Studying Self-Censorship On Social Media Based On Bourdieu’s Habitus And Social Capital Concepts

Abstract

Today, it is of utmost importance to investigate to what extent users of social networking sites (such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.) feel free when they share posts, about what they mostly share posts, and about what they avoid sharing posts. Facebook declares its mission as “to give people the power to share and to make the world more open and connected.” It is doubtful how much Facebook can realize this mission or how much this is manifested in real life. It is nevertheless a fact that this medium has the potential to lead to both social solidarity and social pressure. Considering the ever-increasing number of Facebook users, it can be said that it is a widely accepted and embraced phenomenon among people. However, it is observed that when people like posts or share their opinions or post comments on others’ posts, they might not feel completely free and can self-censor on social media. This self-censorship is thought to have many different reasons. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate why and to what extent Facebook users self-censor and to assess the results of this investigation in detail. This paper focuses on this research topic, and the above questions will be explained based on Bourdieu’s Habitus concept and definition of social capital.