Graduate School of Humanities

Media Studies: Television and Cross-Media Culture

MASTER’S THESIS

The Self-Branding Practices of Celebrities on Instagram

An Extensive look at the Instagram accounts of Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé Knowles, and Cristiano Ronaldo

Student number: 11310138 Word count: 18,814 Supervisor: Dr. Jaap Kooijman | Second reader: Dr. Jan Teurlings

Abstract

This thesis aimed to outline the self-branding practices of Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé Knowles, and Cristiano Ronaldo. It proposed how traditional frameworks of self-presentation from Dyer’s concept of the star image, Goffman’s ‘impression management’, Turners notions of the ‘real self’, and Halonen- Knight and Hurmerinta’s meaning transfer models in celebrity endorsements could provide a starting point for the range of self-presentation strategies they adopt. A textual and functional analyses of a sample of Instagram posts were carried out and these posts suggested the types of self-presentation practices used by celebrities. Nevertheless, it was outlined how the use of these theoretical frameworks on the contemporary platform of Instagram causes tensions. Moreover, these posts indicated what features and tools of Instagram were used and what facets of their appearances were most prominent for the particular self-presentation they wanted to convey. The conclusions drawn from the analysis of these posts are that the traditional frameworks of self-presentation need to be adjusted in order to fit in with the modern-day usage patterns of Instagram. Secondly, they reveal that the self-branding practices always need to prioritise and condition to the expectations of their Instagram followers before fulfilling their own branding goals. Furthermore, the analytics demonstrated that the posts with an increased access into a celebrity's personal life were the most remarkable. Yet, follow up studies could investigate the self-branding practices of less famous celebrities as well to understand whether these patterns of expectations and the self-branding practices are only relevant for world-famous celebrities like Kim Beyoncé and Cristiano

2

Table of Contents

Introduction ...... 4! 1. Self-presentation on Instagram ...... 10! 1.1 Celebrities conditioning for fans ...... 10! 1.2 Celebrities fulfilling their own purposes ...... 12! 1.3 Star Images and Impression Management: Appealing to fans ...... 13! 1.4 The Institutional and Impulsive: The extraordinary and ordinary lifestyles ...... 15! 1.5 Celebrity Endorsements and Advertisements ...... 16! 1.6 The self-presentation as a reflection of a celebrity’s goal ...... 17! 2. The star-image on Instagram ...... 19! 2.1 The public within public: ‘candid’ and ‘professional’ photographs ...... 20! 2.2 The private within public: the ‘intimate’ and the ‘post-private’ ...... 21! 2.3 Questions of authenticity and the implications of the public and private overlap ...... 22! 2.4 Conditioning ‘star images’ for followers: Goffman’s ‘Impression Management’ ...... 24! 2.5 Conditioning star images for purposes: Maintaining ‘openness’ ...... 28! 3. The Institutional and Impulsive representations on Instagram ...... 30! 3.1 The institutionalized representations: The extraordinary celebrity status ...... 31! 3.2 The impulsive representations: The ordinary celebrity status ...... 33! 3.3 Implications of the shift between the institutional and impulsive representations ...... 34! 3.4 Celebrities conditioning for patterns of consumption: Goffman’s ‘Role Distance’ (1961) ...... 35! 3.5 Conditioning the ‘institutional and ‘impulsive’ for their own purposes ...... 37! 4. The Star Commodity ...... 40! 4.1 The endorsements and advertised Instagram posts of the celebrities ...... 41! 4.2 Questions of performative intimacy and the implications of marketing ...... 42! 4.3 Celebrities and Instagram users conditioning for the celebrity through labour ...... 46! 4.4 The elements to prioritise in a double form of branding ...... 49! Conclusion ...... 50! Bibliography ...... 53! Appendices ...... 57!

3 Introduction ‘It is a talent to have a brand that’s really successful off of getting people to like you, for you’ - Kim Kardashian (Whitaker, Bill. Interview, 21 October 2016)

The concept of the ‘celebrity’ has been framed as a historical process (Braudy 1986 in Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity Practice 140) and thus it used to mean something differently in the past than it does now. Historically celebrities were particularly visible through the medium of television and the types of celebrity stories that were broadcasted were those audiences found ‘worthy of intensive appreciation’ (Newman and Levine 142). The television mediated the perception of these celebrities as well as the communication of their lives, however because of its transformative process, there are new mediums that have redefined the concept of the celebrity in todays’ media saturated landscape. This refers to the advent of the web and the enhanced interaction with screens that generate individually customized feeds of images (Carah and Shaul 72). On these screens, being a celebrity is not just about their intrinsic personal characteristics or external labels but also about their ‘organic and ever-changing performative practices’ reinforced through the circulation of images on these media devices. This represents the logic of self-branding – a strategy or a new language for self-empowerment whereby celebrities cultivate a name and image of the self that can be manipulated […] for their own purposes and well-being (Davis, 41). Self-branding is similar to product branding, because it becomes a powerful tool through which the celebrities sell themselves in order to stand out from the competition (Davis 47). They do this by getting in touch with the “selling parts” of their personality, crafting them into a relentlessly focused persona, and enhancing their profile and their visibility through marketing so that, like a product they become ultimate objects of desire (Davis 47-8). As people react to situations based on context rather than fixed psychological traits (Meyrowitz in Marwick and Boyd , Context Collapse 116), these performative practices in self-branding are particularly crucial for the identity that the celebrities wish to communicate with their fans. Moreover, since traditional settings for in-person celebrity-fan interactions have become less popular and the highly mediated digitized-image culture take over, fans expect the images of celebrities to integrate the elements of performed intimacy, authenticity, and the ‘consumable persona’ that allow the viewer to see the real person behind the ‘celebrity’ (Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity Practice 149). However, what can be defined as a ‘consumable persona’? What forms of self-presentation are perceived as the most intimate and authentic? And why have the ‘intimate’ and ‘authentic’ images become such a crucial component of a celebrity’s performative practices? These are the questions this thesis strives to answer by analyzing a number of their self-presentation strategies on social media. For this, traditional theories of self-presentation are productive starting points to understand the way celebrities present themselves to the many fans they have. Furthermore, celebrity practices are shaped to conform with the platform and perceptions of what a consumable persona is, is indirectly informed by the platform and the users present on it. This shaping and conditioning of a celebrity’s self-

4 presentations with forms of consumption on social media a central characteristic of self-branding, in which the self and market fuse together (Davis 46) and allow the celebrity to transform their ordinary self-presentation practices into market-worthy performances.

The social media application ‘Instagram’ which was launched in 2010 has become one of the most significant sites in which celebrities position themselves as brands (Senft 2008). This is because it ‘a never-ending flow of images’ through which the bodies of users are increasingly available to the nature of the platform (Carah and Shaul 70).

Figure 1: User Interactions with different social media platforms

Due to Instagram’s liveness, images receive most attention within the first several minutes of being posted meaning users have an instantaneous means for keeping on track with their favorite celebrities’ accounts. On this application, normal activities include scrolling through and navigating flows of images on a feed from people that users follow (Carah and Shaul 72). ‘Following’ on Instagram implies that the user approves of seeing all the content of that account on their feed. Moreover, following is unidirectional, meaning that a user may follow another without permission and with no mutual expectation of a ‘follow back’ in return. As celebrities’ profiles are public on Instagram, this model creates an environment convenient for fans as they have unlimited access to their celebrities’ content and potential for as much engagement as they want. Equally, the public nature of their accounts means all Instagram users can engage with their content in the forms of likes or comments without explicitly having to follow them. ‘A like’ on the platform is meant to convey a sign of favorability,

5 approval, or agreement (Bryne, 2009 in Sarapin and Morris, 2014: 138). Whereas the ‘comments’ are a more open-ended feature of Instagram whereby users can indicate opinions or elicit conversations on the post of a celebrity. Another key feature used within Instagram are tags commonly used to mention or indicate other Instagram users, locations, or brands. Therefore, Instagram’s potential as a broadcast medium and dialogic medium has substantially contributed to its popularity among celebrity – fan relationships (Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity practice 142) allowing Instagram to become one of the most used mediums for self-branding among celebrities. In this logic, a celebrity’s ‘fans’ are classified as ‘followers’. The three case studies of celebrity self-branding on Instagram are Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé Knowles, and Cristiano Ronaldo1.

Kim Kardashian is a model, actress, and star of the reality show Figure 2: Kim Kardashian at the Met Gala in 2017 Keeping up with the Kardashians (E! 2007 – present) - a show that follows her life and that of her family. Kim particularly became famous with a scandalous sex video leaked online in 2007. Kim’s celebrity status is thus highly attributed to her status as a sex icon and about the confidence she has about her own body. Moreover, particularly because she is a reality television star, Kim’s love life has also been a subject of intense media interest. She has had a string of high profile boyfriends and is now married to rapper and songwriter Kanye West with whom she has two children. Whilst Source: Timpone/BFA/REX/Shutterstock Kim Kardashian has a career, like her reality show she uses her Instagram account to reveal her personal life which generally refers to more intense glimpses of herself, her family, and the luxurious events, places and venues she visits (Biography.com).

The second celebrity discussed in this thesis is artist Beyoncé Figure 3: Beyoncé at the Formation World Tour Concert in 2016 Knowles, who began her path to fame as the lead vocalist of the R&B group Destiny’s Child in 1997. She became one of the genre’s top-selling artists when she began her solo career with her debut album Dangerously in Love . Other highlights of her career are her performances at two Super Bowls’ particularly the second in which she performed her new single Formation from her album Lemonade at the halftime show. Beyoncé’s love life was not a popular topic of interest until she married rapper Jay-Z in 2008. Since then she has been the subject of many pregnancy rumors, Source: Larry therefore when she revealed the news of her pregnancy with her Busacca/PW/WIREIMAGE

1 Cristiano Ronaldo may be referred to through frequently-used nickname ‘Ronaldo’

6 first child Blue Ivy as well as the pregnancy of her twins, it made quite an impact of a global-scale. As Beyoncé has a manager posting on the account for her, content is more professionally-oriented and thus seems to focus more on her performances as an artist and promotions for her albums. However more recently, similar to Kim Kardashian her Instagram account has started showing more of her personal life such as photos of her with her husband and her child Blue Ivy (Biography.com).

The third celebrity Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese Figure 4: Cristiano Ronaldo at the La Liga Match in Valencia, Spain professional football player. He was first discovered for his talents at the age of 16 playing on the national football team of his birth town Madeira against Manchester United. In 2003, Manchester United signed him however, when Real Madrid offered him a more attractive deal he left Manchester United. Ronaldo has earned the title of the FIFA World Player of the year award four times, beating competitor Lionel Messi. While his football career is a highlight of his personality, quite recently his personal life has been too, particularly evident through the content he shares with his 7-year-old son. Similar to Source: Christian Bertrand/Shutterstock.com the other two celebrities, photos of his personal life are present on his Instagram account, however his brand image as the football star and the various endorsement deal and advertisement posts he engages in are just as prominent on his account (Biography.com).

This thesis will engage extensively with these celebrities’ accounts as well as their practices of self- branding through a textual analysis of a sample of Instagram posts. The content from ‘Instagram stories’ and ‘Instagram live’ features were not used because these are ephemeral features. The majority of posts were static, posted within the last two years, and were selected based on how convergent they are with the traditional theories of self-presentation discussed throughout the thesis and for the popularity and the buzz they generate among mainstream media and gossip Figure 5: The Instagram profiles of Kim, columns. Moreover, the data analytics from these posts will Beyoncé, and Cristiano be engaged with to reinforce the arguments made throughout the thesis. The reason why these celebrities were chosen is because of how popular they were prior to joining Instagram. All celebrities were world-famous by the early 2000s, and thus their transition to Instagram are merely add-ons to their fame – not reasons for their fame. Nevertheless, according to Keong (2017), Kim, Beyoncé and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the top 10 most followed celebrities in the application allowing Instagram to validate their popularity online. As of Source: Instagram, 2017

7 18th May 2017, all three celebrities have hit the 100 million follower milestone, with Kim being the last to join indicating that the self-branding practices they adopt are the among the most popular world- wide.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the different types of self-presentation practices of these celebrities Instagram accounts to understand how social media has enhanced the conditions under which celebrities self-brand. The aim with this focus is to argue that Instagram has provided celebrities with better and more efficient ways to self-brand because the platform facilitates an illusion of openness between the celebrity and the follower. Parallel to this aim, another argument this thesis will establish is that celebrities need to fit in with all the expectations of their followers to fulfil their purposes with their self-branding practices. In light of this, the thesis will develop on the following research questions: What implications arise for the ‘public’ nature of the celebrities’ accounts? It will then elaborate on what techniques celebrities adopt to appear both extraordinary and ordinary among their followers. Thirdly, it will discuss what role the criteria of ‘intimacy’ and ‘authenticity’ play among the celebrities’ self-presentations as well as what the features of Instagram signify for the self-branding practices of celebrities. Lastly, this thesis will indicate what types of marketed posts on Instagram are most able to achieve the degree of performed intimacy with followers. In order to illustrate this, Chapter 1 will engage with theoretical frameworks of self-presentation to understand how traditional frameworks are used and adjusted for the modern platform of Instagram. It will discuss how self-presentation requires an orchestration that will provide for fans, yet allow celebrities to channel these into their own interests. For this, traditional theories from De Certeau (1984), Jenkins (1988), Kavka (2011), and Jacobs (2000) will be used to understand the different ways in which the cultural industry used to condition for fans by providing enhanced opportunities for participation, particularly through the medium of Television. Equally, works from Fiske (2003) will be used to demonstrate what these opportunities for participation can attribute for a celebrity’s own purposes with their self-presentation practices. This will be followed by an evaluation of a number of self-presentation frameworks to understand how Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo are able to fulfill these actions under the conditions of Instagram. Chapter 2 will discuss Richard Dyer’s concept of the ‘star image’ to indicate how the distinctions of the public and the private collapse on Instagram. This chapter will illustrate that the public nature of the Instagram platform complicates celebrities’ uses of their star image for appearing authentic enough with their followers. Nevertheless, it will also use Marwick and Boyd’s (2011) study on celebrity practice to understand the ideal ways in which the star image can be used to compensate for Instagram’s public’s nature. In Chapter 3, Turner’s concept of ‘the real self’ will reveal how extraordinary appearances of celebrities on Instagram resonate with the concept called the ‘institutional loci’ and ordinary

8 representations with a concept called the ‘impulsive loci’. Moreover, it will be indicated that the back and forth shift between the ordinary and extraordinary shifts on Instagram impedes followers from grasping their ‘real identities’ however is still integral to a celebrity’s self-presentation practices. To expand further on this, the works from Grindstaff and Murray (2015), Gamson (2011), and Turner (2006) will be referred to, to understand why facets from the ordinary are important for establishing the sense of intimacy between celebrity and fan and Marwick (2015) and Marwick and Boyd’s (2011) assertions will be used to illustrate why facets of both the ordinary and extraordinary are important for a celebrity’s practices on Instagram. Lastly, Chapter 4 will look at the marketing perspective of Instagram posts through Halonen- Knight and Hurmerinta (2010) meaning transfer model to understand how a double-branding mechanism on Instagram influences a celebrity’s relationship with their followers. This will be demonstrated through comparing the effect of celebrity endorsements of other products with celebrity advertisements of the celebrity’s own products. This chapter will also explore the political economy views of Jhally and Livant (1986) and Duffy and Hund (2015) to understand the ways in which both celebrities and Instagram users perform labor for the Instagram posts.

9 Chapter 1: Self-presentation on Instagram ‘How we appear is no less real than how we have manufactured that appearance’ (Dyer 2)

Self-presentation isn’t just a clear representation of the self, according to Giddens it is something someone ‘adjusts[..] in relation to whatever is demanded of a particular situation’ (190). When self- presentation is adjusted it usually takes on another dimension because it becomes a performance in which the individual tries to convince audiences of a ‘purposeful’ image. Moreover, it requires the individual involved in this performance to employ particular strategies in the aim of conditioning for a public. Such strategies are present on the Instagram accounts of celebrities Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé Knowles, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Through certain strategies of self-presentation, they condition for their followers by offering an ‘intimate’ glimpse of their lifestyles through Instagram and allowing them to participate through the features of the platform. In exchange, they use these acts from followers as an indication of what self-presentation strategies are most preferred. However, on Instagram, self-presentation becomes complex because a number of different self- presentation practices are being used. For this reason, this chapter will explore traditional concepts in the field of self-presentation to understand how Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo have adapted their self- presentation for Instagram. The first section will draw on studies of fan culture and the political economy to demonstrate how a celebrity is able to both condition for fans and fulfil their purposes. The second section will use Dyer’s concept of the ‘star image’ to illustrate how Instagram accounts portray ‘public’ and ‘private’ personas. Thirdly, Goffman’s concept of ‘impression management’ will be referred to, to understand how celebrities’ self-presentation strategies can be constructed to conform with the understandings and expectations of their followers. Then, Turner’s concept of ‘the real self’ will be used to reveal how self-presentations appear both ordinary and extraordinary through ‘impulsive’ and ‘institutional’ representations. Lastly, the marketing perspective of celebrity endorsements and advertisements will be used to understand how self-presentations are altered through the double commodification of a product and a celebrity. Ultimately, the goal of using these four theoretical frameworks is to suggest that celebrities’ self-presentation practices must first condition to patterns of consumption to maintain the attention and loyalty of others and so as to conceal a hidden scheme that operates in the needs and interests of the celebrity.

1.1 Celebrities conditioning for fans: In the context of fandom and celebritization, self-presentation practices are integral as these are the ways in which the fan enables a connection with a celebrity. In 1984, De Certeau, used the term ‘textual poaching’ to refer to the way in way in which the fan is able to interact with the objects of fandom provided by the cultural industry. Through textual poaching, he states that fans benefit because they are involved in an active form of consuming cultural products whereby they take away things of pleasure and use to them (De Certeau, 1984 in Jenkins Textual Poaching, 23). The pleasures they can derive off

10 the products of the cultural industry are about the fact that they are no longer in ‘social and cultural isolation [...], but immersed in a more active participation in a community receptive to their cultural productions and where they feel a sense of belonging’ (Jenkins Star Trek, 88). When this term was first derived, it referred to writing such as through personal letters, newsletters, or fan fiction magazines (Jenkins, Star Trek, 89). However, now this term can be re-appropriated today through the development of interactive media. Newman and Levine, name this ‘technologies of agency’ (132). In the context of fandom, these types of mediums would allow fans a more interactive mode of viewing their favorite celebrities through a new conception of television textuality arising out of the use of digital technologies (144). Instagram can be seen as a ‘technology of agency’ or an opportunity for ‘textual poaching’ because followers are no longer limited to a strictly broadcast form of viewing celebrities. For instance, they can participate and indicate their approval of the content through ‘likes’ and ‘comments’, providing them with more opportunities to tangibly demonstrate their love (Newman and Levine 139). Moreover, they have control in how frequently they see the content of a celebrity as the content a celebrity posts is not ephemeral. As a technology of agency, all the content posted on a celebrity’s Instagram accounts ‘become collectible likes works of plastic art, literary works, and like movies’ (Newman and Levine 139). Therefore, the Instagram platform itself can be seen to condition for fans, and celebrities use this to their advantage however the celebrities themselves also need to adopt ways to condition for their followers. Jason Jacobs (2000) used to the concept of ‘the intimate screen’ to describe the way television was able to condition for its viewers. He argued that the transfer of these images into the home resulted in a collapse of distance between the viewer and the medium of television (26), generating a sense of ‘visual closeness’ that no other technology was capable of at the time (31). He described three main characteristics of the television that allowed it to function as ‘intimate screen’; immediacy, intimacy, and hybridity. Whilst ‘intimacy’ refers to the form of direct visual address, ‘immediacy’ referred to the direct and instantaneous access to reality it offered and hybridity to the different forms of media and purposes it was able to encompass (28). More recently, Misha Kavka (2011) explained that reality television is able to activate audiences through intimacy by generating a ‘palpable flow’ between the viewers and the ‘real’ people on the opposite side of the screen (88). Similar to Jacobs’ conception of ‘the intimate screen’, Kavka explains that this flow is possible through ‘offering viewers an intimate knowing of the people on the screen’ and by effectively transferring the affective charges (90). In today’s contemporary discussion of Instagram, this criterion of ‘intimacy’ has become even more important because technologies of agency and social media have popularized techniques for ‘intimate’ representation. When conditioning for followers, celebrities create a sense of ‘closeness’ and familiarity between them and their followers, so that followers can feel like they are a part of their lives. Intimacy is achieved in different ways however in its most general sense it is able to make the fan feel they possess insider, candid knowledge about the celebrity (Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity Practice

11 148). This typically includes content that is meant to be ‘private’ and not in tabloids or gossip blogs. Moreover, due to the increased presence of images and audiovisual content this type of intimacy generated on Instagram is able to facilitate ‘parasocial interaction’, or a substitute for actual interaction that allows the fan to feel like they are interacting with the celebrity (Horton and Wohl in Peters 118). Nevertheless, whilst this form of ‘intimacy’ may allow the followers to feel more immersed in the lives of their favourites celebrities, all content is always strategically chosen and thus merely constitutes ‘performative intimacy’.

1.2. Celebrities fulfilling their own purposes:

These opportunities for fans also illuminates what benefits these forms of participation can attribute for celebrities. In John Fiske’s perspectives, fan cultures were embraced for their ability to reproduce equivalents of the formal institutions of ‘official culture’ or the culture of the ‘cultural industries’ (Fiske 33). As active users of the cultural capital, he believed fans offered ways ‘of filling cultural lack and provided the social prestige and self-esteem that went with cultural capital’ (ibid) [Y.A.]. When cultural industries started recognizing the value of these works, they began producing ‘[…]an enormous range of material designed to give the fan access to info about the object of fandom’, so that their works or efforts ‘can be more readily turned into economic capital’ by capitalist societies (Fiske 45). Fiske states that this is possible by using ‘information about the artist to enhance or enrich the appreciation of the work’ (43). If the fan is equated with the ‘artist’, and the work to the celebrities’ content about their lives, Fiske’s assertions can directly translate to a follower-celebrity relationship on Instagram. Therefore, when followers use the ‘like’ and ‘comments’ features on Instagram, these are the types of information that the celebrity will use to enrich and improve on their future posts. Moreover, any action that a follower performs on Instagram indirectly becomes an indication of how conveniently a celebrity’s self-presentation resonates with the needs of a follower. In other words, when celebrities use the forms of knowledge work provided by Instagram they are also concealing a scheme of how useful these forms of participation are for their own purposes. Nevertheless, the fans are not the only ones important when fulfilling their own purposes with their self-presentation practices on Instagram. In order to gain the value off of each followers’ participation, the celebrities themselves must employ a number of different self-presentation to connect with their followers and meet their needs. This is synonymous with Redmond’s contributions on ‘liquid identities’, in which the realm of the digital encourages a person to adopt multiple identities so that they connect globally with diverse social groups and reach across barriers (Redmond 92). According to Redmond, ‘this has the benefit of allowing audiences to invest in the transient nature of the spectacle’ (85). These multiple identities indicate that the celebrity must always adapt their self-presentation practices to prioritise the engagement of the follower so that they can fulfil their own purposes. This is due to the logic of the Instagram platform, its open-ended nature as an ‘image machine’ (Wissinger

12 2007 in Carah and Shaul), and its unpredictable and uncontrollable flow of images (Clough 2007 in Carah and Shaul 711). To alleviate this condition, celebrities must encourage the followers to participate in the production and judgment of images of the celebrities’, bodies, identities, and lives (Banet-Weiser, 2012; Nurka, 2013 in Carah and Shaul 79), so that they in turn use them to full their purposes of these self-presentation practices. However, strategies are necessary in order to attract the attention of the followers, and a number of traditional theoretical self-presentation strategies indicate the types used by celebrities on Instagram.

1.3 Star Images and Impression Management: Appealing to fans

According to Richard Dyer (1986), a celebrity’s self-presentation can be explained by the concept of the ‘star image’. When this concept was first developed, the star image was composed of the ‘public persona’ commonly witnessed at staged-managed public appearances and the ‘private persona’ who is the hidden site of this public appearance (7). Historically, star images were controlled by Hollywood and therefore only certain aspects of their private persona got into the press. In these times, the impressions of a star in the press revealed more than what would otherwise be available through public appearances, which is how fans accessed the private moments of a star’s life. The traditional concept of the star image can still be applied to this era, however now it has changed because the stars have the ability to be in control of their own star images (Dyer 4). This means that the aspects of their ‘private’ and ‘public’ personas is no longer about what impressions of them is left under interviews, biographies, and other sorts of press, but also about the details of their performance they want to reveal to the public. Furthermore, choosing what specific elements of their private or public persona they want to reveal to the public and having more control over their star- images means the representation of a ‘true or authentic star image’ is not possible. According to Dyer this is because ‘a star image is not a straightforward affirmation of their individualism’ (7) meaning that their true star images are irreducible to the role of the ‘star image’. Often times, this means that there is more to a star than what the ‘star image’ reveals. Nevertheless, the star image is still a useful model for celebrities’ contemporary practices of self-presentation because they frequently alternate between images of the private and public, making their self-presentations irreducible like the concept of the star image. The purpose of including both the public and private appearances of a celebrities’ star image is to reveal controlled yet personified glimpses of their lifestyles. This incentive works because audiences want to be taken behind the scenes of a celebrity’s life (10) so that they can access ‘the site of openness’ (ibid.) that the public persona of a star is not able to fulfill. As a result, fans of the star and the public have a privileged reality to hang onto such as the reality of the stars’ private self revealing that those images of the ‘private’ will work to attract their attention (14). The concept of star images is relevant to the Instagram accounts of Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo because their accounts are a representation of their public and private lives. The public personas include the photos and videos of them that are available in other media and the private personas include those

13 photos of them in domestic settings or with their children. However, as already mentioned the star image commonly does not capture the true version of the celebrity that fans are searching for because in theory the real person in the site of the star image is irreducible (Dyer 10). Thus when followers of celebrites believe they are getting a glimpse of a celebrity’s private life through the star image as illustrated on Instagram, they are just clinging onto a fiction or illusion that a celebrity’s private life actually this way. Therefore, much of what makes up a star image is what the audience makes of the images, what they can select from the complexity of the image as well as the meanings and feelings that work for them (Dyer 3). This is a result of the way that self-presentation has been orchestrated by the celebrity; and such presentations of their public and private personas may benefit the followers but simultaneously reveal a way in which self-presentations are conditioned by patterns of consumption. A celebrities’ star image, especially their ‘private persona’ is meant to be appear truthful, however in reality this private persona is being constructed and manipulated for the Instagram account. This raises a debate on whether a celebrity’s star image as shown on the Instagram page shows the private persona of the celebrity, or whether the orchestration of this private persona destroys the nature of it. Constructing the private persona of the star image for the benefit of fans means that celebrities prioritise certain self-presentation practices. This is done through a concept of impression management that Goffman developed in 1990. Impression management refers to acts that celebrities take on to fit into the expectations of their audiences (Goffman 30). Dyer’s concept of the ‘the private persona’ is synonymous with what Goffman would refer to as ‘backstage performances’ and Dyer’s concept of ‘the public persona’ synonymous with ‘frontstage performances’ (Goffman 126). This understanding is essential as it highlights how Goffman and Dyer’s frameworks can work together to indicate which types of self-presentation strategies are perceived the most ‘authentic’ among a celebrity’s followers. Therefore, celebrities can use ‘impression management’ on Instagram as a tool for control over their followers by fulfilling their expectations and stereotypical requirements of self-presentation in exchange for social recognition. For instance, having a set amount of people to observe their self- presentations as well as forms of engagement for their self-presentation, means celebrities always have a form of ‘dramaturgical loyalty’ ready for them (Goffman 189). Thus, the concept of ‘impression management’ suggests that the Instagram posts of Beyoncé, Kim, and Ronaldo are conditioned to both appeal to followers and fulfil their own interests. Following these guidelines both in impression management and through Dyer’s concept of the Star Image could allow celebrities to better condition for their followers.

14 1.4 The Institutional and Impulsive: The extraordinary and ordinary lifestyles

Cristiano Ronaldo’s first ever Instagram post is a representation of Turner’s concept of the ‘Institutionalized locus’ as it reveals a representation of himself that was ‘attained, created, and achieved’ (Turner 992); like his appearance as the football star.

Figure 7: Ronaldo’s first Instagram post Source: Instagram, 2012

Basing self-presentations on the types that would appeal most to others indicates that self-presentations can be modified. In 1976, these modified presentations of the self were represented by Turner’s concept of ‘the real self’, which relates to a self constructed in relation to others or in a dynamic interrelationship (Berger 1966 in Turner 989). Turner believed that the real self is best represented in interpersonal relations (Turner 1001) because these modified versions of the real self are only accentuated under reciprocated love from audiences as well as under the opportunities for gratification that come from them (Turner 1005). Turner constituted the real self under the ‘institutionalized’ and ‘impulsive’ loci, in which the former relates to the practices that adhere to high standards and live up to social norms (Turner 993). These loci infer a self-formation that is exteriorized to convey an ‘an outer world of objects and images valorized by commodity culture’ (Dunn 115). This means that the person has a particular goal in mind of what they want their self presentation to attain, and as a result is in full control of their faculties and behaviours (ibid). The ‘impulsive’ relates to performances with which celebrities avoid technical perfection and instead embrace their frailties (Turner 994). Another term used to refer to these ‘impulsive’ forms of self-presentations is ‘the demotic turn’ (Turner 82 in Carah and Shaul 140) in which stars have been made ordinary. The performance of self-presentation in this position contrasts dramatically as the self is revealed whilst inhibitions are lowered or even abandoned (Turner 993). Furthermore, these two expressions of ‘the self’ also differ because the ‘institutionalized’ form depends significantly on gratification to validate a self-presentation (Turner 1005) whereas the ‘impulsive form’ doesn’t as its intrinsic ordinariness is able to validate the authenticity of the self-presentation (Turner 1009). For this reason, there has been ‘a shift in the locus of the self away from the institutional pole to the impulse’ (Turner 989) and according to Turner this means ‘opportunities to gratify impulse have increased and norms against doing so have weakened’ (Turner 1007). On Instagram, the ‘impulsive’ locus or representations under ‘the demotic turn’ (Turner 82 in Carah and Shaul 140) could refer to the use of ‘selfies’ on their Instagram feeds. Equally, the institutionalized loci are synonymous with content that reflects the typical luxury and glamour in the

15 celebrity lifestyle. However, Turner’s framework of both the ‘institutional’ and ‘impulsive loci’ can also reveal the potential limitations of adapting this framework for Instagram. For instance, it seems that the ‘real or ‘true’ element of self-presentation is ‘obscured by the compliance with the institutional role’ (Turner 1008). In other words, if an individual chooses to use the institutional role they will need to ‘play their role to the hilt to appear genuine enough to their audiences’ (ibid). Moreover, the constant shift present between the institutionalized and impulsive loci means that followers are impeded from grasping the real identity of the celebrities. Consequently, celebrities’ self-presentations under the institutionalized and impulsive loci run the risk of appearing false, especially for the institutionalized role. However, if celebrities apply the right techniques, they can appear genuine and authentic through the institutional or impulsive locus. In other words, contrary to Turner’s belief, impulsive representations do not necessarily resonate with more recognition from followers on Instagram. Rather allowing elements of both institutional and impulsive loci to coexist together on an Instagram account can still result in forms of gratification (Turner 997). Therefore, whilst the celebrity is in control of which loci they occupy, a genuine representation is never predictable as these are indicated through followers. Nevertheless, it does demonstrate potential techniques that this concept can offer for celebrities to show both the extraordinary and ordinary sides of their self-presentation.

1.5 The Star Commodity: Celebrity endorsements and advertisements

Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta (2010) indicate an alternative form of self-presentation such as the celebrity endorsement. They suggest that there are two forms in which the celebrity endorsement can function. The first one is the traditional view as ‘a one-way meaning transfer’ model whereby the celebrity merely brings his associations to the endorsed brand (See Appendix Q) (454). Whereas, the second form, ‘the reciprocal meaning transfer’ model implies a brand alliance whereby the meanings and transfers brought to the brand being endorsed are also transferred back to the celebrity (See Appendix R). These meanings and associations can be difficult to control, but generally they refer to the consumers’ attitudes towards a brand alliance, and can come either in the form of positive meanings and associated with high brand leverage or negative associations that could damage the reputation of the brand (453). In the marketing perspective, these types of models can be used to indicate whether a celebrity’s endorsement was sufficient in obtaining commercial effectiveness (452). However, on Instagram this model can be used can demonstrate what a double-form of commodification of the celebrity and the brand they are endorsing can mean for the self-presentation of celebrities on Instagram. Moreover, it can reveal what differences a celebrity endorsement may have with an advertisement of a celebrity’s own brand. For instance, If the celebrity is endorsing brands they are not affiliated with then the meanings and associations are solely involved with the product, not the celebrity whereas

16 advertisements of a celebrity’s product has meanings and associations for both the product and themselves. Therefore, whilst these models are particularly relevant for the marketing perspective, this perspective highlights how significant self-presentation becomes when a celebrity represents another brand on top of their own. Through the double form of commodification, it could easily deflect attention away from engagement with the followers by focusing on the marketing message or promotion. As a result, the forms of validation deriving from followers through the features of Instagram are important in revealing whether their self-presentations are authentic or intimate enough and which types of celebrity endorsements or advertisements they prefer the most. Thus to go back to self-presentation and the role of Instagram within it, scenarios like celebrity endorsements indicate how important it is to appeal to followers and how necessary it is to encourage a sense of interaction with them through the Instagram features so that they can feel inclined enough to validate the celebrity brand. When celebrity endorsements and advertisements are used on Instagram these are the types of self-presentations that most obviously fulfil their purposes rather than conditioning for followers. This is because Celebrities receive financial compensation for these forms of self-presentation, however this is not to say that these self-presentations cannot condition for followers. Kim, Beyoncé and Ronaldo’s endorsement and advertisements have specific techniques they use for connecting with their followers through the double-form of branding they employ. Nevertheless, some are more ‘intimate’ than others, and these are indicative through Instagram’s features and tools.

1.6 The self-presentation as a reflection of a celebrity’s goal:

Self-presentation has the ability to take on many different forms, it can represent the public as well as the private persona, it can over-communicate some facts and conceal others or live up to high standards or completely avoid them. Ultimately, all these different forms are adopted by celebrities on their Instagram accounts because they believe it is the ideal way to engage with their fans. Thus, what star image, impression management, the two loci of the real self, and celebrity endorsements have in common is that the self always has to be constructed in relation to others. On Instagram, the followers take on the position of ‘others’ and celebrities’ choice of self-presentation are a reflection of the mediated relationship they want to build with them. This interpersonal relationship is able to function because the celebrities get increased attention, gratification and at times monetary compensation for their performances and the followers have an increased proximity and access to the intimate and private areas of their life. However, behind each facet of self-presentation lies a scheme of the celebrity that is well hidden. Dyer’s star image reveals that the true image of the celebrity is irreducible, and the star image is merely a fictional construction meant to convince followers of a consistent ‘persona’. Similarly, Goffman’s impression management indicates that fans may be seeing self-presentations of celebrities

17 that they approve of or expect but are at large only being given a glimpse of their lives that resonate with the preferences of the public. Lastly, Turner’s notion of the ‘real self’ indicates that celebrities may be able to appeal more to followers through the ‘impulsive’ role rather than the ‘institutional’ however the shift between them covers up the possibility of a celebrity’s real representations. Thus, conditions for self-presentation on Instagram have positively contributed to self-branding however the nature of the platform also reveal the potential wider schemes that are at work behind these performances. Consequently, the followers of these celebrities Instagram accounts can enjoy the increased access they have to their private lives, allowing celebrities to better maintain the attention and loyalty of their followers, however followers also have the upper-hand because each self-presentation strategy is dependent on their forms of validation and gratification. The following chapters will demonstrate the battle of how different self-presentations attempt to lure followers in. Whilst each nature of the self-presentations are different the aim within them remains the same – they are all in it to for their own goals and the activities of the followers on Instagram bring them a step closer to fulfilling them.

18 Chapter 2: The Star Image on Instagram ‘The openness of society is assumed by the way we are addressed as individuals’ (Dyer 8)

This chapter will focus on Dyer’s concept of ‘the star image’ introduced in Chapter one, to understand how celebrities are represented through their Instagram accounts. To reiterate, Dyer’s concept of the public persona refers to the ‘character commonly witnessed at staged-managed appearances’ whereas the private persona to the hidden character ‘who is at the site or occasion of this public appearance’ (Dyer 7). In this time period a celebrity’s star image was controlled by Hollywood, however now Instagram can add another dimension by allowing celebrities to have more control over their own star images and for the ways in which they address fans. Marwick and Boyd’s (2011) study on celebrity practice reveals the typical ways celebrities would address fans through this increased control over the self-presentation; such as intimate and candid representations or the strategic re-employment of strategies already present in the mainstream media (139). In Dyer’s terms, the intimate and candid representations would constitute ‘the private persona’, whereas the latter ‘the public persona’ as content in the mainstream media are typically just sites of news and information. Nonetheless, the intimate glimpse that star images are capable of providing means little when these representations are posted publicly for the whole world on Instagram. On Instagram, ‘public’ and ‘private’ personas have overlapped, causing all seemingly ‘intimate’ and ‘private’ star images to be public. In this sense, an Instagram follower is no longer authentic as any Instagram user has access to this content. For this reason, Dyer’s distinction between the ‘public’ and ‘private’ personas needs a new conceptualisation for Instagram. The types of Instagram posts representing the star image can be split into two categories; the first being the ‘candid’and ‘professional’ and the second; the ‘intimate’ and ‘post-private’ moments. The ‘candid’ and ‘professional’ refer to the public within the public, because these photos display celebrities in public appearances on the public site of Instagram whereas the ‘intimate’ and ‘post-private’ to the private within the public, as these photos reveal the instances in which celebrities share the ‘intimate’ parts of their lives on the public site of Instagram. This overlap between the ‘public’ and ‘private’ persona will be illustrated and discussed in five sections. The first sections 2.1. and 2.1. will contextualise Dyer’s concept of the star image within the Instagram posts of Beyoncé, Kim, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Then 2.3 will demonstrate the tension of applying the public and private distinctions of the star image to their Instagram accounts. Lastly 2.4 will map out how celebrities condition for the needs of their followers through this concept and 2.5 will demonstrate how this allows them to fulfil their purposes. Ultimately, the aim of these different sections is to demonstrate that there is no border between the public and the private and thus questions of the private and public have evolved to questions of what star images are most able to appear authentic among audiences.

19 2.1. The public within the public: ‘candid’ and ‘professional’ photographs 2:

Kim Kardashian Beyoncé Knowles Cristiano Ronaldo

Figure 10 (Instagram, 2016) Figure 8 (Instagram, 2016) Figure 9 (Instagram, 2016) Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012

Kim Kardashian’s Instagram post on the 16th of September 2016 in Figure 8 shows her walking on the

street in front of her husband Kanye West in close proximity to the rest of the public and paparazzi. The caption of the post reads ‘Miami’ and according to PopSugar, ‘Kim was in Florida for Kanye’s pair of concerts at American Airlines Arena for that weekend’ (Stephens, 2016). Through examination of the Instagram post and the blank expressions of Kim and even of husband Kanye, the photo appears candid. Especially because they are not posing for the camera and appear to have little interest in their surroundings or to the rest of the public behind the bodyguard. Moreover, whilst their walk on the street appears candid and ordinary, Kim’s outfit choice of the intimate black-lace corset allows her celebrity status to stand out. Therefore, Kim has used her candid public appearance for her star image by both celebrying her ordinary as well as her extraordinary life (Grindstaff and Murray 130-1). Beyoncé’s Instagram post from the 8th of February 2016 in Figure 9 shows her performance of the single “Formation” at the Superbowl Halftime show. The post appears to be caption-less, however in the photo she is standing next to Chris Martin (lead singer of the British rock band Coldplay) and Bruno Mars (An American singer-songwriter) allowing her extraordinary celebrity status to stand out. Similar to Beyoncé, Ronaldo’s Instagram post from the 12th of March 2017 in Figure 10 shows him performing in the domain of his fame at a football game for team Real Madrid against team Real Betis. Therefore, both Beyoncé, and Ronaldo’s control over the representation of their public appearance take on a ‘professional communication’, allowing them both to ‘exercise control’ over the impressions their fans make of their public appearance (Marwick and Boyd 145). Moreover, these appearances allow them to

2 See Appendices A-C for Original posts

20 re-employ the strategies already present in the mainstream media (Marwick and Boyd 147), by using their Instagram accounts and thus their star image to embody the site of news and information rather than a site for a fan-celebrity relationship (Avdeeff 109). One of the similarities present between each celebrity’s ‘public within public’ Instagram posts, is that each of the photos appear candid and in the domain of their fame. However, since some appearances encompass more of the professional communications, this suggests that there is no set ‘public persona’ post for a celebrity and that the many dimensions of public appearances allow them to grasp more control over their star images.

2.2. The private within the public: the ‘intimate’ and ‘the post-private’ 3

Kim Kardashian Beyoncé Knowles Cristiano Ronaldo

Figure 11 (Instagram, 2017) Figure 12 (Instagram, 2017) Figure 13 (Instagram, 2016) Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012

Kim Kardashian’s post on January 3rd 2017 in Figure 11 shows a family portrait of her with her two children North and Saint West and her husband Kanye West. The caption of the post reads: ‘Family’ and according to US Weekly, ‘this marked Kim Kardashian’s return to social media after being held at gunpoint in Paris during the Fashion week’ (Marquina, 2017). Similarly, Beyoncé’s Instagram post from February 1st, 2017 shows an artistic-style portrait of her sharing the news about twins that will be joining her family with husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue-Ivy. Part of the caption reads: ‘We have been blessed two times over’, receiving about 7.5 million likes in a span of 12 hours, and with a current

3 See Appendices D-F for original Instagram posts

21 number of 10.8 million likes4, it has made “the most liked Instagram post in the history of the app” (Boyer, 2017). Both Instagram posts use the star image of the ‘private’ to create a glimpse into the ‘intimate’ and ‘post-private’ moments of their lives (Marwick 146) and express their willingness to share a picture from their domestic environments. Moreover, with both posts focusing on the theme of family, they each choose content their followers would easily be able to identify with. Nevertheless, whilst their family pictures or the news of Beyoncé’s pregnancy may seem candid or aesthetically appealing at first glance, both of their posts have used strategically-condensed performance for their own gains (Grindstaff and Murray 111) and for the construction of a ‘consumable persona’ for her followers (Marwick and Boyd 140). For Kim, this refers to her being able to elicit heightened emotional responses from her followers after being absent on social media for a period of three months. Equally, for Beyoncé this refers to the use of Instagram that made her ordinary pregnancy announcement an earth-shattering piece of news (Senft 2008 in Marwick and Boyd 140). On the other hand, Ronaldo’s Instagram post on the 28th of September 2016 in Figure 13 shows a picture of him working out at his gym. With caption title: ‘This is my life’, Such a self-presentation shows his followers what he is up to in his personal time, however also has the benefit of revealing the male ideal body type and thus opportunities for ‘celebrity worship’ (Brown and Tiggemann 42). Therefore, similar to Kim and Beyoncé, the use of his star image to show off how much hard work and effort he invests into his brand as the footballer player, reveals that he also, has used the ‘intimate’ glimpse of his life strategically.

2.3 Questions of authenticity and the implications of the public and private overlap:

Dyer’s interpretation of the star image does distinguish between the public and private personas; however, his assertions mean something different for the self-presentations of celebrities on Instagram. As already mentioned, this is because the nature of their ‘private personas’ is possible on the public nature of Instagram. As a result, questions of ‘authenticity’ and ‘merit’ that audiences first had to keep into account have become overpowered by what types of star images are able to most effectively appeal to the followers on the public site of Instagram. Nonetheless, ‘authenticity’ is still an expected criterion since fans expect these celebrities’ Instagram accounts to show more than the interviews, biographies, or talk show appearances already present in the mainstream media. Questions of authenticity become more challenging with Beyoncé’s Instagram account as she has a social media manager posting on the account for her (Avdeeff 109). Therefore, even those Instagram posts that are meant to reveal her intimate or post-private moments of her star image are under question. However, even when the celebrity maintains control over the content on their Instagram accounts, such as the case of Kim and Ronaldo, this does not necessarily mean that their followers

4 Recorded in March 2017 – subject to change

22 always get the most ‘intimate’ glimpses of their star image. For instance, the constant shifting between professional-style photos of Ronaldo at the broadcasted football match of Real Madrid vs. Real Betis to the more ‘intimate’ photos of him in the privacy of his home-gym (Figures 10 and 13) means that followers are not always exposed to ‘the site of openness’. The consistent presentation of ‘intimate’ posts would be able to accomplish this greater degree of authenticity (Dyer 7), however achieving this is difficult when these ‘intimate glimpses’ are available to the public and when each celebrity appears to have strategic purposes. The fact that the star images are public means not only that posts of the ‘intimate’ or ‘post- private’ are difficult to achieve, but that celebrities must adopt strategies with their posts in order to fit into the expectations of all types of Instagram users. Consequently, the ‘candid’ and ‘professional’ Instagram posts in Section 2.1 have been tailored according to each celebrity’s purposes in relation to Instagram users. Whilst these purposes are not explicit, the content available within the Instagram post itself can reveal potential strategic purposes. For instance, in Section 2.1, Figure 8, Kim’s choice to post a such a photo allows her to appear candid and ordinary by walking on the street like the other members of the public, however the choice of attire seems to illustrate that she is simultaneously trying to appear extraordinary. Moreover, Beyoncé’s professional photo of the Superbowl performance in Section 2.1, Figure 9 illustrates her desire to use her Instagram account as a site for ‘professional communications’. Similarly, Ronaldo’s professional photo in Section 2.1, Figure 10, appears as an opportunity for him to re-employ the strategic revealing already visible in the mainstream media, conveniently allowing such a photo to reinforce his career image. In the representation of their ‘intimate’ sides in section 2.2, strategic purposes are still present however in an attempt to cover up their strategies in the public and private overlap, the celebrities have applied the highest degree of their ‘private’ and ‘intimate’ selves in an effort to appeal to Instagram users. For instance, in Kim’s family portrait in Section 2.2, Figure 11, she seems to suggest how happy she is with her husband and two kids, however the orchestration of such an emotionally-engaging post after staying offline for three months may reveal a strategy hidden behind the ‘public presence of this post’. Similarly, Beyoncé’s star image in Section 2.2, Figure 12 is meant to share the news of her twin- pregnancy with her followers, yet the timing and staging of the post is suddenly able to make followers aware of the posts’ public presence because her revelation addressed to millions of people can stand out as a means to maintain popularity among her followers. Lastly, Ronaldo’s star image in Section 2.2, Figure 13, appears as a demonstration of hard work and effort for maintaining his public status as the football star, however the public presence of this post also allows his photo to serve as a way to boast about his ‘body’. Therefore, whilst the concept of Dyer’s ‘star image’ does provide a useful starting point for understanding the way celebrities present themselves on Instagram, traces of potential strategies as well as the overlap between the public and private changes the nature of star images for Instagram.

23 2.4. Conditioning ‘star images’ for followers: Goffman’s ‘Impression Management’

Nevertheless, the intimacy engendered by star images are important because they provide the glimpse into the inner life that fans want (Marwick and Boyd 149). In Goffman’s perspective, this intimacy engendered by their star images would be a way to appeal to their followers (30) and since followers are often satisfied with this, it can be argued that intimate glimpses of a celebrity’s life only exist because it is the most efficient means to maintain their attention and loyalty (Marwick and Boyd 149). These conscious efforts that a celebrity takes to appeal to their followers through intimacy and personal disclosure on their Instagram accounts would be the ‘backstage performances’ (Goffman 126). However, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo in particular also use their accounts as a site for news as illustrated through Figures 9 and 10, in which they showcase the professional and career aspects of their star image. In such moments, the increased attention dispensed into showcasing their ‘professional’ side deflects them from bonding with their followers because their star images encompass decreased access to a celebrity’s intimate life (Marwick and Boyd 149). This particular professional type of communication would constitute the ‘frontstage performance’ (Goffman 126) and occurs because celebrities often need to temper the perception that they have become an insider’ (Marwick and Boyd 154) [Y.A.]. This back-and-forth logic between their ‘professional’ and ‘intimate’ communications or between their frontstage and backstage performances are important because it solidifies the celebrities’ status in their fame. Consequently, these celebrities are never seen as an average Instagram user and get their recognition for occasionally reminding their followers of their extraordinary status, creating the friction necessary between the celebrity and their followers (Marwick and Boyd 154). This is part of impression management and techniques like these are important for providing celebrities with their ‘social reinforcements’ in the form of ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ (Marwick 141). In this sense, followers are no longer passive; they adopt a more active role by observing whether the celebrities’ posts fit into their expectations. As observers, the followers use the ‘likes’ to indicate which type of star image they prefer the most and thus which types of Instagram posts are the most popular. For instance, they indicate that ‘intimate’ posts have higher engagement than the ‘professional’ posts. This can be illustrated by looking at the sum of engagement rates of Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo’s ‘public within public’ posts in Section 2.1 in comparison to the sum of engagement rates of Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo’s ‘private within private’ posts (See Appendices D-F).

24 Figure 14: Sum of engagement rates for all 3 ‘public within public’ posts (Iconosquare, 2017) 5

Figure 15: Engagement rate for all 3 ‘private within public’ posts (Iconosquare, 2017):

With a sum of 6.4% mean engagement rate for the public within public posts in Section 2.1 in comparison to the 19.7% engagement rate sum for the private within public posts, it is evident that the followers of the celebrities’ Instagram accounts do prefer the intimacy characterized by the private within public posts in Section 2.2.

Even more explicit than engagement rates, examining the likes under their private within public posts could have easily lead these celebrities to establish that these posts are given the most recognition and may also provide an explanation for the strategic planning behind the appearance of these posts and

25 the rest that follow. Figure 16 below shows the most liked posts during the week that the private within public posts were posted and the position that they received in the ‘most liked posts’ of the week.6 Kim’s family portrait in Figure 11 and Beyoncé’s pregnancy portrait from Figure 12 ranked first, and Ronaldo’s gym workout from Figure 13 ranked fourth. Moreover, they received a total of 17.1 million likes. Whereas, Kim and Beyoncé’s public within public posts in Figures 8 and 9 ranked fourth, Ronaldo’s third, and only reached a total amount of 5.2 likes (See Appendix G).

Figure 16: The likes of the ‘private within public’ posts (Iconosquare, 2017):

In order to assess whether celebrities always respond to these patterns, eight consecutive posts posted after the private within public posts will be accessed. These posts range from the day after these posts in section 2.2 to the eight posts afterwards. By choosing to post similar or dissimilar posts right after these highly engaged posts of ‘performative intimacy’, it reveals certain guidelines that celebrities follow in order to sustain loyalty from their followers. Moreover, it indicates which celebrities engage the most with impression management or ‘backstage performances’ and those that prioritize professional communications, such as the ‘frontstage performance’.

6 This week is defined as 2 days before the post and 5 days after it was posted – if photo appears alone there were no other posts that week

26 Figure 17: The 8 consecutive posts after Kim’s private persona post (From left to right - January 4th – January 11th) (Instagram, 2017)

Figure 18: The 8 consecutive posts after Beyoncé’s private persona post (From left to right - 23rd February – 19th March) (Instagram, 2017)

Figure 19: The 8 consecutive posts after Ronaldo’s private persona post (From left to right - 29th September – 1st October) (Instagram, 2016)

27

These posts illustrate that there is a priority among the types of self-presentation practices celebrities take. For both Kim and Beyoncé, the priority after posting their ‘private within public’ posts, was to post content that resembled the same theme of their backstage performances. As illustrated by Figures 17 and 18 this includes series of photos with them with their husbands and children. More specifically, Kim’s collage of photos posted after her family portrait on January 3rd continued the theme of ‘family’, and similarly, Beyoncé’s series of photos continued the theme of her pregnancy through the release of photoshoot-style photographs of her in a range of fashionable outfits. However, contrary to the rest, Ronaldo’s posts in Figure 19 after his ‘intimate’ post of his gym workout contain a range of different type of content. This series of photos show frontstage performances of him such as photos with him on the football field with his team, but also contains promotion posts, and various photoshoots that contribute to his professional communications. This not only reveals the priority of his professional ‘frontstage performances’ over his intimate ‘backstage performances’ (Goffman 23), it also indicates that Ronaldo’s star image is not synonymous with Goffman’s concept of ‘impression management’ because he doesn’t prioritise the ‘intimate’ posts over his ‘professional’ posts.

2.5 Conditioning star images for purposes: Maintaining ‘openness’

Thus each celebrity has tailored the use of their star image in order to gain recognition. Whilst Kim and Beyoncé achieve this through a series of ‘intimate’ and ‘personal’ photos, Ronaldo is also able to achieve this through the focus on more professional communication. Ultimately then, the purpose of all these celebrities with the representation of their star image on Instagram is to appear open enough and express their willingness to share both the public and private appearances of their life and to embrace the sort of self-presentation that will help them achieve that. However, determining whether a star image maintains openness is a social construct and therefore always relative and context dependent (Bendix, 1997; Cheng 2004 in Marwick and Boyd 149) allowing celebrities to use their star images in different ways to appeal to their followers. The star images facilitate openness through presentations of their ‘hidden inner life’ (Trilling in Marwick and Boyd 149), but equally through showcasing a brand image already accessible on mainstream media which also has the benefit of maintaining their interest and loyalty. For instance, in Section 2.1 Figure 9, Beyoncé’s Instagram post of her at the halftime Superbowl show appeared ‘open’ by offering her followers the chance to witness her ‘brand image’ as a popstar whereas the post of her pregnancy portrait in Figure 12 allowed her followers to see her life on the ‘inside’. Thus, even though Dyer’s concept of the ‘star image’ claims to take audiences behind the scenes (Dyer 10), Instagram’s public nature impedes followers from gaining the private glimpse. Moreover, if celebrities are only invested in the outcomes they will get from their content, this leaves little room for

28 followers to connect with celebrities on a personal level. These outcomes refer to the engagement derived off of these posts in the forms of ‘likes’, ‘comments’, and ‘follows’, and any other public recognition they can get from their followers. This was evident when Kim and Beyoncé continued posting the private within public posts that resulted in high forms of engagement in the first place. Rather than using the public and private distinctions of Dyer’s star image, this concept becomes a useful tool for celebrity’s self-branding practices’ by indicating what types of star images are perceived as the most intimate.

29 Chapter 3: The institutional and impulsive representations on Instagram ‘The contradictoriness of the discourses of celebrity – their capacity to simultaneously valorize the celebrity’s elite status while nonetheless celebrating their ‘intrinsic ordinariness’ (Turner et al., 2000: 13).

This chapter will focus on Turner’s concept of the ‘real self’ represented by ‘the institutionalized’ and ‘impulsive’ loci that arise when the self is in dynamic interrelationships (Berger 1966 in Turner, The Real Self 989). To reiterate from chapter 1, the institutional locus relates to a form of presentation in which a person adheres to high standards and social norms, is in full control of their faculties and behaviors, and has a particular a goal in mind of what they want to accomplish with their self- presentation. ‘The impulsive locus’ on the other hand, involves forms of self-presentation that avoid technical perfection and instead focus on embracing frailties and the self under lowered or abandoned inhibitions (Turner, The Real Self 993). According to Turner, these two different forms of the ‘real self’ function on a continuum ranging from the self in the pursuit of institutionalized goals to the self in the impulsive state waiting to be discovered and spontaneously expressed (Turner The Real Self 989). Moreover, he notes that the ‘real’ element of self-presentation is more difficult to achieve in the ‘institutionalized’ state meaning opportunities to gratify impulsive have increased (Turner, The Real Self 1007). As a result, he concludes that the gradual appeal to have both institutional and impulsive loci exist together is more prominent allowing elements of to co-exist in the same person (Turner, The Real Self 997). This parallels quite closely with Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo’s self-presentation practices on Instagram because some posts seem to embrace the ‘high standard’ presentation characterized by their ‘extraordinary celebrity status’ and others the presentations that prioritize their willingness to express something ordinary. However, the nature of this framework is different on Instagram because the constant shift between the institutional and impulsive representations; impedes the followers from grasping the real identity behind these representations. Therefore, a new conceptualization of Turner’s concept of ‘the real self’ is needed for Instagram so that the ‘institutional’ and ‘impulsive’ loci can address the issue of ‘false’ presentation. In this angle, the institutional self can be used to seen to provide the ‘sincere’ extraordinary celebrity lifestyle and the impulsive the personal and intimate glimpses of their life that are not typically exposed to the public. The discussion of the institutional and impulsive loci and the implications of this constant shift will be discussed throughout five sections. The first sections 3.1 and 3.2 will use screenshots of Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo that constitute their institutional and impulsive loci. Section 3.3 will establish what kind of implications arise for the shift between the institutional and impulsive selves followed by Section 3.4 which draws on Goffman’s (1961) concept of ‘role distance’ to understand how followers are envisioned to perceive the institutional and impulsive representations. The last section 2.5, will reveal how the celebrities’ use of Instagram as well as their hierarchal agendas obscure their possibility

30 to represent their real self. Within these sections a number of different theorists and frameworks will be engaged with. Firstly, Grindstaff and Murray (2015), Gamson (2011), and Turner (2006) for their contributions on the representations of ‘ordinariness’ and the ‘true self’ used by celebrities. Carah and Shaul (2015) for their concepts on gender and representation of the body on Instagram. Thirdly, Marwick and Boyd (2011) for their assertions on the sense of intimacy between the celebrity practitioner and the followers and Marwick (2015)’s article ‘Instafame’ for her discussion on how celebrities manage their status of fame on social media. Lastly, Griffin’s (2011)’s framework on race and the role they play in society. These sections and the theoretical frameworks used within them aim to demonstrate that the shifts in ‘institutional’ and ‘impulsive’ presentations impede these celebrities from revealing their ‘real selves’. However, these frameworks do allow them to adopt a particular technique in which they can adjust their self-presentation in relation to the type of relationship would like to attain with their followers.

3.1. The institutionalized representations: The extraordinary celebrity status7

Kim Kardashian Beyoncé Knowles Cristiano Ronaldo

Figure 20 (Instagram, 2017) Figure 21 (Instagram, 2016) Figure 22 (Instagram, 2016) Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012

Kim Kardashian’s Instagram post on the 15th of April 2017 in Figure 20 shows her on the red carpet at

‘The Promise Premiere’ in Los Angeles Chinese Theatres. According to DailyMail, Kim ‘attended in order to support the Armenian community by bringing attention to the film and honor her commitment to attend’ (Waddell 2017). The caption of the post reads: ‘The promise premiere @chinese theatres, I’m so proud a film was finally made about the Armenian genocide and to share the story of the Armenian people. Glam - @chrisappleton1 @1marypgillips’. Therefore, it is evident that the post is not

7 See Appendices H – J for original Instagram posts

31 just about her appearance but about the promotion of Cher’s new film The Promise and the acknowledgement of her ‘glam’ team responsible for her outfit and makeup through Instagram’s tagging features. The former is especially significant as the post also invokes a political statement about the Armenian genocide. Through acknowledging her passion towards the story of the Armenian people, she also connotes that she is of Armenian descent. Cristiano Ronaldo’s Instagram post on November 5th 2016 in Figure 22 is a photoshoot of him wearing a suit from the Portuguese fashion brand Sacoorbrothers.8 Similar to Kim’s post at The Promise Premiere, the post is not merely about his appearance. Rather, both institutionalized representations of Kim and Ronaldo offer followers a different glimpse of the celebrity, Kim in the high-class setting of a red-carpet appearance and Ronaldo as ‘the business man’ rather than ‘the football player’. This allows their institutionalized representations to embody power differentials that separate them from their fans (Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity Practice 154). However, Ronaldo’s institutional representation in Figure 22 is also similar to that of Beyoncé’s in Figure 21. Beyoncé’s Instagram post on February 16th, 2016 is a photoshoot of her wearing her outfit for the Grammy’s, and hers as well as Ronaldo’s show them in nonchalant poses, with their faces pointing downwards allowing their extraordinary representations to appear aspirational (Marwick 141). Moreover, both photos appear edited and refined to adhere to the high standard and ‘polished error-free performance’ standard of institutionalized representations (Turner, The Real Self 992).

8 Sacoor Brothers is an international fashion and lifestyle brand based out of Portugal but with outlets in Britain, Belgium, Singapore and Malaysia (Kee, 2015)

32

3.2. ‘The impulsive representations’: The ordinary celebrity status9

Kim Kardashian Beyoncé Knowles Cristiano Ronaldo

Figure 23 (Instagram, 2017) Figure 24 (Instagram, 2017) Figure 25 (Instagram, 2017) Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012

All posts from Kim, Beyoncé, and Cristiano Ronaldo in Figures 23 to 25 show different forms of

selfies10, a technique widely used to appear ‘ordinary’ through the ‘demotic turn’ (Turner The Demotic Turn 161). Kim’s Instagram post on June 11th 2016 in Figure 23 shows what is called a ‘mirror selfie’, whereas Beyoncé and Ronaldo’s posts in Figures 24 and 25 show ordinary selfies. On Kim’s Instagram post in Figure 23, The caption reads ‘The wife of Pablo’, implying that her Instagram post as well her appearance in the customized one-piece swimsuit is a paid tribute to her husband Kanye’s record (Carpenter, 2016). Beyoncé’s Instagram post from the 16th of June 2016 as shown in Figure 24 shows a selfie of her showing off her freckles and floral accessories and Ronaldo’s Instagram post in Figure 25 from the 9th of September 2016 shows a selfie of him with his six-year-old son, Cristiano Jr. with caption “❤️❤”. Beyoncé’s selfies are ‘face-forward, utilizing the front camera of a phone’, however ‘posing from the side allows Beyoncé’ to highlight the little-seen feature of her freckles (Sciaretto, 2016) and Ronaldo’s selfie allows him to bring focus to his son. Thus, the primary similarity present among all these Instagram posts is that these selfies indicate deeper facets than their -appearances. For Kim, it was about the promotion of her husband’s new record or even to bringing attention to her sexualized body image. For Beyoncé, it was about drawing attention to the few racialized features on her face that are normally hidden from everyday appearance. By contrary, for Ronaldo, the selfie symbolizes his willingness to share the close bond he has with his son.

9 See Appendices K-M for original Instagram posts 10 Selfie is another word for a ‘self-portrait’

33 Moreover, they all reveal the intimate glimpses of themselves under ordinary expressions that are integral to the production of impulsive representations (Grindstaff and Murray 115). Therefore, by avoiding the ‘high-standard’ presentations they used in their institutionalized loci, through the representations of their impulsive selves, they prioritise the ‘frail’ presentations (Turner, The Real Self 994) in an attempt to get at a closer proximity with their followers.

3.3. Implications of the shift between the institutional and impulsive representations

Turner’s concept of the ‘real self’ consisting of the modified versions of the ‘institutional’ and ‘impulsive’ selves does provide an explanation for those Instagram posts that focus on ‘high standard’ representations, and those extraordinary luxurious self-presentations that a celebrity is supposed to embody in the perspective of social norms (Turner, The Real Self 993). Equally, his concept of the ‘impulsive self’ offers a framework for the ordinary representations where the celebrity tries to avoid the representations of ‘technical perfection’ that is typically expected of them (Turner, The Real Self 994). However, these frameworks become insufficient to explain their self-presentations when they constantly shift between these two forms. In the context of Instagram this is because these shifts impede them from establishing a fixed self-presentation; and a consistent presentation vis-à-vis their followers. Rather, the representations of the ‘institutional’ and ‘impulsive’ highlight the power differentials (Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity Practice 155) present between the celebrity and follower whilst remaining on their level by adopting the same techniques of their followers. This allows celebrities to differentiate themselves from their followers at one moment whilst relating to them at others for the purpose of gaining status and attention online (Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity Practice 156). Therefore, this constant shift in persona is necessary for the celebrity because they need to establish some kind of boundary between them and their followers. On the side of the ‘institutionalized’ self, this allows them to appear ‘aspirational’ in relation to their followers and they compensate for this on the side of the ‘impulsive’ self, by sharing intimate aspects of their lives. For instance, Kim’s presence on the red-carpet in Figure 20 allows her to appear ‘aspirational’ because followers are not subject to such experiences in their day-to-day lives. Yet, her mirror selfie in Figure 23 provides her followers with increased access to the ‘intimate’ elements of her appearance such as her ‘curvy’ body and her ‘cleavage’. In the same way, Beyoncé and Ronaldo’s Instagram feed is filled with countless photos of ‘photoshoot’ style photography (Figures 21, 22 and 24, 25), while their selfies in Figures 23 and 26 have offered their followers a glimpse at the more intimate aspects of their lives. However, the constant shift between the institutional and impulsive selves indicates a few limitations in regard to the self-representations that the followers are represented. For instance, it seems that the ‘authenticity’ or ‘real’ element of self-presentation is obscured by the compliance with the compliance of the ‘institutionalized’ role (Turner, The Real Self 1008). Such a conjecture implies that when the celebrities offer their ‘extraordinary lifestyle’ representations in the form of the

34 ‘institutionalized’ self rather than the ‘impulsive’ self, it is less likely that the followers will believe in the ‘authenticity’ of the presentation. In his perspective, their impulsive representation would compensate for the lack of authenticity that their institutional representations by offering the increased access to intimate parts of their lives. Nevertheless, the impulsive representations of Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo can still be indicating limitations in terms of deception. Their representations of the ‘ordinary’ can be perceived to stand in for the real when they are not (Gamson 1063) [Y.A.] which in Turner’s terms would ‘superficially becloud or threaten the true self’ (Turner, The Real Self 991). Nonetheless since the ‘true self’ isn’t achievable on a platform like Instagram, celebrities negotiate this tension through allowing elements of their ‘institutional’ and ‘impulsive’ selves to co-exist in their self- presentations (Turner, The Real Self 997). In this way, they are able to satisfy the demands of both the extraordinary celebrity status and overcome the limitation of unattainable representations of the ‘real self’ by appearing distant and close to their followers at the same time.

3.4. Celebrities conditioning for patterns of consumption: Goffman’s ‘Role Distance’ (1961)

Appearing close to the followers through the impulsive Instagram posts as well as distant through the institutional Instagram posts are important because it solidifies the celebrity’s status in their fame. As already mentioned, the ‘institutionalized’ self allows celebrities to get recognition for occasionally reminding their followers of their ‘extraordinary celebrity status’ (Marwick and Boyd 154) whereas the ‘impulsive’ self allows their followers to get close to them through increased access into their more personal image. This juxtaposition between the two positions allows the celebrity to keep their followers at a distance and create the friction necessary for followers to remain intrigued (ibid). This can be explained by a concept called ‘Role Distance’ (Goffman 1961) whereby the celebrity has maintained a distance between their real personality and a formalized role (Goffman in Turner, The Real Self 1008) allowing them to adopt ways to appear both ‘extraordinary’ and ‘ordinary’ among their followers. In the Institutional role, ‘role distancing’ requires the celebrity to appear extraordinary and ‘play their role to the hilt’ (Turner, The Real Self 1008) to be able to ‘appear genuine to his institutional auditors’ (ibid.). However, the challenge of role distancing in the ‘institutional’ role is the risk of appearing insincere to the followers (Turner, The Real Self 1008). Therefore, whilst the Instagram posts of Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo in the Institutionalised roles reinforce an existing hierarchy of fame, in which the iconography of glamour, luxury, wealth, good looks is present (Marwick 141), these representations alone are not enough in the context of ‘role distancing’ in the institutional role. To compensate for this limitation, celebrities use the tools and features inscribed into the digital medium of Instagram (Marwick 141), such as the ‘caption’ and ‘tagging’. The caption and tags are useful tools for understanding the intentions of the celebrities in question as it reveals ‘the broader technical and social context in which they utilise, share, manipulate, and re-gram Instagram images and videos’ (Highfield and Leaver 11). Out of all three Instagram posts used in the institutional role, two of

35 them had detailed captions. The one’s with captions were Kim’s Instagram post in Figure 20 and Ronaldo’s Instagram post in Figure 23, whereas Beyoncé’s post of her institutional role in Figure 25 remained caption-less, which has the effect of assigning more significance to her appearance in the photo rather than the context surrounding the photo. Kim’s and Ronaldo’s photos on the other hand have captions and thus have more context surrounding the photos. Figures 26 and 27 show screenshots of these captions.

Figure 26 (Instagram, 2017) Figure 27 (Instagram, 2016)

Through Kim’s caption and tagging of her Instagram post as shown in Figure 26, she has contextualized her presence as the Promise Premiere. Without the caption, the tagging, or even the Armenian flag- emoji, it would be unclear as to why Kim is appearing on the red-carpet or why she is posing for the photo at all. Similarly, Ronaldo’s caption and tagging underneath shown in Figure 27, has been used to promote his-custom made ‘Sacoorbrothers’ suit to his followers. This reveals ways in which Kim and Ronaldo have attempted to ‘play their role to the hilt’ in the role distancing in their ‘institutionalized’ forms. However, because Beyoncé’s post was caption-less, it reveals a little less commitment to fulfilling the tasks required by the institutional role illustrating that the Instagram posts of Beyoncé and Ronaldo more accurately comply with ideal cases of ‘role distancing’ (Turner, The Real Self 1008). On the contrary, in the impulsive role, ‘role distancing’ embraces the ‘ordinary’ and implies that the celebrity satisfies their followers by revealing facets of their intimate and personal lives through techniques used by ‘regular people’ (Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity Practice 156). In this particular position, the celebrity shows that they are not really uptight, false, or plastic as their conformity with the institutional role might suggest. Rather ‘role distancing’ in the impulsive role is meant to convince celebrities of ‘the real self’ that is temporarily obscured by the compliance with their institutional role (Turner, The Real Self 1008). Whilst the shifting between the ‘institutional’ and ‘impulsive’ selves make the presentation of the ‘real self’ unachievable, the role distancing that Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo practice in the impulsive role is able to appear less ‘false’ than role distancing in the ‘institutionalized role’ through increased access into the intimate aspects of their personal lives as well as particular representations of their bodies that aren’t typically exposed to the public.

36 Each celebrity has their own unique ways of representing their body in the impulsive roles. This is visible through the types of facets they have chosen to highlight through the representation of their bodies. As already shown in Figure 20, For Kim this would relate to the gender norms she uses in her impulsive locus such as ‘norms of physical appearance, body positioning, and movement’ […] (Marwick in Carah and Shaul 78) as well as the use of the mirror to indicate her true appearance. Similarly, in Figure 24, this refers to Beyoncé impulsive representation of her freckles which addresses her true identity mixed race identity as well as her proximity to whiteness (Griffin 139) for the purpose of role distancing in her impulsive form. Different from the rest, in Figure 25, Ronaldo represents his role distancing in the impulsive self through a picture of him and his son in which he elicits flows of affect and displays of authentic emotion in the relationship with his son to appeal to his followers (Grindstaff and Murray 130).

3.5. Conditioning the ‘institutional’ and ‘impulsive’ loci for their own purposes

When celebrities need to constantly switch between the ‘institutional’ and ‘impulsive’ representation to appear genuine it means that that none of their representations – institutional or impulsive – are capable of fulfilling this. Moreover, even though followers are allowed increased access to the personal lives of these celebrities through impulsive representations, these seemingly ordinary and everyday presentations are made to appear as if they stand in for the real while the institutional locus demonstrates that they aren’t (Gamson 1063). As Turner notes, ‘For those who find out who they truly are by listening to the voice of impulse, the same behaviour is a meaningless submission to institutional regimens and authoritarianism’ (The Real Self 992). Thus, differentiating between the institutional self and the impulsive self is questionable as the two are inextricably linked. The impulsive somehow depends on the institutional to portray the ‘ordinary’ and frail elements that are not possible in the institutionalised form making the impulsive form just as ‘hierarchal’ as the institutional. Consequently, neither the institutional or impulsive representations is more capable than the other of revealing a celebrity’s ‘real’ identity; an important criterion for gratification among followers on Instagram. An accurate indication for determining whether the institutional or impulsive posts are more gratified among their audiences are the engagement rates. Figure 28 shows the engagement rates of the institutional role posts, whereas Figure 29 shows the engagement rates from the impulsive role posts. With a sum of 7.2% for the engagement rates in the institutional versus a slight increased sum of 7.32% for the impulsive it seems that both the institutional and impulsive representations are well received.

37 Figure 28: Engagement rates on Institutional posts11 (Iconosquare, 2017)

Figure 29: Engagement rate on impulsive posts (Iconosquare, 2017)

This indicates that both impulsive and institutional representations are merely hierarchal structures used for celebrities to operate in service of their own needs and interests (Turner The Demotic Turn 157). In other words, the promise for increased access into their personal lives characterised by their impulsive representations are not evidence of a democratized celebrity system. (Gamson 1068) Rather it is evidence of a ‘common narrative strategy’ used by celebrities whereby they invite their followers to come see what their lives are really like when in actuality there is no such way to know (Gamson 1063). This allows them to draw their followers in when they feel they need to, and keep them at a distance at other moments when they feel their institutionalised roles are sufficient to reduce the perceptions of ‘false presentations’. Therefore, determining whether Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo’s Institutionalised or Impulsive representations constitute their real selves is no longer the question. Rather it is about why the real self is unattainable - because these celebrity’s self-presentations only

11 Engagement rate in bottom right-hand corner

38 portray the external composition composed of both the Institutional and Impulsive representations, never the core identity of the real self. If the core identity of a celebrity was straight-forward there would be no fascination to their self-presentations. As a result, what encapsulates Turner’s framework of the Institutional and Impulsive selves on Instagram is the celebrity’s potential to adjust their proximity to the follower and the balance they can establish between extraordinariness and ordinariness. Through this, celebrities can choose which external composition they feel would best portray their ‘real self’ at the particular moment they choose to post.

39 Chapter 4: The Star Commodity ‘The conversation in social media enables buyers and potential buyers the ability to connect with the brand, in a similar way to connecting with the celebrity’. (Johns and English 71)

This chapter will discuss the role of celebrities in product endorsements and advertisements. Different than the rest, this chapter is the only one to explain the merging of the celebrity and the product into one brand and the implications this will have for their practices of self-presentation. In the marketing perspective, celebrity endorsements are powerful communication tools because celebrities are a part of a ‘reference group’ to which people can turn to for advice on their purchasing decisions. Consequently, celebrities are able to provide potential buyers with a positive perception of the brand, typically referred to as a type of ‘meaning transfers’ (McCracken 1989). As mentioned in Chapter one, Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta (2010) propose two models for how these perceptions would function. The first model, ‘the one-way meaning transfer’ means the positive perception would transfer solely from the celebrity to the brand, whereas the second model, ‘the reciprocal meaning transfer’ implies that the positive perceptions would not just stop at the brand, but be transferred back to the celebrity (454). However, these meaning models mean something different for the self-branding practices of celebrities on social media than it does for the marketing perspective. On Instagram, these product endorsements and advertisements are effective because consumers perceive individuals with a large number of followers more attractive and trustworthy (Jin and Phua 2014 in Djafavarova and Rushworth 1). Nevertheless, because the marketing messages have the potential to be transferred back to Instagram users during the promotion process, this has consequences for the celebrity’s representation of ‘performed intimacy’. This complexity is especially present for Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo because as illustrated through Dyer’s star image and Turner’s impulsive loci, they have used their Instagram accounts for performative intimacy and incorporating certain products may intersect this process. For this reason, in the era of social media, celebrity endorsements and advertisements need to be considered as a brand alliance, because the celebrity’s brand takes central focus for followers on Instagram. Moreover, these brand alliances, especially endorsements need enhanced degrees of authenticity, because commercial effectiveness can impede the intimate connection between the celebrity and follower. The type of ‘performed intimacy’ and degree of authenticity affiliated with the endorsements or advertisements varies with each celebrity and will be demonstrated and discussed in the following sections. The ‘endorsed posts’ relate to the posts in which the celebrity tries to portray an approval for the product and the advertisements to the posts in which the celebrity promotes and tries to sell an image of their product or brand. Section 4.1. will illustrate the types of endorsements or advertisements Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo use on their Instagram accounts. Secondly, section 4.2 will assign these Instagram posts to a type of meaning transfer model and assess the potential positive and negative meanings and associations that could derive from them. Then, Section 4.3 and 4.4. will indicate how

40 product endorsements or advertisements are shaped to comply with both the needs of the followers and the celebrities. Within these sections a number of different theorists and frameworks will be engaged with. Firstly, Djafavarova and Rushworth (2016), Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta (2010), and Johns and English (2014) for their contributions on the role of product placement and meaning transfers for the celebrity brand. Secondly, for the political economy point of view Duffy and Hund (2015)’s works will be referred to in terms of the labour celebrities themselves perform in the representation of their branded personae. Thirdly, theories from Jhally and Livant (1986) will be used to demonstrate that users of social media perform labour for celebrities. With these sections as well as the theoretical frameworks within them, the aim is to demonstrate that some marketing posts are more efficient at performative intimacy than others because of the degrees of authenticity that one has over another.

4.1. The endorsements and advertised Instagram posts of the celebrities12

Kim Kardashian Beyoncé Knowles Cristiano Ronaldo

Figure 30 (Instagram, 2016) Figure 31 (Instagram, 2016) Figure 32 (Instagram, 2016) Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012 nd Kim Kardashian’s Instagram post from the 22 of August 2016 in Figure 30 shows an endorsement for 13 the ‘Sugarbearhair’ vitamins in a ‘Boomerang’ . Based on research from a company called Captiv8, it can be stated that Kim made approximately $1,062,000 dollars on this post alone (Novak, 2016).14 Furthermore, according to FoxNews, Kim had disguised this post as a regular one (Falzone 2016) through the caption, “Excited to be partnering with @sugarbearhair to share their amazing vitamins with you!”. Shortly after being warned by the Federal Trade commission, she added “ad” in front of

12 See Appendices N-P for Original Instagram posts 13 A boomerang is an application within Instagram that allows users to record ‘a muted mini video that takes bursts of photos and stitches them together in a loop’ (Betters, 2015). 14 Based on Kim’s follower count of 99.2 million

41 this text with the additional text “these chewable gummy vitamins are delicious and a favorite part of my hair care routine”, explicitly pointing out that her post is an endorsement. Similarly, Cristiano Ronaldo’s post on November 23rd 2016 in Figure 32, shows an endorsement for Nike as well as an advertisement for his own brand CR7. In this photo, the product he endorses from Nike are the sneakers, and the product he advertises from his own collection is the silver chain. According to Forbes, Ronaldo’s endorsement deals are the most expensive deals in all of football, with Nike generating about $36 million per year and $34 million for his CR7 collection on social media alone (Badenhausen 2016). However, at first glance Ronaldo is able to disguise his promotion as another one of his typical Instagram posts such as the one in Chapter 3 Section 3.1. These are possible due to the ‘tagging’ features of Instagram that allow the mention of the brands to appear and disappear with a tap. As illustrated in Figure 30, Kim isn’t able to do this as efficiently, because she is holding the bottle of hair vitamins. Beyonce Knowles’ Instagram post in Figure 31 is similar to Ronaldo’s as she is advertising one of her own products; the visual album ‘Lemonade’. Based on research from Billboard, Beyoncé’s album made about $3.37 million dollars in one day with 187,500 downloads (MBW Review, 2016). However, differently from Ronaldo through the caption of the post “#LEMONADE The Visual Album. Available now on BEYONCE.TIDAL.COM’, she explicitly indicates that the sole intention of the post was to promote her album. Nevertheless, all posts of these celebrities still enable them to portray their brand images through their appearance and setting of the photo, especially for Beyoncé, through her aggressive alter ago, ‘Sasha Fierce’ (Avdeeff 111) and Ronaldo through his brand image as the ‘rich football star’.

Section 4.2. Questions of performative intimacy and the implications of marketing

In the marketing perspective, celebrity endorsements and advertisements are measured through effectiveness as well as the transfer of meanings and associations to the brand. In the era of Instagram, Celebrities are also brands, meaning that the marketing perspective can have positive or negative associations back to the celebrity. This is especially the case when the products being advertised are products from the celebrities themselves, because the celebrities have an enhanced affiliation to the marketed brand. There are two models that offer a way for how the endorsed or advertised posts function in the context of Instagram. The first is a ‘one-way meaning transfer’ model and is most convergent with endorsements as the meaning and associations such as ‘credibility’ and ‘attractiveness’ are transferred to the endorsed product (Halonen-Knight and Humerinta 452). The celebrities most convergent with this model are Kim and Ronaldo because they are endorsing brands that they are not affiliated with and thus the meaning and transfers terminate at the brand. Figures 33 and 34 below show an adaptation of the ‘one-way meaning transfer’ (See Appendix Q) model in the cases of Kim and Ronaldo.

42

Figure 33 (Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta, 454)

One-way meaning transfer for Kim

Approximate financial compensation: $1,062,00015

‘Sugarbearhair vitamins’ Kim Kardashian

Meanings and Associations: Glamorous appearance

Figure 34 (Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta, 454)

One-way meaning transfer for Ronaldo

Approximate financial compensation: $611,000 per post16

Nike Cristiano Ronaldo

Meanings and Associations: The Appearance of the ‘Rich football star’

In the case of Kim, the meanings and associations she can transfer to the brand in Figure 33 are

15 Based on Figures from Section 4.1 (Novak, 2016). 16 Based on Figures from Section 4.1 (Badenhausen 2016).

43 her glamorous and luxurious status as a reality star. As illustrated by Figure 30 in Section 4.1, Her make-up and hairstyle appear of high-standard and these elements are able to complement with the brand, particularly because she is endorsing hair vitamins. After these meanings and associations of her appearance have transferred over to the brand, the last step of the meaning transfer is fulfilled when she receives her financial compensation. For Ronaldo on the other hand, the meanings and association he can transfer to the brand is his appearance as the ‘Rich Football Star’ as illustrated in Figure 30, Section 4.1. Moreover, his pose, the sunglasses and even the striking shiny necklace are able to provide the endorsed Nike shoes with the allure of ‘sophistication’ that comes with his title as the football star. Similarly, the next step of the cycle is the financial compensation that he receives from Nike. Whilst both Kim and Ronaldo are using their appearances to connect with their followers, there is no other affiliation deriving from the brand, and thus this one-way meaning transfer means little in terms of the portrayal of ‘performed intimacy’. In other words, posts that fall under the one-way meaning transfer or endorsement posts of other brands, cannot achieve the criterion of ‘performed intimacy’ as the followers can not recognize an enhanced affiliation of the celebrity within the brand being endorsed. Therefore, the brand alliance of the celebrity endorsement may enable commercial effectiveness but not necessarily a positive influence for the celebrity. The second model, the ‘reciprocal meaning transfer’, is convergent with the celebrity advertised Instagram posts. The celebrities that best comply with this model are Beyoncé and Ronaldo because they promote their own products and therefore the same meanings and associations transferred to the brand are transferred back to them in a reciprocal relationship. As discussed in Section 4.1, the product Beyoncé is promoting is her visual album ‘Lemonade’ and for Ronaldo a necklace from his foot-wear collection CR7. Figures 35 and 36 below show an adaptation of the way the ‘reciprocal meaning transfer model’ (See Appendix R) would function in the case of Beyoncé and Ronaldo.

44

Figure 35 (Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta, 454)

The ‘reciprocal meaning transfer’ for Ronaldo

Approximate financial gain from sales: $2,833,333 per post17 + The appeal of the CR7 brand

CR7 Cristiano Ronaldo

The appearance of the ‘rich football star’

Figure 36 (Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta, 454)

The ‘reciprocical meaning transfer’ for Beyoncé

Approximate financial gain from sales: $17,973 per download 18 + The appeal of the visual album

Visual Album ‘Lemonade’ Beyoncé

The appearance of the alter ego ‘Sasha Fierce’

For Ronaldo, similar to the meanings and associations in the one-way meaning, he is able to transfer his appearance as the rich football star, and for Beyoncé the appearance of the alter ego ‘Sasha Fierce’. However, quite differently, the last step of the meaning transfer is no longer just the financial gain from the sales of their products; meanings and associations are transferred back to both of them. For Beyoncé in the form of the appeal for her visual album promotion and for Ronaldo the appeal of

17 Based on Figures from Section 4.1 (Badenhausen 2016) and the 13 CR7 advertised posts in year 2016 18 Based on Figures from Section 4.1 (MBW Review, 2016)

45 his CR7 collection. Therefore, when meanings and associations are transferred back to the celebrity the implications of the advertisement are much more significant for the celebrity than the endorsement posts because now there is an affiliation between the celebrity brand and the brand being marketed. In contrast to the celebrity endorsement posts characterized by the one-way meaning model, this affiliation means that the criterion of ‘performed intimacy’ is enhanced by allowing followers to connect with Beyoncé and Ronaldo. Therefore, the marketing perspective does a play a role in the celebrity’s representation of performed intimacy in these endorsed or advertised posts because they indicate why certain marketed posts on Instagram are more effective in achieving the connection of performed intimacy with their followers. It offers the understanding that the one-way meaning transfer are less able to achieve intimacy with followers because of little affiliation with the celebrity brand and reciprocal meaning transfers are able more able to achieve intimacy with followers because of the enhanced affiliation with the celebrity. The former scenario relates to the endorsement posts of celebrities for other brands and the latter to advertisements of celebrities’ own products and brands. Therefore, advertisements of celebrity’s own products are more likely to achieve the connection of performed intimacy with their followers because there is a decreased risk for a false perception when they market their own products. The process of achieving this connection is the work of both the celebrities and the users that follow them on Instagram.

4.3. Celebrities and Instagram users conditioning for the celebrity through labour

The way these Instagram posts are prepared by celebrities has a significant influence on both the effectiveness of the endorsement or advertisement as well on the criterion of performed intimacy. These conscious acts of effort that these celebrities put into these endorsed or advertised Instagram posts are called ‘Venture labor’, a term that explains the amount of time, energy, and capital invested into Instagram posts (Neff, 2012 in Duffy and Hund 2). Venture labor ensures that celebrities maximize their appeal and thus their ‘exchange value’ (Marx 1857 339) to ensure not just commercial effectiveness but a connection among them and their followers. As already mentioned, Kim ensured this through her well-coiffed hairstyle and make-up, Beyoncé through utilizing her alter-ego ‘sasha fierce’, whereas Ronaldo through his appearance as the ‘rich football star’. Nevertheless, only certain forms of venture labor are able to ensure an enhanced affiliation with the celebrity and this is dependent on the brand being marketed. For instance, even though Kim has invested venture labour into her product placement of ‘Sugarhairbear’ vitamins it won’t be effective because there is less of an affiliation of her with the endorsed product and thus also no achievement of performed intimacy. By contrast, Beyoncé and Ronaldo’s venture labour will be able to achieve the criterion of performed intimacy because they are advertising their own products. Therefore, venture labor is most useful when the self-

46 presentations used in these celebrity promotions draw on meanings of authenticity. In this context, meanings of authenticity would equate with a product’s enhanced affiliation with the celebrity. After the celebrities have used venture labour to achieve intimacy with their followers, the next step is to convince them of the symbolic status they were to acquire if they purchased the product celebrities themselves are using. Whilst Kim’s endorsement post of the ‘Sugarbearhair’ vitamins has less an affiliation with her own brand, she has tried to achieve an intimate connection with her followers by explaining what benefits would derive off of purchasing these hair vitamins in addition to showing her healthy hair in Figure 30.

Figure 37 (Iconosquare, 2016)

As Couldry states, ‘if the media operate so that they seem like the ‘natural representatives of society’s center […] then the kinds of realties they offer as forms of identity […] must have a power social and cultural impact’ (2003: 46). In other words, if followers feel that they would be able to occupy this ‘center’ and be able to use the products that celebrities like Kim are endorsing, then they will feel like buying the product. Moreover, another act that celebrities employ through venture labor is by personalizing their tone in the captions. Kim’s endorsement does this through speaking to her followers through the word ‘you’, which aims to draw them in through the illusion of a ‘two-way communication’ between the followers and the celebrity (Johns and English 66). Nevertheless, as noted in Section 4.1, at first instance Kim had forgotten to identify this post as an advertisement, which could potentially impede the social and cultural impact that Couldry’s myth of the media center offers. These types of actions employed into maintaining the connection with their followers through product endorsements and advertisements are important because they are essential for the element of performative intimacy. Nonetheless, the celebrities are not the only ones contributing to performed intimacy, the responses of the followers to these acts of venture labour are important as they indicate what types of brand alliances are most able to achieve the connection of performative intimacy between celebrity and follower. Therefore, the Instagram users also perform labor on Instagram and within it their role is to predict the financial compensation for the celebrity and give their loyalty and recognition. For this reason, it is important that the followers are attracted to these celebrity’s endorsements (Chen et al., 2011 and Ohanian 1990 in Djafavarova and Rushworth 2). These consumer attitudes and levels of attraction can be indicated through ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ on Instagram. The endorsed post of Kim, had an average of 641.5K likes (See Appendix S). The advertised post of Beyoncé 985,7K likes and Ronaldo 2,294,8K likes (See Appendices O and

47 P). The value of the comments are more qualitative and snippets of these are shown in Figures 38, 39, and 40 below.

Kim’s comments Beyoncé’s comments Cristiano’ comments

Figure 38 (Instagram, 2016) Figure 39 (Instagram, 2016) Figure 40 (Instagram, 2016) Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012 Source: Instagram, 2012

These likes, comments, or views underneath the endorsed and advertised posts of these three celebrities are synonymous with a concept Jhally and Livant’s concept of ‘watching time’ that is used to determine the value extracted from the labour dispensed into a cultural intermediary (126). In the context of Instagram, the endorsed or advertised posts are the cultural intermediaries, and the labour are all the efforts and techniques employed into making the post result in positive perceptions. Traditionally speaking, the watching time obtained from the cultural intermediary must be equivalent to the time and energy dispensed into the labour of the cultural intermediary. This is ‘socially necessary labour time’ (Marx 1976 in Jhally and Livant 135). However, since the time and energy of the labor remains unknown, the watching time will be referred to through engagement. With Kim’s boomerang advertisement for ‘Sugarbearhair’, the views indicate what Figure 41 (Iconosquare, the watching time is. To determine whether these views fit the requirements for 2017) watching time, the engagement rate of this post can be referred to and as well their ranking in the ‘most engaging’ category for a week19 of posts on Iconosquare. Figure 41 shows Kim’s engagement rate is 0.82% with a total of 15, 918,273 views (See Figure 38). However, since the most engaging post of the week such as the photo of her daughter North obtained more than double that with an engagement rate of 1.91% Figure 13

19 This week is defined as 2 days before the endorsed/advertised post and 5 days after it was posted

48 it can be stated that the watching time for this endorsement swasn’t sufficient (See Appendix T). By contrast, Beyoncé and Ronaldo’s Instagram posts both appeared on the most engaging posts with a 1.59% engagement rate for Beyoncé and a 2.78% engagement rate for Ronaldo. (See Appendices U and V) As Beyoncé’s post didn’t make the first position in most engaging post of the week, it can be stated that her post didn’t reach as high a watching time as it could have, but still reached a sufficient watching time. Ronaldo on the other hand has made the first position in the most engaging post of that week, and therefore it can be said that this post surpassed sufficient watching time. More qualitatively, the comments also reveal socially necessary labour time through the positive meanings and associations on the posts. As illustrated in Figure 38, this refers to comment ‘I love u’ and ‘You are beautiful’ for Kim, Queen BEYONCEEE’ in Figure 39, and ‘Swag’ for Ronaldo in Figure 40. Thus, the venture labor of celebrities as well as the labor of their followers in the form of ‘watching time’ has provided useful indications for whether the celebrity’s endorsed or advertised posts were successful in terms of commercial effectiveness and for the connection of performed intimacy. In this line of reasoning Beyoncé and Ronaldo’s advertisements were the most successful marketing posts from Figures 30 to 32 (See Appendices W and X).

4.4. The elements to prioritise in a double form of branding

Based on the analytics, it seems that Beyoncé and Ronaldo’s advertisement of their own products are more able to achieve performed intimacy than Kim’s endorsement post of the ‘Sugarbearhair’ vitamins. As demonstrated, this is because the authenticity derived from the promotion of their own products appears to be more preferred among their Instagram followers. Moreover, the context of the Instagram platform has a considerable amount of significance in this because as demonstrated in Chapters 2 and 3, followers always engage more frequently with posts of the intimate parts of a celebrity’s life. Therefore, this means that even celebrity endorsements and advertisements can achieve the connection of performed intimacy that the star image and Turner’s impulsive locus are capable of providing. However, because this concerns a double form of branding and the importance of financial compensation, it requires a more comprehensive look at the activities of the followers than the other two concepts. Through this, celebrities can condition more effectively for followers, and by acknowledging that advertisements of their own brands are more effective than endorsements, celebrities can understand what elements of self-branding to prioritise to facilitate the most intimate type of connection with their followers when they market products on Instagram.

49 Conclusion Just as companies position their goods and images with niche marketing, celebrities can fulfill their followers’ desires by meeting the needs for connection, recognition, and values to live by (Davis 46)

The goal of all of Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo’s self-branding practices on Instagram is to tailor to the needs of the Instagram followers, and then allow the Instagram posts to resonate with the purposes that fulfil their own needs and interests. As discussed in the previous chapters, three of the primary needs of the Instagram followers are the glimpses into their private lives, authenticity in self-presentation, and an intimate connection between themselves and the celebrities. Whereas the purpose of the celebrities refers to the social recognition they attain off of the Instagram features used by their followers. The self-presentation frameworks mentioned in the previous chapters offer a start for how they provide this glimpse into the private. However, the fluctuating uses of different self-presentations strategies from Dyer, Goffman, Turner, and Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta as mentioned in chapter 1, reveals how complex it is for different self-presentation practices to resonate with the platform of Instagram. In this process, celebrities make use of the tools and features inscribed into Instagram such as ‘tagging’, ‘captions’, and the understanding of the importance of ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ to adjust their self-presentation practices for the platform. Throughout chapters 2 to 4, different tensions and recurrent themes have been outlined from the transfer of the traditional theoretical framework to the self-branding practices of celebrities on Instagram. The first tension is the overlap between the authenticity of the celebrities’ private lives and the public space of Instagram and addresses the first research question in the Introduction. As already stated, each celebrity’s Instagram account is available to the public, and therefore any self-presentation –even the private glimpses of their lives – have become public and are available to everyone at the same time. Chapter 2 in which Dyer’s Star Image is discussed, shows how celebrities manage this overlap – by presenting the star images they believe followers will deem authentic. Thus, the implications that arise for the ‘public’ nature of the celebrities’ accounts is a situation whereby the celebrities abandon the ‘public’ and ‘private’ distinctions and choose the types of self-presentations they believe their followers would perceive the most authentic. The second recurrent tension prominent among the chapters is in regards to the ordinary and extraordinary representations. This tension is prominent because the celebrity is engaged in a constant shift in the proximity they keep with their followers allowing them to remain close with their followers in their ordinary representation on one level and by remaining distant and extraordinary through reminders of their elite celebrity status on the other level. Chapter 3 has drawn on Turner’s concept of ‘the real self’ to understand how their self-presentations can embody both forms at the same time. It also mentions how this shift impedes followers from grasping the real identity of the celebrity. Therefore, in acknowledgement of the second research question, the techniques celebrities use to appear

50 both extraordinary and ordinary among their follower is by adjusting their level of intimacy with their followers to maintain a level of uncertainty and intrigue among their practices of self-presentation. The last recurrent tension present among the chapters is the tension between commercial effectiveness and intimacy. As discussed in chapter 4 whereby Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta’s meaning transfer models are used, these tensions arise as the celebrity is representing another brand in addition to their own which can easily lead to a prioritization of commercial effectiveness. Furthermore, this chapter infers that these types of posts don’t have the ‘performative intimacy’ or ‘authenticity’ that other posts are capable of providing which has the consequence of impeding followers from connecting with celebrities through the marketing logic entailed in these posts. Thus, to address the last research question, the marketing perspective embodied in Instagram posts indicate that advertisements of the celebrity’s own products are most able to achieve the degree of performed intimacy with followers that contribute to social recognition.

There a few limitations in this research project. Most importantly, even though a great deal of effort was employed into ensuring all different Instagram features were discussed, the absence of the ‘Instagram live’ and ‘Instagram features’ could have compromised the current state of Instagram today. Therefore for future research, it is advisable to use a variety of all features on the platform to ensure More up-to-date findings and conclusions. Secondly, the use of more female celebrities than males could have impacted the conclusions of this study particularly in regards to the ways in which they used their bodies for gender norms. As Kuo et al., (2013) state ‘gender representation happen to influence users’ social networking usage through diverse motivations and behaviours’ and since this research process has taken into account the behaviours of more females than males, the conclusions could be slightly more based on the self- branding practices of female celebrities rather than male celebrities (636). More generally, a recommendation for future research would be to include not just high-scale celebrities like Beyoncé, Kim, and Ronaldo but also lower-end celebrities or ‘microcelebrities’ (Senft 2008). As bloggers and lower-end’ celebrities were considered the most influential opinions (Rushworth and Djafarova 4), This may potentially open up the discussion for more authentic self- branding practices than those outlined in this thesis.

By following the right steps, getting the right makeover, celebrities can change the quality of their inner experience, enhance their psychological well-being and finally achieve true self-fulfillment (Davis 45)

Thus, these conclusions indicate that the mediation of the celebrities’ self-presentation to themselves and others by acts of consumption have significant implications (Davis 46). Especially when they are adapted to conform with a social media platform, because celebrities’ self-presentation practices need to resonate with the tools and features for social recognition and for the techniques necessary for self-

51 branding. Therefore, the techniques of self-branding adopted by Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo have taken social recognition as the primary focus for all their ‘identity projects’ (Davis 46) which offer three new conceptualizations for self-presentation practices on Instagram:

(1) The first conceptualization relates to a situation in which celebrities abandon the ‘public’ and ‘private’ appearances and choose the facets of their self-presentation that appear most authentic.

(2) The second conceptualization refers to the constant shifts between extraordinary and ordinary representations that allows celebrities the ability to adjust their intimacy in order to maintain a level of intrigue for their Instagram posts.

(3) The last conceptualization allows celebrities as well as their followers to invest labour into celebrity endorsements and advertisements to maximize their appeal and maintain a connection with their followers.

In other words, celebrities are starting to understand that self-branding in the era of Instagram means recognizing ‘that an inwardly generated self is a fiction’ and that the choices they make with their images, lifestyles, and self-presentation are important as these become the vehicles through they are perceived (Davis 46). This thesis has illustrated which self-presentation practices celebrities deem most important for this process. Being aware of the types of self-presentation practices that attenuate social recognition not only allow celebrities to condition successfully for their followers, more than that, these practices of self-presentation illustrate the ultimate hidden scheme of self-branding in celebrity culture on Instagram.

52 Bibliography:

Avdeeff, Melissa. The Beyonce Effect: Essays on Sexuality, Race and Feminism. Ed.Adrienne Trier- Bieniek. United States: McFarland & Co, 2016. Badenhausen, Kurt. "Ronaldo Generates $176 Million In Value For His Sponsors On Social Media." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 08 June 2016. Web. 23 June 2017. . Betters, Elyse. "What is Instagram's new Boomerang app and how does it work?" Pocket lint. N.p., 22 Oct. 2015. Web. 23 June 2017. . "Beyoncé Knowles." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017. Web. 23 June 2017. . "Beyoncé on Finding Balance Between Her Public and Personal Lives | Oprah’s Next Chapter | OWN." Interview by Oprah Winfrey. YouTube. YouTube, LLC, Jan. & feb. 2013. Web. 25 June 2017. Beyonce. “#LEMONADE The Visual Album. Available now on Beyonce.Tidal.com” Instagram,April 24th 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BEkLWj7vw7R/?hl=en Beyonce. Instagram, 8th Feb 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BBgektTPwzf/?taken by=beyonce&hl=en Beyonce. Instagram, 16th Feb 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BB249Uvvw0M/?taken by=beyonce&hl=en Beyonce. Instagram, 16th June 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BGuXGoMvwxz/?taken by=beyonce&hl=en Beyonce, “We would like to share our love and happiness…” Instagram, 1st Feb 2017, https://www.instagram.com/p/BP-rXUGBPJa/?hl=en Boyer, Jake. "Beyonce's Twin Post Is Now the Most-Liked Instagram Ever." Highsnobiety. 02 Feb. 2017. Web. 23 June 2017. . Braudy, Leo. The frenzy of renown: fame & its history. New York: Oxford U Press, 1986. Brown, Zoe, and Marika Tiggemann. "Attractive celebrity and peer images on Instagram: Effect on womens mood and body image." Body Image 19 (2016): 37-43. Carah, Nicholas, and Michelle Shaul. "Brands and Instagram: Point, tap, swipe, glance." Mobile Media & Communication 4.1 (2016): 69-84. Carpenter, Cassie. For. "'The wife of Pablo!' Kim Kardashian pays tribute to husband Kanye West's album with swimsuit-clad selfie." Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 13 June 2016. Web. 23 June 2017. . "CASUAL SHOES." CR7 Footwear. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2017. . Couldry, Nick. Media rituals: a critical approach. London: Routledge, 2003. "Cristiano Ronaldo shares Instagram photo of son and 'new member'" HELLO! N.p., 25 Sept. 2016. Web. 23 June 2017. . "Cristiano Ronaldo." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017. Web. 23 June 2017. . Cristiano. Facebook, December 6th 2015, https://www.facebook.com/Cristiano/posts/10153875814062164:0 Cristiano. Instagram, Nov 9th 2012, https://www.instagram.com/p/RcRUdwhpXV/?taken by=cristiano Cristiano. Instagram, 12th March 2017, https://www.instagram.com/p/BRknYTKFrHG/?taken by=cristiano&hl=en

53 Cristiano. “❤️❤” Instagram, 9th Sep 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BKJSlMwgKeC/?taken by=cristiano&hl=en Cristiano. “❤️” . Instagram, 9th Sep 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BNJuYPbg463/?taken by=cristiano Cristiano. “Just came back from the tailor and my suit fits perfectly!...” Instagram, Nov 5th 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BMbsX3kAgxw/?taken-by=cristiano&hl=en Cristiano. “This is my life…” Instagram, 28th Sep 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BK6BxBoAziY/ Davis, Joseph. “The Commodification of Self.” Hedgehog Review. 5.2 (June. 2003): 41-49 De Certeau, Michel. The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1984. Djafarova, Elmira, and Chloe Rushworth. "Exploring the credibility of online celebrities Instagram profiles in influencing the purchase decisions of young female users." Computers in Human Behavior 68 (2017): 1-7. Duffy, Brooke Erin, and Emily Hund. "“Having it All” on Social Media: Entrepreneurial Femininity and Self-Branding Among Fashion Bloggers." Social Media Society 1.2 (2015): 205630511560433. Web. Dunn, Robert. “Identity, Commodification, and Consumer Culture,” Identity and Social Change. Ed. Joseph E. Davis. New Brunswick: Transaction, 2000. Dyer, Richard. Heavenly bodies: film stars and society. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1986. Print. Falzone, Diana. "Kardashians clean up their Instagram act... kind of." Fox News. FOX News Network, 25 Aug. 2016. Web. 23 June 2017.. Fisher, Kendall. Beyoncé Literally Sneezed on the Beat and the Beat Got Sicker. Digital image. ENews. E! Entertainment Television, LLC, 8 June 2016. Web. 25 June 2017. Fiske, John. “The Cultural Economy of Fandom.” The adoring audience: fan culture and popular media. Ed. Lisa Lewis. London: Routledge, 2003. Gamson, Joshua. "The Unwatched Life Is Not Worth Living: The Elevation of the Ordinary in Celebrity Culture." Pmla 126.4 (2011): 1061-069. Web. Golding, Shenequa. "Beyonce Releases Extended Video For "Lemonade"." Vibe. N.p., 17 Apr. 2016. Web. 23 June 2017. . Goffman, Erving. The presentation of self in everyday life. London: Penguin , 1990. Griffin, Farah Jasmine. "At Last …?: Michelle Obama, Beyoncé, Race & History." Daedalus 140.1 (2011): 131-41. Grindstaff, Laura, and Susan Murray. "Reality Celebrity: Branded Affect and the Emotion Economy." Public Culture 27.1 75 (2015): 109-35. Web. Giddens, Anthony. Modernity and self-identity: self and society in the late modern age. Stanford: U Press, 1991. Halonen‐Knight, Elina, and Leila Hurmerinta. "Who endorses whom? Meanings transfer in celebrity endorsement." Journal of Product & Brand Management 19.6 (2010): 452-60. Ingham, Tim. "How Beyoncé's Lemonade is making $3m a day - while saving Jay Z's business." Music Business Worldwide. N.p., 02 May 2016. Web. 23 June 2017. . Jacobs, Jason. The Intimate Screen: Early British Television Drama. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. Jenkins, Henry. "Star Trekrerun, Reread, Rewritten: Fan Writing as Textual Poaching." Critical Studies in Mass Communication 5.2 (1988): 85-107. Jenkins, Henry. Textual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture. 20th ed. New York: Routledge, 2013. Jhally, S., and B. Livant. 1986. Watching as working: The valorization of audience consciousness. Journal of Communication 36 (3):124–43. Joseph, Alanah . You're Doing It Wrong: Kim Kardashian's Clear Skin at the 2017 Met Gala. Digital image. E! Entertainment Television, LLC., 2 May 2017. Web. 25 June 2017.

54 Johns, Raechel, and Rebecca English. “Transition of Self: Repositioning the Celebrity Brand Through Social Media—The Case of Elizabeth Gilbert.” Journal of Business Research 69.1 (Jan. 2016): 65–72. Kavka, Misha “Industry Convergence Shows: Reality TV and the Leisure Franchise.” Flow TV: television in the age of media convergence. Ed. Michael Kackman. New York, NY: Routledge, 2011: 75092. Kee, William. "Cristiano Ronaldo models for Sacoor Brothers - Fashion." The Star Online. N.p., 14 Apr. 2015. Web. 23 June 2017. . Keong, Lori. "The Top 10 Most-Followed Celebrities on Instagram in 2017." Marie Claire. N.p., 14 June 2017. Web. 23 June 2017. . "Kim Kardashian Talks About Pitfalls of Fame in Chilling Interview Taped Before Robbery." Interview by Bill Whitaker. Cosmopolitan. Hearst Communications, Inc. , 21 Oct. 2016. Web. 25 June 2017. < http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a7027417/kim- kardashian-privacy-social-media-60-minutes-robbery-interview/> "Kim Kardashian West." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017. Web. 23 June 2017. . Kimkardashian. “#ad Excited to be partnering with @sugarbearhair to share their amazing vitamins with you!” Instagram, 22nd August 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BJbEC96h3a5/?hl=en Kimkardashian. “Family…” Instagram, Jan 3rd 2017, https://www.instagram.com/p/BO0CReajH6Y/?taken-by=kimkardashian&hl=en Kimkardashian. “Miami” Instagram, 16th Sep 2016 https://www.instagram.com/p/BKa1lidBSyN/?hl=en Kimkardashian. “The promise premiere @chinese theatres, I’m so proud a film was finally about the Armenian genocide…” Instagram, 15th April2017, https://www.instagram.com/p/BS4HsCrFjsN/?hl=en Kimkardashian. “The wife of Pablo” Instagram, June 11th 2016, https://www.instagram.com/p/BGh4tr6OSwK/?taken-by=kimkardashian&hl=en Kuo, Feng-Yang, Chih-Yi Tseng, Fan-Chuan Tseng, and Cathy S. Lin. "A Study of Social Information Control Affordances and Gender Difference in Facebook Self-Presentation." Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking 16.9 (2013): 635-44. Web. Marwick, Alice E. "Instafame: Luxury Selfies in the Attention Economy." Public Culture 27.1 75 (2015): 137-60. Marwick, Alice, and Danah, Boyd. "To See and Be Seen: Celebrity Practice on Twitter." Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 17.2 (2011): 139-58. Marwick, Alice E., and Danah Boyd. "I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience." New Media & Society 13.1 (2010): 114-33. Marx, Karl. Grundrisse. London: Macmillan, 1857. Marx, Karl “Capital, Vol I.” Ed. Paul Eden. London: Penguin , 1976. Print. McCracken, Grant. "Who is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of the Endorsement Process." Journal of Consumer Research 16.3 (1989): 310. Marquina, Sierra. "Kim Kardashian Returns to Social Media With Adorable Family Photo." Us Weekly. Us Weekly, 03 Jan. 2017. Web. 23 June 2017. . Novak, Matt. "Average Internet Celebrities Make $75,000 Per Instagram Ad and $30,000 Per Paid Tweet." Gizmodo. Gizmodo.com, 30 Aug. 2016. Web. 23 June 2017. . Peters, Durham. “Media as Conversation, Conversation as Media.” In Media and Cultural Theory,

55 edited by James Curran and David Morley, 115–126. Ed. James Curran. London: Routledge, 2005. Reporter, Dailymail.com. "Booty-ful and promising! Kim Kardashian wows in skintight gold dress at The Promise premiere." Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 13 Apr. 2017. Web. 23 June 2017. . Sarapin, Susan, and Pamela Morris. "When “Like”-Minded People Click: Facebook Interaction Conventions, the Meaning of “Speech” Online, and Bland v. Roberts." First Amendment Studies 48.2 (2014): 131-57. Sciaretto, Amy. "Beyonce's No Makeup Selfie Shows Off This Rarely Spotted Feature – PHOTO."Bustle. Bustle, 18 June 2016. Web. 23 June 2017. . Senft, Theresa M. Camgirls: celebrity & community in the age of social networks. New York: Lang, 2008. Stephens, Brittney. "Kim Kardashian Steps Out in Miami After Showing Her Sense of Humor on Instagram." POPSUGAR Celebrity. N.p., 16 Sept. 2016. Web. 23 June 2017. . "Stock Photos, Royalty-Free Images and Vectors." Shutterstock. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2017. Tripnity. "Instagram Analytics & Marketing Tool | Iconosquare." Instagram Analytics & Marketing Tool | Iconosquare. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2017. Turner, Graeme. "The mass production of celebrity: Celetoids, reality TV and the demotic turn." International Journal of Cultural Studies 9.2 (2006): 153-65. Web. Turner, Graeme, Frances Bonner, and P. David. Marshall. Fame Games: the Production of Celebrity in Australia. Cambridge: Cambridge U Press, 2000. . Turner, Ralph. "The Real Self: From Institution to Impulse." American Journal of Sociology 81.5 (1976): 989-1016. Waddell, Lily. "'Sick' Kim Kardashian attends premiere of The Promise but 'doesn't stay for the movie about the Armenian genocide after being taken unwell'" Daily Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 14 Apr. 2017. 23 June 2017. .

56 Appendices:

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

57 APPENDIX C

APPENDIX D

58 APPENDIX E

APPENDIX F

59

APPENDIX G

APPENDIX H

60 APPENDIX I

APPENDIX J

61 APPENDIX K

APPENDIX L

62

APPENDIX M

APPENDIX N

63

APPENDIX O

64 APPENDIX P

APPENDIX Q

65 APPENDIX R

APPENDIX S

66 Appendix T Appendix U: Appendix V:

Appendix W:

67

Appendix X:

68