“I want to be a bridge”? The digital identity positioning of transnational bloggers on Chinese social media platforms: Between ethnic differences and cultural affinities

Abstract

How do transnational bloggers position their digital identities on Chinese social media platforms? To answer this question, this study builds a coordinate system of digital identity positioning with intensity of ethnic differences and cultural affinities as the horizontal and vertical coordinates. Four digital identities are found: culturalists, individualists, cultural otherness, and cultural admirers. Transnational bloggers may have overlapping or changing digital identities rather than a single, defined identity. This reflects the process and multiplicity of identity formation, which involves negotiation and flow between ethnic differences and cultural affinities. This study traces transnational bloggers in local digital cultural spaces, raises awareness about the types of split identities in the digital age, and provides an analytical framework for digital identities. Considering the transformation of digital society, researchers should continue to investigate new forms of digital identity building in global and local digital cultural spaces: linking actions, ideologies, and experiences in Internet spaces to broader social, cultural, and political contexts.