoring in China and private tutors’ struggle for a balance between commercial mandates and professional ethics in texting identities. This study contributes to the understanding of Chinese private tutors’ management of digital identity on WeChat.