The purpose of this research is to investigate the cultural world of identity formation on Facebook among college students in Taiwan, which exists under the surveillance of unseen audiences and the influence of technocapitalism in the context of cultural globalization and consumerism. This global social networking site has a tremendous influence on college students’ culture and has become a significant topic in youth cultural studies.

    Facebook originated in the United States and has become one of the most popular social networking sites among college students. It has reached college students in Taiwan and has gradually begun to play a substantial role in their college life due to cultural globalization facilitated by information and communication technology and the international mobility of higher education. Specifically, Taiwanese youth culture embodies a hybrid of American, Japanese, and Korean popular culture because of Taiwan’s historical context and geographic location (Chang, 2004). This cultural phenomenon thus reflects not only the global influence of American site Facebook but also the cultural interflow within the Pacific Rim area between Taiwan, Japan, and Korea.

    I refer to the conceptions of performance introduced by E. Goffman (1959), distinction proposed by P. Bourdieu (1979/1984; 1994/1998), and surveillance developed by M. Foucault (1979) as the primary theoretical frameworks in this research. This study will also employ the interdisciplinary perspectives of critical cultural studies (Giroux, 2009; Grossberg, 2009; Kellner, 2009). I will situate my results in debates on subculture (Blackman, 2005; Williams, 2007; Willis, 1997) versus post-subculture (Bennett, 2011;  Weinzierl & Muggleton, 2003) within youth cultural studies.

    The overarching objective of my research is to explore the construction of identities among Taiwanese college students through self performance and social interaction with peers on Facebook while being observed by unseen audiences and influenced by technocapitalism (Best & Kellner, 2001) under conditions of cultural globalization and consumerism.I will accomplish this objective through analysis of the following areas: 

1. How do youth as subjects interpret, act, and form their cultural practices through self performance and interpersonal relations via Facebook?
2. What dominant consumerist messages targeting youth does Facebook convey? What are the ideologies and politics embodied within those messages?
3. How do surveillance of interpersonal relations and technocapitalism shape youth’s self performance and interpersonal relations on Facebook? How do young people cope with the issues that result? In what ways do coping strategies differ according to social position (such as class, gender, and ethnicity)?
4. What are the hybrid identities Taiwanese college students construct through Facebook under the influence of American, Japanese, and Korean popular culture?

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