Between Several Worlds: How Young People Present Themselves on Social Media

Digital identity development across several worlds

Transnational young people are those whose everyday lives reach across national borders. They often live with several languages or cultural ties. This includes young people who migrated, fled, or move regularly between countries. Their digital identity development therefore does not unfold within only one social world. What matters at home, at school, with friends, and across borders may all matter at once. On social media, they choose which words, experiences, or parts of life to show in each situation. One account can make several affiliations visible while also bringing different expectations together. This is not only about a profile. It is also about where they feel at home.

A change of language or a redesigned profile does not necessarily mean that someone lacks a clear identity. Identity forms and changes through contact with other people. Young people notice who is watching and how others respond to a post. They may express local, family, and cross-border affiliations at the same time. What becomes visible depends on the occasion, the audience, and the options a platform provides.

Social media is not simply good or bad here. Three levels matter: what young people do, which conditions shape their options, and what may follow. This view shows why personal choices, social expectations, and technology all belong in digital identity development.¹

How language, stories, and profiles express belonging

Young people express belonging online in several ways. They move between languages, combine linguistic resources, tell their own stories, and shape profiles for particular people. These actions are more than simple communication. They may show which groups matter to someone and which experiences feel relevant in that moment.¹

3 terms for online life across several worlds

Translanguaging

People draw flexibly on all their language resources when they speak or write. They combine forms to fit the situation.

Counter-story

A personal story challenges a common account. It gives space to an experience that might otherwise go unheard.

Strategic self-presentation

People choose which images, languages, or experiences to show each audience. This does not automatically mean playing a false role.

The fitting choice may change with the audience. A family post may carry different expectations from something shared with friends or at school. When all these circles see the same content, their expectations can collide. Young people then negotiate not only what they want to say, but also who should see it.¹

• Several languages can address people nearby while also maintaining relationships across national borders.¹
• Personal stories can add to one-sided accounts and make a rarely heard perspective more visible.¹
• A carefully shaped profile can make different audiences and their expectations easier to distinguish.¹
• Online groups can support exchange, shared learning, and a sense of belonging.¹

The third space: when parts of life come together

A third space is not a fixed place or another app. The term describes a social space where experiences from family, school, and other communities meet. Online, young people can connect languages, stories, and knowledge from different parts of life. Social media may therefore relate informal learning in daily life to formal learning at school.

This connection does not appear automatically. Schools first have to recognize multilingual, cultural, and digital abilities as meaningful knowledge. A post can then show how someone uses language, reads an audience, or interprets an experience. The third space is not automatically open or safe. Its possibilities also depend on rules, visibility, and social power.¹

What else matters: audiences, platforms, and access

Young people do not all have the same access to reliable devices, stable internet, or digital knowledge. These differences shape who can create content, maintain relationships, and develop skills. Responsibility cannot therefore sit with the individual alone. A personal choice cannot replace missing resources or limited access.

The platform also shapes the space. Content rules, automated recommendations, and moderation affect which voices become visible. Multilingual or non-Western forms of expression may receive less room. Reach therefore says more than how good a post is. It also reflects what a platform favors or filters out.

Surveillance creates another boundary. Someone who expects monitoring by family, institutions, companies, or public authorities may change language, hide content, or hold back. This may matter especially with insecure legal status or politically sensitive experiences. The framework therefore shows that digital freedom is distributed unevenly.¹

The 3-part model: what young people do, what shapes it, and what may follow

The first part of the model describes what young people do. It includes translanguaging, counter-stories, and deliberate choices about self-presentation. Through these practices, they respond to different people and situations. They help shape belonging without controlling every condition around them.

The second part covers the surrounding conditions. Access, institutional recognition, platform rules, visibility, surveillance, and geopolitical differences can open or narrow options. The same behavior may receive recognition in one setting, remain unseen in another, or meet rejection elsewhere.

The third part describes possible outcomes. These include integrated hybrid identities, belonging across several places, and bridges between learning in daily life and at school. The outcomes are not a fixed endpoint. Experiences of recognition or exclusion feed into later language choices, platform use, and self-presentation. This loop connects all three parts.¹

How parents and teachers can offer open support

For parents and teachers, this suggests starting with curiosity. A new account, another language, or a changing profile does not require an immediate judgment. It may help to ask who the young person wants to reach and which part of life matters here. Privacy and the rules of the app also belong in that conversation.

The aim is not to interpret every language change or inspect every profile. An open conversation can begin with language, audience, privacy, and the rules of the app. This keeps the focus wider than screen time alone.

4 questions for an open conversation about social media

• Which language or app feels right for this situation, and what makes it fit?
• Who do you want this post to reach, and who else might be able to see it?
• Which part of your life do you want to show here, and what should stay private?
• Which rule or response in the app gives you room, and what makes the space narrower?

The most useful shift may be in the question itself. Instead of asking whether a post is right, ask what it means to this young person and their social world. That leaves room for care, safety, and personal choice.