IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jglont/v14y2024i1d10.1007_s40497-024-00409-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Competing strategies between public and private self: separation and diffusion of the entrepreneurial identity of solo entrepreneurs on social media

Author

Listed:
  • Dieter Bögenhold

    (Klagenfurt University)

  • Alina Sawy

    (Klagenfurt University)

Abstract

Social media are gaining significance in organizations and their business strategies. Therefore, the self-presentation of solo entrepreneurs on social media requires a strategic analysis and concept due to their specific business structure. Solo entrepreneurs work on their own without having any employees in their company. In other words, they stay as the personification of a one-(wo)man-firm. The business structure of solo entrepreneurs is particular since they operate in the most decentralized form of a firm, which is a one-person firm. In some way, solo entrepreneurs can be regarded as independent (self-employed) laborers. When presenting themselves online, they must decide which characteristics of the private self should be emphasized and which should be incorporated into the entrepreneurial identity to be useful to the business. Our qualitative study conducted twelve semi-structured interviews with solo entrepreneurs to understand how they present themselves on social media and how the solo entrepreneur offered online differs from the private self. We have found that there are features of the personal self that are kept strictly out of the entrepreneurial sphere, but there are areas that make a mix of personal and entrepreneurial selves. Our results help to understand the group of solo entrepreneurs and their unique characteristics in an increasingly important field of digital media.

Suggested Citation

  • Dieter Bögenhold & Alina Sawy, 2024. "Competing strategies between public and private self: separation and diffusion of the entrepreneurial identity of solo entrepreneurs on social media," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 14(1), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jglont:v:14:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s40497-024-00409-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s40497-024-00409-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40497-024-00409-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s40497-024-00409-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Olanrewaju, Abdus-Samad Temitope & Hossain, Mohammad Alamgir & Whiteside, Naomi & Mercieca, Paul, 2020. "Social media and entrepreneurship research: A literature review," International Journal of Information Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 90-110.
    2. Elco Van Burg & Joep Cornelissen & Wouter Stam & Sarah Jack, 2022. "Advancing Qualitative Entrepreneurship Research: Leveraging Methodological Plurality for Achieving Scholarly Impact," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 46(1), pages 3-20, January.
    3. Bögenhold, Dieter & Klinglmair, Andrea, 2016. "Independent work, modern organizations and entrepreneurial labor: Diversity and hybridity of freelancers and self-employment," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 22(6), pages 843-858, November.
    4. Zoltan J. Acs & Abraham K. Song & László Szerb & David B. Audretsch & Éva Komlósi, 2021. "The evolution of the global digital platform economy: 1971–2021," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1629-1659, December.
    5. Jack, Sarah L. & Anderson, Alistair R., 2002. "The effects of embeddedness on the entrepreneurial process," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 467-487, September.
    6. Tina Erpe & Patricia Kotnik, 2022. "The Why and How of Social Media Entrepreneurs," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 30(04), pages 431-451, December.
    7. Caroline Wigren-Kristoferson & Ethel Brundin & Karin Hellerstedt & Anna Stevenson & Maria Aggestam, 2022. "Rethinking embeddedness: a review and research agenda," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1-2), pages 32-56, January.
    8. Jeffery S. McMullen & Katrina M. Brownell & Joel Adams, 2021. "What Makes an Entrepreneurship Study Entrepreneurial? Toward A Unified Theory of Entrepreneurial Agency," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1197-1238, September.
    9. Davidsson, Per, 2015. "Entrepreneurial opportunities and the entrepreneurship nexus: A re-conceptualization," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 674-695.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Weking, Jörg & Desouza, Kevin C. & Fielt, Erwin & Kowalkiewicz, Marek, 2023. "Metaverse-enabled entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    2. Erik Lundmark & Anna Krzeminska & Dean A. Shepherd, 2019. "Images of Entrepreneurship: Exploring Root Metaphors and Expanding Upon Them," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 43(1), pages 138-170, January.
    3. Drummond, Conor & McGrath, Helen & O'Toole, Thomas, 2023. "Beyond the platform: Social media as a multi-faceted resource in value creation for entrepreneurial firms in a collaborative network," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    4. Solomon Akele Abebe, 2023. "Refugee entrepreneurship: systematic and thematic analyses and a research agenda," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 315-350, January.
    5. Alfredo De Massis & Josip Kotlar & Mike Wright & Franz W. Kellermanns, 2018. "Sector-Based Entrepreneurial Capabilities and the Promise of Sector Studies in Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 42(1), pages 3-23, January.
    6. Santos, Susana C. & Caetano, António & Brochado, Ana, 2023. "Why am I so successful? Self-presentation and deliberative attributions of success in entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    7. Clark, Daniel R. & Crawford, G. Christopher & Pidduck, Robert J., 2023. "Exceptionality in entrepreneurship: Systematically investigating outlier outcomes," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    8. McMullen, Jeffery S. & Ding, Amy Wenxuan & Li, Shibo, 2021. "From cultural entrepreneurship to economic entrepreneurship in cultural industries: The role of digital serialization," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 36(6).
    9. McMullen, Jeffery S. & Fitzsimmons, Jason R. & Shetty, Khyati & Ramoglou, Stratos, 2024. "A temporal typology of entrepreneurial opportunities: Implications for the optimal timing of entrepreneurial action," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 39(1).
    10. Bögenhold, Dieter & Klinglmair, Andrea, 2016. "Organizations, Occupations and Decentral Work: On Hybridity and Ambiguity of Own-Account Workers," MPRA Paper 76860, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Gina Santos & Carla Susana Marques & João Ferreira, 2021. "The Influence of Embeddedness on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy: A Gender Perspective in the Agri-Food Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-29, August.
    12. Erikson, Truls & Korsgaard, Steffen, 2016. "Knowledge as the source of opportunity," Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Elsevier, vol. 6(C), pages 47-50.
    13. Cyrine Ben-Hafaïedh & Claire Champenois & Thomas Cooney & Leon Schjoedt, 2024. "Entrepreneurship as collective action: The next frontier," Post-Print hal-04460045, HAL.
    14. Schade, Philipp & Schuhmacher, Monika C., 2022. "Digital infrastructure and entrepreneurial action-formation: A multilevel study," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).
    15. Abolghasem Arabiun & Niloofar Salajegheh & Zeynab Aeeni & Armin Khaleghi Forghani, 2023. "Trends and patterns in entrepreneurial action research: a bibliometric overview and research agenda," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    16. Bacq, Sophie & Hertel, Christina & Lumpkin, G.T., 2022. "Communities at the nexus of entrepreneurship and societal impact: A cross-disciplinary literature review," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(5).
    17. Shingo Yoshida & Hironori Yagi, 2021. "Long-Term Development of Urban Agriculture: Resilience and Sustainability of Farmers Facing the Covid-19 Pandemic in Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-23, April.
    18. Jan Wiers & Didier Chabaud, 2022. "Bibliometric analysis of immigrant entrepreneurship research 2009–2019," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 12(1), pages 441-464, December.
    19. Andrey SHEVCHUK & Denis STREBKOV, 2023. "Digital platforms and the changing freelance workforce in the Russian Federation: A ten‐year perspective," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 162(1), pages 1-22, March.
    20. Mahto, Raj V. & Belousova, Olga & Ahluwalia, Saurabh, 2020. "Abundance – A new window on how disruptive innovation occurs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jglont:v:14:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s40497-024-00409-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.