| Summary: | Sharing on social media has brought out different communicative affordances in order to construct individuals’ identities. In this study, the relationship between real and ideal selves was examined with regard to variables like gender, age, Instagram usage habits, and purposes. In order to reveal the bases of such changes in our self-representation, Adler’s individual psychology theory and Goffman’s theories on identity and self-representation were reflected on the results of a questionnaire including the Ideal and Real Self-Concept Scale generated by Waugh (2001) and adapted in the context of Turkey by Kapıkıran (2004). In this study, the questionnaire consists of questions on demographic features, Instagram usage habits, and it was conducted with generation-y Instagram users in Turkey, who were recruited via convenience and selective accidental sampling. The results indicated that there is a correlation between individuals’ academic self-concept, social self-concept, and self-presentation as subscales. In addition to this, the data revealed that the current presentations of real and ideal selves rarely exist based on academic self-concept and social self-concept. Within this study, how generation-y Instagram users mix and integrate their real or ideal selves is discussed, and some subtle cues to represent their selves on social media platforms are revealed.
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