Streaming the self: digital music platforms, Uses & Gratifications, and the construction of social identity

Rapid technological developments have transformed music listening into a platform-based practice shaped by streaming interfaces, personalization systems, and social visibility. This study examines how digital music consumption and sharing practices relate to self-presentation and social identity in contemporary digital environments. Adopting a conceptual analysis approach, the study synthesizes insights from Uses & Gratifications research, dramaturgical perspectives on self-presentation, Social Identity Theory, and the extended self framework to develop an integrative explanatory model. The analysis suggests that streaming platforms increasingly operate as identity-relevant environments in which playlists, listening traces, and recommendation-driven discovery contribute to how individuals curate and communicate taste. Music sharing functions as a symbolic practice through which users signal affiliation, distinction, and cultural positioning, while digital archives serve as editable repositories of biographical and emotional meaning. Uses & Gratifications–based motivations—such as discovery, mood regulation, self-enhancement, social connection, and escape—help explain how musical choices become linked to identity expression and selective visibility. Overall, the study conceptualizes digital music engagement as an ongoing form of identity work and provides a theoretical foundation for future empirical research on identity processes within streaming ecosystems.