Teens, students and their domestic uses of multimedia: second self, potential space or division of the subject ?

This text is made up of two sections. The first one looks at the hypothesis of the 'second self' put forward by Turkle (1984). On the basis of our empirical material, can we talk about an 'online' second self or a more or less antagonistic 'on-screen' second self with our 'original' self? The second part of the text will look at the potential space hypothesis: what is it about the domestic multimedia spaces that we looked at that are also transitional spaces in which the physical identity of each person is played, replayed and rebuilt? These two sections are an implicit series of theoretical preoccupations: does the 'subject' build himself in the virtual world or not? Is it necessary to deconstruct the subject? On the contrary, should we deconstruct sociological, psychological and psychoanalytical analysis categories in order to find out more about multimedia culture? Without having a successfully completed form and by performing psychoanalysis, these theoretical reflections are eager to contribute towards achieving a deeper understanding of how ICT's (Information and Communication Technologies) are used.