The Mask and the Stage: A Dramaturgical Analysis of Online Identity and Depression Among Youth from South Africa

Abstract

This study examined how young adults navigate digital self-representation during episodes of depression, focusing on the shift from curated personas to vulnerable disclosures on social media. Grounded in Goffman’s dramaturgical theory and Meyrowitz’s notion of blurred frontstage/backstage boundaries, the research explores social media as both a performative stage and an emotional refuge. A two-phase qualitative method was employed: digital content related to depression was first mined from participants’ social media accounts, and then explored further through semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis revealed that participants initially masked their struggles to avoid stigma, but many transitioned to more authentic disclosures as a means of seeking support. This shift introduced emotional risks including misrecognition and judgment prompting users to strategically curate content and manage visibility. Rather than a binary of “real” versus “fake” identity, online self-presentation emerged as fluid, contextual, and emotionally negotiated. The study contributes methodologically and theoretically to qualitative health research by adapting dramaturgical theory to digital contexts and highlighting social media’s dual role in youth mental health: performative and therapeutic.

Introduction

The rapid proliferation of digital communication technologies has reshaped how individuals present themselves, construct identity, and seek social connection. Social media, in particular, has emerged as a dominant platform where users curate their personas, often navigating complex boundaries between authenticity and performance (Belk, 2013; Fullwood et al., 2016). These digital spaces act as modern stages upon which individuals engage in self-presentation, echoing the dramaturgical metaphor introduced by Erving Goffman (1959). Goffman conceptualized social interaction as a performance, in which individuals adopt roles that are shaped by context, audience, and social norms. His theory offers a compelling lens through which to examine the construction of identity in the virtual age.

In online platforms, the distinction between Goffman’s “front stage” and “backstage” becomes increasingly blurred. Social media users simultaneously reveal and conceal aspects of their selves, navigating between public affirmation and private vulnerability (Meyrowitz, 1985). This duality is particularly salient among individuals managing mental health challenges such as depression, who may use social media to mask inner distress while projecting curated versions of happiness, stability, or success (Kim & Tussyadiah, 2013; McLaughlin et al., 2011). The phenomenon of “masking” presenting a socially acceptable facade while concealing psychological suffering has long been documented in both psychological and sociological literature (Goffman, 1963; Park, 1950), but it takes on new forms in digital contexts.

In South Africa, where stigma surrounding mental illness remains pervasive (Kgatla, 2019), young adults increasingly turn to social media not only for social connection but also as a coping mechanism. These platforms offer opportunities for selective self-representation and community-building, while also exposing users to the risk of misunderstanding, cyberbullying, or emotional isolation (Burns et al., 2009). Thus, understanding how South African youth navigate identity performance on social media provides critical insight into the psychosocial dimensions of digital life and mental health.

South Africa provides a critical context for examining how young people negotiate mental health online. Mental illness remains highly stigmatized, often associated with cultural stereotypes, moral weakness, or silence, which discourages open discussion and help-seeking. Access to professional care is also limited by structural inequalities, leaving many young people to turn to digital platforms as alternative spaces for recognition and support (Kgatla, 2019). Focusing on South African youth therefore offers insight into how individuals navigate these intersecting challenges through practices of masking and unmasking in digital environments. Moreover, the inclusion of participants with transnational experiences, such as those who migrated from or to South Africa, further highlights how these cultural frameworks travel across borders, shaping perceptions of depression both within and beyond the country.

This study adopts Goffman’s dramaturgical framework to explore how young South Africans living with depression construct and negotiate their identities on social media. By analyzing their use of digital platforms as both stages and masks, this research sheds light on the complex interplay between performance, perception, and psychological well-being in online spaces.

Conceptualizing the Digital Self

Recent research has explored the complex relationship between self-concept, social media use, and mental health, particularly depression (Appel et al., 2018; Belk, 2013). Belk (2013) expands on his earlier theory of the “extended self,” proposing that digital platforms allow individuals to store and project aspects of themselves in virtual spaces, rendering their identities accessible to broad audiences. This digital self is fluid and constructed through the ongoing sharing of content, interactions, and feedback loops that shape one’s sense of identity. Social media, therefore, acts not merely as a communication tool but as a platform for identity experimentation and performance, particularly for adolescents and young adults navigating developmental stages of self-discovery (Fullwood et al., 2016).

Building on this, Sun et al. (2014) argue that digital self-presentation involves a continuous negotiation between identity concealment and disclosure. Rather than viewing unmasking as a single act of revealing one’s authentic self, they highlight that users employ selective self-presentation strategies based on audience perception and platform affordances. This indicates that the digital self is not static but dynamically constructed through calculated decisions about what to reveal and what to withhold, depending on the perceived social risks and rewards.

In the South African context, the digital self is also shaped by socio-cultural expectations, access to technology, and prevailing mental health stigmas (Kgatla, 2023). For young people, especially, social media offers a double-edged sword: it is both a space for authentic self-expression and a venue where idealized versions of the self are displayed for validation and acceptance.

Goffman’s Dramaturgy in the Age of Social Media

Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical theory provides a robust theoretical framework for understanding how individuals perform their identities in both physical and virtual spaces. According to Goffman, life consists of a front stage where individuals present their most polished, socially acceptable selves and a backstage, where they can retreat and behave more authentically. In the digital age, these boundaries are increasingly blurred, as individuals must continuously manage their self-presentation in real time, often without the reprieve of a true backstage (Meyrowitz, 1985).

Social media is often generalized as a single stage; different platforms offer distinct affordances that shape dramaturgical performances in unique ways (Treem & Leonardi, 2012). For instance, TikTok’s visual and algorithmic design emphasizes short-form videos, trending audio, and algorithm-driven content discovery, which fosters highly performative and often aestheticized self-presentations (Abidin, 2020). These features amplify the “frontstage” by privileging visual appeal and trend participation, potentially making authenticity more challenging to convey without performance cues. In contrast, Twitter’s text-centric interface foregrounds verbal expression and discourse, enabling users to engage in identity work through language, opinion-sharing, and hashtag activism. This affordance allows for nuanced self-disclosure while maintaining a degree of detachment compared to the embodied, highly curated performances often associated with TikTok (Marwick & boyd, 2011). Therefore, platform-specific affordances significantly influence how individuals mask or unmask aspects of the self in digital spaces.

Goffman delineates the “self” into two interrelated components: the self-as-character and the self-as-performer. The self-as-performer is particularly dominant in social media spaces, where users construct personas based on audience expectations and algorithmic incentives (Kien, 2015). This aligns with findings from research suggesting that users often perform idealized versions of themselves online, selectively curating content that reflects socially desirable traits (Ganda, 2014; Marwick & boyd, 2011). In doing so, the self becomes a dynamic process of continual negotiation between internal identity and external performance.

Socio-cultural factors such as race, ethnicity, and gender were considered important to this study because they intersect with how depression is understood, stigmatized, and disclosed in South Africa. Previous research demonstrates that racialized and gendered identities shape both the visibility of mental illness and the strategies individuals adopt to negotiate stigma in online and offline contexts (Crenshaw, 1989; Williams et al., 2017). Attending to these dimensions within the sample therefore provided insight into how diverse South African youth navigate masking and unmasking practices in digital spaces. South African youth, navigating pressures related to race, gender, socio-economic status, and mental health stigma, may feel especially compelled to adopt these performative strategies online. As Goffman’s theory implies, the stakes of social performance are heightened when the audience is large and anonymous, and critical conditions are often characteristic of digital spaces.

Depression and the Masking of the Digital Self

A recurring theme in the literature is the use of social media as a coping mechanism for individuals experiencing mental health challenges, including depression (McLaughlin et al., 2011). Often, this coping involves a form of “masking” the creation of a socially acceptable or even idealized persona that conceals internal emotional struggles. This act of masking can serve both protective and harmful functions: while it may help individuals avoid stigma or social scrutiny, it can also exacerbate feelings of isolation, disconnection, and emotional suppression (Kim & Tussyadiah, 2013).

Park (1950) initially introduced the concept of the social mask as a persona adopted to navigate social norms and expectations. In online environments, this mask becomes even more curated and persistent. Individuals may choose to highlight only positive aspects of their lives or engage with content that reinforces a constructed identity, distancing themselves from their genuine emotional state. This behavior is especially prevalent among youth who fear the negative social consequences of disclosing their struggles with mental health (Yang & Brown, 2016).

In the South African context, such fears are intensified by prevailing mental health taboos and a lack of widespread mental health education and support structures (Burns, 2011). As a result, many young South Africans may adopt dual identities online: publicly appearing socially engaged and emotionally well, while privately grappling with psychological distress. This duality aligns with Kelly’s (2018) observation that digital platforms allow users to express views and emotions they may suppress in offline interactions due to fear of judgment or stigma.

The Blurred Boundary Between Performance and Authenticity

A central insight emerging from this body of literature is the increasingly blurred boundary between frontstage and backstage behaviors in digital environments. Meyrowitz (1985) refers to this as the “blurring of boundaries,” wherein new communication technologies collapse the spatial and temporal separations between private and public life. Social media collapses distinct social contexts into a single platform, what Marwick and boyd (2011) term “context collapse,” making it difficult for individuals to tailor their self-presentation for specific audiences.

The result is a hybrid space where the mask (frontstage) and authenticity (backstage) coexist. For individuals coping with depression, this hybridity can create both opportunities and challenges. On the one hand, it allows for the sharing of vulnerable, authentic experiences in a public forum, which can foster community and support (Naslund et al., 2016). On the other hand, inconsistencies between past performances and present disclosures can lead to audience skepticism and emotional invalidation (Bellissimo, 2014).

Similarly, Yeshua-Katz and Hård af Segerstad (2020) explore how members of stigmatized online communities navigate the tension between visibility and anonymity. They introduce the paradox of social media affordances, where platforms designed for connectivity also increase the risk of exposure and judgment. Recent scholarship further complicates the tension between performance and authenticity by highlighting how platform affordances and data politics shape identity work online. Hollenbaugh (2021) notes that features such as anonymity, persistence, and visibility profoundly influence whether individuals choose to mask or unmask aspects of the self. While anonymity can encourage candid disclosure, the persistent and highly visible nature of posts often compels users toward selective masking to maintain reputational control across collapsed contexts. Similarly, Papa and Kouros (2024) extend this discussion by introducing the concept of slantwise disengagement, a form of partial withdrawal that neither fully resists nor internalizes platform logics. Through subtle tactics, such as limiting engagement or selectively revealing information, users navigate privacy anxieties and algorithmic power while preserving social presence. These findings suggest that masking and unmasking occur along a continuum of strategic visibility management, where authenticity is negotiated not only with audiences but also with the infrastructural and economic forces that govern digital spaces.

In this way, social media becomes a dynamic stage upon which young people oscillate between “fake” and “real” representations, depending on their evolving needs, moods, and perceived audience reactions. The transition from performative to authentic online selves is often marked by moments of emotional crisis or epiphany, where individuals begin to prioritize mental health over image management (Kgatla, 2019). However, this shift is not without its risks, as participants may encounter cyberbullying, stigmatization, or accusations of attention-seeking when their real struggles contradict previously curated identities.

Toward a More Nuanced Understanding of Online Self-Representation

Collectively, the literature suggests that the binary of “real” versus “fake” representation is too simplistic for understanding digital identity. Instead, identity online is best viewed as selective, strategic, and contextually responsive, shaped by both internal emotional states and external social demands. Social media offers a platform where the front stage and backstage not only coexist but actively inform one another, producing a complex, layered digital self (Goffman, 1959; Meyrowitz, 1985).

This literature also points to a significant gap: the need for localized, qualitative investigations into how digital identity and mental health intersect within specific socio-cultural contexts. South African youth, navigating a unique blend of cultural expectations, social inequalities, and digital connectivity, offer an important yet under-researched population in this regard. This study responds to that gap by using Goffman’s dramaturgical lens to analyze how young South Africans living with depression perform, mask, and unmask their identities in the digital realm.

Taken together, the reviewed literature highlights the complex ways in which individuals negotiate masking and unmasking, performance and authenticity, and connection and concealment in digital spaces. While existing studies have illuminated aspects of self-presentation, stigma management, and platform affordances, less is known about how young people experiencing depression specifically navigate these dynamics across different social media contexts. Addressing this gap is important because it situates mental health disclosure within the interplay of dramaturgical performance, affective labor, and platform governance. This study is therefore significant in that it not only extends Goffman’s dramaturgical framework into the age of algorithmically mediated platforms but also foregrounds the lived experiences of young people who use social media as both a coping mechanism and a stage for identity negotiation. Guided by these insights, this study asks:

How do youth from South Africa experiencing depression use social media to mask and unmask aspects of the self, and what roles do performance, authenticity, and platform affordances play in shaping these practices?

Research Methodology

This study was situated within an interpretivist qualitative research design, which emphasizes understanding meaning-making processes from the perspective of participants. Within this design, I employed thematic analysis as described by Braun and Clarke (2013, 2019), a flexible analytic method well-suited to capturing patterned meanings across participants’ accounts. The analysis followed a primarily inductive and semantic approach, in which codes and themes were generated from participants’ narratives while remaining attentive to the language and concepts they used to describe their experiences. At the same time, the analysis was informed by theoretical sensitivity to broader sociological concepts of identity and performance.

Goffman’s dramaturgical framework did not serve as a methodological approach but rather as a theoretical lens through which the findings were interpreted and presented. While thematic analysis provided the methodological foundation for coding, categorizing, and developing themes, Goffman’s concepts of frontstage/backstage, masking/unmasking, and impression management offered an interpretive scaffold for making sense of the themes in relation to identity work on social media. In this way, Goffman’s framework complemented the qualitative design by enriching the explanatory power of the themes, situating individual accounts within broader sociological theories of self-presentation and audience negotiation.

By analyzing the participants’ social media accounts including text and videos, and data mining from social media, I used naturally occurring data. These data were then further explored during interviews (Beninger et al., 2014). The criteria for selecting suitable posts from the participants’ social media included the following:

• content on social media accounts from January 2020 to June 2021;

• the participant’s posts such as texts and videos related to depression; and

• posts related to depression that were retweeted by the participants.

The participant identification process began by identifying a few potential participants, followed by purposive sampling across various social media platforms to locate individuals who openly discuss their experiences of depression online. The study’s criteria for participation were shared on platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, employing engagement strategies such as messaging, sharing, and retweeting to enhance visibility. On WhatsApp, the researcher posted the study description, and friends reposted the status. Interested individuals received the researcher’s contact details for participation. Snowball sampling involved existing participants referring potential participants to the researcher. An administrator and founder of a WhatsApp virtual support group for people experiencing depression shared study details within the group, prompting interested participants to contact the researcher privately.

The study received ethical clearance from the Faculty of Humanities Research Ethics Committee at the University of Johannesburg (REC-01-263-2020). Before beginning the interviews, the participants were emailed an informed consent form to sign and return. Virtual interviews were conducted using platforms accessible to the participants, including Zoom and telephonic interviews. Zoom facilitated automatic or manual recording of interview sessions, while telephonic interviews required the installation of a “call recorder” application to capture the interview.

Thematic analysis served as the chosen method for data analysis. This approach involves organizing and summarizing a substantial amount of data to gain an in-depth understanding of the raw data (Mays et al., 2007). Data transcription was conducted using the Otter application, followed by a meticulous examination of transcripts to code and group data into conceptual themes. These themes emerged sequentially and were then theoretically organized for a deep and thorough analysis of the data (Smith & Osborn, 2008).

The study’s sample criteria, specifying characteristics such as age range (18–35) and social media use for coping with depression, enhanced credibility in participant selection (Collier-Reed et al., 2009). For this study, the term youth was operationalized as individuals between the ages of 18 and 35. While definitions of youth vary internationally, from adolescence (12–18) in some contexts to age 30 in others (Honwana, 2012; United Nations, 2013), the South African government and related policy frameworks commonly define youth as those between 15 and 34 years old (National Youth Policy 2020–2030, Republic of South Africa, 2020). The narrower range adopted here reflects a focus on young adults who have reached legal adulthood (18+) and are navigating higher education, early employment, and intensified social media use, all of which shape how depression is expressed and managed online.

Ensuring diverse backgrounds, including participants from South Africa, Canada, and Cuba, further contributed to credibility. Although participants were recruited from South Africa, two had transnational experiences that enriched the dataset. One participant, born and raised in South Africa but later relocated to Canada as an adult, was able to compare her experiences of growing up within South African cultures of stigma and silence around depression with her more recent experiences in Canada, where mental health is approached with greater openness and institutional support. Another participant was born in Cuba but migrated to South Africa during childhood and has lived there for most of her life. While her South African upbringing shaped her primary perspectives on mental health, she also noted similarities with Cuban attitudes based on her family ties. These experiences remain consistent with the study’s focus on South African youth, as the participants’ perspectives were either directly shaped by being raised in South Africa or by reflecting on its cultural influence in contrast to other contexts.

Findings

Although this study draws on concepts of masking and unmasking that resonate with broader youth experiences, the findings are deeply situated in the South African context. Participants’ narratives reflected how social media practices intersect with the country’s particular socio-cultural dynamics, including enduring stigma around mental illness, limited access to formal psychological care, and the importance of community-based coping. These contextual factors shaped how young people managed visibility and vulnerability online, and they distinguish South African youth experiences from those in contexts with greater institutional support and less entrenched stigma. The analysis revealed that young people engage with social media as both a coping mechanism and a site of agency, where they manage identity, emotion, and visibility. These behaviors align with Goffman’s dramaturgical theory, particularly the concepts of masking and unmasking, frontstage and backstage performances, and the blurring of personal boundaries. Social media use was not passive; it was intentional, strategic, and reflexive, allowing participants to perform, reveal, conceal, and curate aspects of their distress.

Social Media as an Active Coping Mechanism

Participants described social media as a key outlet for navigating depressive experiences. It allowed for emotional expression, access to inspiration, and the formation of peer communities. These platforms also served as hybrid spaces neither fully public nor private where participants blurred traditional boundaries between the inner and outer self.

Emotional Expression and Validation

Participants turned to platforms such as Twitter and TikTok to share emotions they often suppressed in offline environments. This act of unmasking allowed them to express their backstage selves’ feelings of sadness, anxiety, and hopelessness within a semi-anonymous yet emotionally responsive audience. Danny shared how Twitter became a uniquely supportive environment during his periods of emotional struggle:

The thing about social media is that, as I said earlier, it kind of makes you feel a sense of belonging and that you’re not alone … Even if someone [that] don’t know you, for me, the best thing is that someone who doesn’t know you, they won’t even judge you. (Danny)

It was someone who said to me “You can talk to me, here is my number, give me your number, I will call you at this point in time” and the person called … It was just his act of service, a selfless thing to actually say, “I’ve seen this guy on Twitter.” (Danny)

Although Twitter is a public platform, Danny’s use of it reflects how social media can function as a digital backstage, an emotionally intimate space that fosters real-time validation from peers, including strangers. The blurred boundary between private experience and public expression enabled participants like Danny to disclose difficult emotions without the pressures of face-to-face judgment. Such responses often carried unexpected emotional weight, reinforcing their sense of visibility, worth, and connection particularly valuable in contexts where mental illness is stigmatized, ignored, or hidden.

Sutton described how, early in her use of social media, the platform helped her identify and articulate her mental health struggles. This was a significant moment of emotional recognition:

When I first started, I think it was like two days into my social media experience, I learned about anxiety; I learned the word depression. And the monster finally had a name … It gave me real words to express real feelings. I didn’t go there saying I was depressed … Social media taught me; you are depressed. (Sutton)

For Sutton, the naming of her experience through social media marked a shift from masked confusion to empowered expression. Similarly, Kabelo reflected on how presenting a “normal” life on social media concealed her ongoing mental health struggles while also becoming a tool for raising awareness:

The reason why I put that [Bio—mental health activist] … my page looks like a normal person. So, you can look like you have a normal life, or you can have a normal life because I feel like I'm living a normal life here, and still struggle. (Kabelo)

Kabelo’s insight exemplifies how social media becomes both a mask and a mirror: a means of protecting the self through performance, while simultaneously expressing solidarity with others who suffer in silence.

Taken together, these accounts show that South African youth use social media as a crucial backstage space where difficult emotions can be expressed without the same risks of stigma found offline. While individual experiences varied, the common thread was the sense of safety and validation participants found in semi-anonymous online settings. These dynamics illustrate how unmasking is both a personal act of disclosure and a socially mediated process shaped by cultural stigma and the affordances of platforms.

Finding Hope and Inspiration

Platforms like Instagram were used by participants as spaces for symbolic self-repair and aspirational engagement. Though often associated with polished, idealized content, these platforms also offered opportunities for participants to access motivation, counter depressive moods, and envision emotional recovery. Sean described how Instagram, far from being purely performative, became a source of inspiration during low points in her mental health journey:

I meet these people on TikTok and I see that, it’s okay to be different, it’s okay to be out of the ordinary. (Sean)

This discovery of community through aspirational content and shared struggle offered emotional relief and reframed Sean’s perception of her own difference. Similarly, Sean noted how gaining followers and connecting with others on TikTok helped reduce feelings of isolation:

It just really helps me to live like my day-to-day life because I know that there are people out there that struggle with the same thing. (Sean)

Sean’s experience illustrates how participants oscillated between masking pain through curated visual environments and internalizing hopeful content as a strategy for emotional restoration. While the content consumed often belonged to others’ frontstage performances, its effect was deeply introspective and personal. This engagement demonstrates how digital spectatorship can serve as a subtle yet powerful tool for coping, reinforcing the idea that improvement even if abstract or symbolic is both visible and possible through mediated inspiration.

In a related way, Sutton described how she later repurposed her engagement with social media from emotional identification to motivation and prevention:

I am more efficient about it now, I don’t use it [social media] the same way. Before I would use it to feel represented and to cling to other people that were like me, whereas now I use social media to find information to make me feel better … I’m using social media to think of ways to prevent people from killing themselves. (Sutton)

This quote highlights how inspiration can evolve into purpose. For Sutton, hope was not just found in content but created through intentional, life-affirming engagement. Across these narratives, social media emerges as more than a site of performance; it becomes a resource for cultivating hope, resilience, and renewed purpose. For participants, the inspirational content they consumed and produced blurred the line between masking and authentic engagement, as curated performances by others often translated into deeply personal moments of encouragement. This highlights how youth strategically repurpose online spaces not only for self-expression but also for emotional repair and the reimagination of futures beyond depression.

Peer Connection and Shared Struggle

By creating and sharing vulnerable content, especially videos about depression, participants constructed shared backstage spaces that dissolved feelings of isolation and invited emotional resonance. These social media disclosures not only helped reduce stigma but also affirmed participants’ experiences as valid and seen. Participants used social media to cultivate a sense of connection with others navigating similar emotional terrain. Platforms like TikTok and Twitter became digital spaces where individual struggles could be shared and affirmed, fostering recognition and mutual understanding. Rather than simply performing distress, participants engaged in emotionally reciprocal exchanges that helped reframe their experiences and reduce feelings of isolation. Sean reflected on how his candid TikTok videos, originally intended as personal expression, unexpectedly became points of connection with others.

There have been a few people that have come to me asking for advice on how to deal with certain situations or they are going through something, and they just want to talk about it. I always try to make sure that if there is something on your chest then I can be there to comfort you because I know how it feels. I know there are a lot of people out there that judge, but I know that I don’t, so I feel like that’s what sort of helps people come to me, they know that I won’t judge them, and they know that I have been through [a] similar situation. (Sean)

This engagement exemplifies dramaturgical openness: a conscious lifting of the mask to invite solidarity, challenge stigma, and cultivate community. Sean’s experience shows how authentic self-presentation online can foster collective healing, dismantle emotional isolation, and legitimize personal struggles through shared narrative and recognition. In such moments, social media became not only a coping tool but a reciprocal space of empathy and self-affirmation. This intentional use of social media content as a form of solidarity allowed Sean to mask and unmask selectively using humor to connect while still signaling vulnerability and shared experience. The emotional feedback loop created through digital engagement helped participants like Sean feel part of a broader, empathetic community. In this way, social media disclosures functioned not just as self-expression but as invitations to collective coping and emotional recognition.

Kabelo reinforced this idea of collective visibility by challenging the narrow portrayals of depression online. She emphasized how digital spaces could correct misconceptions and expand recognition of mental illness:

Society has made them to believe that … social media particularly has made people believe that depression looks a particular way, sounds a particular way, and that’s not true. (Kabelo)

Her quote highlights how digital narratives can serve as acts of resistance against stereotypes, allowing individuals not only to connect with others but also to reshape collective understandings of mental health. Across these narratives, social media emerges as more than a site of performance; it becomes a resource for cultivating hope, resilience, and renewed purpose. For participants, the inspirational content they consumed and produced blurred the line between masking and authentic engagement, as curated performances by others often translated into deeply personal moments of encouragement. This highlights how youth strategically repurpose online spaces not only for self-expression but also for emotional repair and the reimagination of futures beyond depression.

Although race, gender, and socio-economic conditions were acknowledged, a deeper analysis reveals that these intersecting identities significantly shape the risks and dynamics of masking and unmasking. Participants from racialized backgrounds expressed heightened concern about audience perceptions when revealing stigmatized aspects of their identity online. For them, unmasking involved not only disclosing personal struggles but also navigating stereotypes tied to race and culture, which amplified the fear of misinterpretation and backlash. Similarly, coming from lower or middle socio-economic positions reported additional vulnerability during transitions from anonymity to visibility, anticipating harsher judgment and limited social support. These patterns illustrate that masking and unmasking are not neutral acts; rather, they are situated within systems of power that create uneven risks and opportunities for different groups. This aligns with Crenshaw’s (1989) framework of intersectionality, which emphasizes how overlapping identities, such as race, gender, and class, compound marginalization in unique ways in online spaces (Bivens & Haimson, 2016; Noble, 2018; Williams et al., 2017).

Asserting Agency and Control Over the Digital Space

Participants also demonstrated a high degree of agency in curating their social media platforms, shaping the terms of their exposure, and actively choosing how they wanted to be seen. These actions align with Goffman’s performance control, deciding what aspects of the self to reveal, conceal, or modify depending on the context.

Curating Content to Manage Emotional Exposure

Participants frequently adjusted their feeds to minimize emotional harm. This selective exposure shows backstage management: the strategic protection of one’s mental and emotional boundaries.

I don’t hesitate to unfollow people if I feel like, “you proving to be a bit stressful for me.” I unfollow, whether they are family or not … I unfollow now, and I mute words. (Milo)

Such curation reflects both masking (shielding oneself from triggers) and boundary maintenance, pushing back against the passive consumption often assumed in social media discourse. This level of content control speaks to a selective engagement that contrasts with the common portrayal of social media users as passive victims of algorithmic exposure. Overall, participants’ content curation demonstrates how digital self-presentation is tied to emotional boundary-setting. By muting, unfollowing, and filtering, youth exercised agency over the emotional climate of their online spaces. This indicates that masking is not only about concealing personal struggles but also about actively constructing protective environments that enable sustainable engagement with social media.

Reclaiming Narrative Through Storytelling

Participants resisted dominant, often medicalized or stigmatized framings of depression by using social media as a storytelling space. Here, they exercised narrative agency choosing what story to tell and how:

I wanted to be able to have full control over what it [Facebook page] said and by whom … I wanted to have real interactions with people. (Sutton)

This statement illustrates how Sutton used social media to take ownership of her story and control its delivery, reflecting a strong sense of agency in shaping her digital presence. Rather than passively absorbing external interpretations of her mental health journey, she actively curated and managed her narrative. Social media, in her experience, opened new possibilities for emotional authenticity and empowerment:

Social media opened this massive door. It’s like, you can do all these amazing things that make you feel like yourself. (Sutton)

These quotes emphasize how digital platforms allowed Sutton to transition from a place of emotional invisibility to one of self-defined identity and recognition, on her own terms. By taking control of their own narratives, participants blurred the frontstage of performance with the backstage of personal vulnerability, creating a hybrid identity space where empowerment and exposure coexisted. Rather than being confined to clinical or stigmatized framings of depression, participants generated their own vocabularies of distress, often mixing humor, visual imagery, and vernacular to resonate with others.

In sum, storytelling practices show how South African youth resisted externally imposed definitions of depression by reclaiming ownership over their narratives. Through these curated disclosures, participants blurred the line between performance and authenticity, transforming online spaces into sites of empowerment. This theme illustrates how unmasking can function not only as vulnerability but also as a deliberate act of self-definition and cultural critique.

Strategic Disengagement and Boundary Setting

Participants used social media not only to express personal emotions but also to foster connection with others navigating similar struggles. These platforms became digital support spaces where participants found comfort in shared experiences and mutual recognition. Rather than merely broadcasting distress, participants engaged in reflexive and often therapeutic dialogue with their audience. Sean described how creating and sharing vulnerable content on TikTok, especially about his mental health, created an unexpected sense of connection and validation:

Well, for me choosing especially TikTok specifically as a coping mechanism, it helps because first of all before I started TikTok I was very shy and I couldn’t get out of my shell. And then gaining followers, gaining friends and meeting new people, realizing that [I] am not alone in certain struggles. It just really helps me to live like my day-to-day life because I know that there are people out there that struggle with the same thing. And it directly helps, they wanna help get through it and I wanna help them get through it. (Sean)

These disclosures allowed Sean to unmask her backstage self, cultivating a shared space of solidarity. The positive feedback loop affirmed the legitimacy of her emotional experience and diminished feelings of isolation. In this way, her content was not just self-expression; it became a form of communal coping, where healing was reciprocal. This supports the idea that social media can serve as a powerful venue for authentic self-presentation and emotional resonance among peers. Together, these findings emphasize that disengagement was not a sign of withdrawal but rather a conscious strategy to sustain well-being. By setting boundaries around when and how to appear online, participants balanced visibility with self-preservation. In the South African setting, where formal support systems remain limited, these strategies highlight the importance of digital autonomy as a form of everyday survival and agency.

Importantly, these coping strategies must be read within the South African cultural landscape, where depression and mental illness often remain taboo subjects. Several participants emphasized that their willingness to unmask online stemmed directly from the silence they encountered offline, both in families and in broader social networks. In this sense, digital platforms provided a rare counter-public where South African youth could articulate mental health struggles, challenge local stereotypes, and access recognition that was unavailable in face-to-face settings. For participants with transnational experiences, such as those who had lived in or migrated from South Africa, comparisons to contexts like Canada or Cuba further highlighted how cultural differences shaped the risks and opportunities of unmasking. These insights reveal that social media does not simply offer a universal space for coping but functions as a culturally inflected outlet, one that is particularly significant in South Africa where structural and social barriers to open mental health discourse remain pronounced.

Discussion of Findings

The findings from this study reveal a complex and layered understanding of how young people use social media to cope with depression, emphasizing the dual role of these platforms as both tools for emotional regulation and stages for identity performance. Participants engaged in social media use not passively but as active agents who made calculated decisions about what to share, how to share it, and when to retreat. Their practices demonstrate a nuanced navigation between authenticity and presentation, between inner emotional realities and outward-facing digital personas. Many participants began their social media journeys from a position of concealment, adopting what could be described as “fake” representations of themselves. In the early stages of coping with depression, participants like Kabelo and Sutton portrayed themselves as happy, successful, or unaffected by emotional turmoil. This presentation served as a temporary buffer, a performance aligned with Goffman’s frontstage behavior, where the goal is to be seen as competent, composed, and socially acceptable. These curated representations offered momentary relief but ultimately contributed to a sense of disconnection, superficiality, and even emotional fatigue. Participants described how the maintenance of this idealized persona hindered genuine connection and led to a distorted online identity that provided only ephemeral escape rather than lasting support.

Over time, however, many participants experienced a turning point, what could be described as an epiphany, where the limitations and risks of their “fake” frontstage performance became apparent. They began to transition toward what they termed a “real” representation of themselves, openly acknowledging their struggles with depression in online spaces. This shift reflects a move from masking to unmasking, from a tightly controlled frontstage to a more vulnerable, honest performance that aligns with what Goffman called backstage behavior. However, what is notable in this study is that the backstage did not exist in a private, secluded space; it unfolded publicly on the same platforms previously used for polished self-presentation. In this sense, the digital environment blurred traditional distinctions between frontstage and backstage. Social media became a hybrid space where both authentic and performative aspects of identity coexisted. Participants posted TikTok videos of themselves crying, tweeted about depressive episodes, and used Instagram to share motivational messages alongside disclosures of personal struggle. This deliberate self-exposure, while therapeutic for some, also subjected participants to the scrutiny of their audiences, who sometimes misread these shifts as inconsistency or inauthenticity. As participants moved from cheerful, curated content to emotionally raw posts, they were occasionally met with skepticism or accusations of attention-seeking, reflecting a social discomfort with the public visibility of mental illness.

This complex interplay of performance and authenticity highlights the importance of understanding social media through a dramaturgical lens. Goffman’s framework helps explain not only how individuals perform for audiences but also how those performances are interpreted, judged, and sometimes resisted by others. Yet, the study expands on Goffman by incorporating Meyrowitz’s idea of blurred boundaries between frontstage and backstage in digitally mediated contexts. In the online world, there are no clear spatial or temporal divisions between performance and privacy. Instead, individuals selectively construct their digital selves within a continuous, overlapping stage. Participants used this blurred space to exercise agency: they muted triggering content, took mental health breaks by logging off, and reclaimed their narratives by publicly sharing their experiences with depression. These actions reflect not only emotional self-protection but also a deep understanding of how to manage one’s visibility, vulnerability, and mental well-being in a socially complex environment. For participants, the act of choosing when to appear “real” or “fake” was less about deception and more about strategic survival, an emotional calculus informed by audience reactions, platform culture, and personal thresholds for exposure.

While Goffman’s dramaturgy offers a valuable foundation for understanding performance and audience management, the findings also align with recent theoretical work on affect and algorithmic governance. As Papacharissi (2014) argues, social media is not only a stage for performance but also an affective infrastructure that organizes feelings of connection, visibility, and belonging. The emotional feedback loops participants described, where likes, comments, and follower count validated disclosures, illustrate how affect is both socially negotiated and technologically mediated. Furthermore, these dynamics cannot be divorced from platform capitalism and algorithmic power. Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram do not simply host performances; their algorithms curate visibility and engagement, amplifying some disclosures while suppressing others. Participants’ decisions about when and how to unmask were shaped by this algorithmic environment, where vulnerability could trend or disappear depending on opaque metrics (Zuboff, 2019). This suggests that authenticity online is not just dramaturgically managed but also governed by the political economy of platforms and the algorithmic logics that reward particular forms of self-presentation.

Importantly, the study challenges rigid binaries of “fake” versus “real” representation. What participants referred to as “fake” was often a protective mask, necessary for navigating stigma or emotional overwhelm. Similarly, “real” representation was not always fully unfiltered or spontaneous; it too was shaped by strategic decisions about what to disclose and how. This reflects an important insight: social media use in the context of mental health is neither wholly performative nor wholly authentic but instead represents a dynamic, ongoing negotiation of identity. Participants were not simply victims of social media’s negative influence nor naïve users seeking validation; they were critically aware of both the affordances and the risks of the platforms they engaged with. Their movement between modes of self-representation between curated inspiration and confessional honesty demonstrated a fluidity that traditional theoretical distinctions often fail to capture. The study thus calls for a more nuanced understanding of online behavior, particularly in relation to mental health. Social media platforms do not merely host performances; they actively shape the possibilities for expression, connection, and healing. By occupying a stage where the front and backstage are intertwined, young people both challenged and redefined the rules of interaction, mental health discourse, and personal disclosure.

Ultimately, the findings emphasize that social media can be both a lifeline and a liability. Its impact is determined not by the medium itself but by how users navigate it. Participants’ decisions to curate, disclose, retreat, or reclaim reflected acts of agency grounded in emotional intelligence and experiential knowledge. The blurring of frontstage and backstage, rather than being a source of confusion, became a productive space for participants to reconfigure their identities and gain deeper self-understanding. Their journeys reveal that coping with depression in digital spaces is not just about managing symptoms but about performing and negotiating identity in ways that are deeply embedded in contemporary social life. In this way, the study not only contributes to our understanding of social media and mental health but also deepens sociological theories of performance, identity, and the evolving nature of public and private selves in a digitally saturated world.

Conclusion

This study illuminates the nuanced evolution of self-representation on social media among individuals coping with depression, tracing a journey from “fake” to “real” personas. Initially, participants adopted idealized or superficial representations as a temporary escape from emotional distress, constructing online identities that masked their internal struggles. While these “fake” representations offered short-term relief, they ultimately proved unsustainable, leading to a sense of disconnection and emotional fatigue. Over time, participants became more aware of the limitations and emotional risks associated with such performances, and many transitioned toward more authentic forms of self-expression. In doing so, they began to use social media not just as a coping mechanism but as a platform for honest disclosure, emotional validation, and peer support.

This transition highlights the complex interplay between Goffman’s concepts of frontstage and backstage behavior in the digital context, where traditional boundaries between public and private selves are increasingly blurred. Social media platforms enable individuals to navigate these realms simultaneously, presenting both curated and vulnerable aspects of the self within a single digital space. The study also reveals the social risks of authenticity, as participants often encountered audience skepticism or judgment when shifting from cheerful, polished personas to openly expressing depression. These reactions reflect broader societal discomfort with visible mental illness and misunderstandings of authenticity in online spaces.

The findings suggest that the binary distinction between “real” and “fake” representation is overly simplistic. Rather, digital self-presentation involves continuous, strategic negotiation, shaped by platform norms, audience dynamics, and emotional needs. Participants’ selective disclosures reflect not deception but a sophisticated awareness of how to manage their digital presence in ways that protect and affirm their mental well-being. This research contributes to a deeper sociological understanding of the digital self, emphasizing the role of social media as a complex, multi-faceted stage for identity work, emotional expression, and meaning-making. Ultimately, the study advocates for a more nuanced perspective on digital interaction, one that recognizes both the risks and the radical potential of social media in supporting individuals through their mental health journeys.

Contributions to Qualitative Health Research Methodology

Methodologically, this study offers an innovative, multi-phase qualitative design that integrates digital ethnography with in-depth interviews. The first phase involved analyzing participants’ public and private social media content including posts, shared media, and engagement patterns related to depression. The second phase used these mined digital data as an entry point for deeper exploration during semi-structured interviews. This approach allowed for triangulation of online behaviors with participants’ self-reflections, producing a richer, more contextualized understanding of how social media functions as both coping mechanism and identity stage.

The study also engages critically with the ethical complexities of using social media data in mental health research. Although platforms are publicly accessible, users’ expectations of privacy vary significantly, particularly when accounts are set to private or when content is emotionally sensitive. Participants in this study provided written informed consent, including explicit permission for the researcher to follow and analyze their social media accounts. However, the act of accepting a follow request was itself ethically ambiguous, raising questions about whether consent is implicit or conditional in such digital interactions. These issues highlight the need for heightened ethical reflexivity when conducting research in online spaces where visibility, privacy, and consent are not easily delineated.

Finally, the study reflects on how social capital within digital spaces, such as follower counts and perceived influence, can impact access to participants and the reach of research recruitment efforts. While social media offers new avenues for participant engagement, it also reproduces hierarchies that may constrain inclusion or skew sample representation. Researchers conducting qualitative health inquiries online must therefore navigate not only methodological and ethical challenges but also platform-specific dynamics of visibility and power.

Contributions to Social Theory

This study extends Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical theory by adapting its foundational concepts originally designed for in-person social interaction to digital contexts. Goffman’s distinction between frontstage and backstage behavior, while analytically powerful, becomes increasingly complex within online environments where spatial and temporal boundaries collapse. The findings suggest that digital platforms, particularly social media, do not allow for a simple binary between performance and authenticity. Instead, users simultaneously enact multiple layers of identity, negotiating emotional exposure, audience expectations, and platform-specific norms within hybrid spaces that combine both frontstage and backstage functions.

The concept of self-presentation was also expanded in this study. Rather than adhering to a fixed or singular digital identity, participants demonstrated a multi-faceted, fluid approach to online selfhood. This challenges traditional assumptions that individuals adopt a coherent or stable digital persona. For young people navigating depression, social media became a space of both experimentation and survival in a performative yet therapeutic environment where diverse identities could be expressed, masked, or strategically revealed. These insights contribute to sociological theories of identity by illustrating how the digital self is shaped through iterative processes of audience calibration, emotional regulation, and reflexive self-awareness.