Aalborg Universitet Identity-formation on YouTube investigating audiovisual presentations of the self Simonsen, Thomas Mosebo Publication date: 2012 Document Version Early version, also known as pre-print Link to publication from Aalborg University Citation for published version (APA): Simonsen, T. M. (2012). Identity-formation on YouTube: investigating audiovisual presentations of the self. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. ? Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. ? You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain ? You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us at [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Downloaded from vbn.aau.dk on: December 25, 2020 ! IDENTITY-FORMATION ON YOUTUBE - Investigating audiovisual presentations of the self ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Ph.D. dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities at Aalborg University, Department of Communication and Psychology February 2012 Written by: Thomas Mosebo Simonsen IDENTITY-FORMATION ON YOUTUBE Investigating audiovisual presentations of the self A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the department of Communication and Psychology at the Faculty of Humanities at Aalborg University. © Thomas Mosebo Simonsen Aarhus, February 2012. Supervisor: Tove Arendt Rasmussen. Statement of Original Authorship The work contained in this dissertation has not been previously submitted to meet requirements for an award at this or any other higher education institution. ……..…………………………………….. Date Thomas mosebo Simonsen ! ii Resume af afhandlingen: Identity formation on YouTube - Investigating audiovisual presentations of the self Af Thomas Mosebo Simonsen Med fokusområde på YouTube præsenterer denne Ph.d.-afhandling en undersøgelse af audiovisuel og online identitetsdannelse. Det argumenteres, at mennesker gennem audiovisuel selv-præsentation kan skabe en autentisk, online konstruktion af subjektet og kommunikere denne som en autentisk medieret virkelighed i og omkring bruger-generet indhold på YouTube. Denne identitet kommer særligt til udtryk i første persons videoer, de såkaldte ”Vlogs”, som er det analytiske omdrejningspunkt i afhandlingen. I undersøgelsen af hvordan de medierede selv-præsentationer kommer til udtryk på YouTube, tilskrives ikke mindst YouTubes kendetegn som medieplatform, en betydelig rolle for skabelsen af denne specifikke online identitet. YouTube analyseres derfor både som medie- og sociokulturelt fænomen, hvor det teoretiske fundament udgøres af et overrodnet ”Medium Theory” perspektiv med fokus på YouTube som medieplatform, der samtidig diskuteres i lyset af de senere års tendenser omkring den såkaldte ”Deltagerkultur” udsprunget af Cultural Studies traditionen. En teoretisk position udmønter sig på baggrund af disse tilgange i retning af den symbolske interaktionisme, hvorudfra konstruktionen af identitet analyseres. Det involverer i særdeleshed et fokus på social interaktion og sociale roller bl.a. udsprunget omkring George Herbert Meads (1934) tanker om selvet, som videreudvikles af Erving Goffman (1959) og endelig sættes ind i en medialiseret kontekst af Joshua Meyrowitz (1985), hvis teoretiske fundament afhandlingen diskuterer YouTube i lyset af. Afhandlingen er opbygget omkring et empirisk studie af YouTube videoer, der metodisk har taget udgangspunkt i en ”Content Analysis” inspireret tilgang, som samtidig kombineres med et fortolkende lag og en genre-analytisk tilgang. Det empiriske studie repræsenterer, i form af et observeret sample af YouTube videoer, et udsnit af YouTubes mest populære indhold, og afhandlingens hovedargumenter bliver således fremsat inden for denne kontekst. Gennem den metodiske del og en typologisering af bruger-generet-indhold identificeres en gruppe af Vlogs, der i den efterfølgende analyse inddrages til at identificere og analysere de audiovisuelle identitetsdannelser på YouTube som primært ikke-fiktive tekster, og hvorledes fremstillingen af selvet i videoerne kommer til udtryk i forhold til social adfærd, og ikke mindst i forhold til indtrykket af autenticitet, som et gennemgående analytisk fokuspunkt i gennemgangen af social og performativ adfærd i YouTube videoerne. Overordnet bidrager afhandlingen til en forståelse af audiovisuel identitet og social adfærd på nettet, hvor projekts ærinde også er at bidrage til en karakteristik af YouTube som sociokulturelt mediefænomen. Ovenstående beskrives i en monografisk del, der inkluderer en metodisk del, centrale elementer af den teoretiske ramme samt en analytisk del. Hertil er der skrevet fire individuelle artikler, der afspejler og udbreder aspekter af projektet produceret løbende under udarbejdelsen af Ph.d.-afhandlingen. …………………… ! iii Summary of the dissertation: Identity formation on YouTube - Investigating audiovisual presentations of the self By Thomas Mosebo Simonsen This dissertation investigates the construction of online and mediated identity on YouTube. It is argued that audiovisual presentations of the self with user-generated content (UGC) are regarded as authentic identities that appear as extensions of the self that simultaneously are regarded and presented as reality. The construction of identity on YouTube is especially noticeable in specific modes of the UGC; the first-person presentations of the self, also referred to as “Vlogs”, which thus will be the main analytical focus of this dissertation. The project draws on an empirically based investigation of 900 YouTube videos, where a sample of content has been collected and coded in a designed database. Methodologically, the project has its starting point within “content analysis”; however, this is expanded and combined by interpretative observations and registrations. The sample moreover is gathered from YouTube’s most popular videos and the principal arguments of this dissertation are thus presented within this context. The dissertation furthermore advocates that YouTube, in terms of its medium specific affordances, contributes to a unique characteristic of online identity formation through the site. Consequently, the principal theoretical fundament, drawning on a Medium Theory macro-perspective is also extended to include a critical discussion of the contemporary theoretical turn, the so-called participatory culture, emerged within the perimeters of Cultural Studies. This lead to a theoretical position somewhat analogous to “symbolic interactionism”, reflecting the dissertation’s main theoretical position, i.e., social interaction and behaviour that are reflected by George Herbert Mead (1934), extended through Erving Goffman (1959) and have emerged in Joshua Meyrowitz’ (1985) mediated focus on social interaction, which is finally applied to this project’s investigation of identity formation on YouTube. In the analysis, a group of Vlogs has been identified through the methodological approach, where the development of a typology of UGC has also proven necessary in order to identify specific modes of online identities and social behaviour. The analysis will be centred on self-images in the Vlog and modes of self-presentations, where especially the notion of authenticity is an important focus point. Overall, the dissertation contributes with an understanding of audiovisual identity formation and social behaviour on the Internet, exemplified with YouTube, for which the project furthermore provides a sociocultural characterisation. The dissertation as described above is presented in two parts. The first part is a monograph in which the fundamental theoretical framework is described, as well as the methodology and analysis, while the second part consists of four individual articles that elaborate on some of the essential arguments and analyses, theories and methodological considerations. ------------------------- ! iv Article abstracts Article I: Categorising YouTube This article provides a genre analytical approach to creating a typology of the user- generated content (UGC) of YouTube. The article investigates the construction of navigation processes on the YouTube website. It suggests a pragmatic genre approach that is expanded through a focus on YouTube’s technological affordances. Through an analysis of the different pragmatic contexts of YouTube, it is argued that a taxonomic understanding of YouTube must be analysed in regards to the vacillation of a user-driven bottom-up folksonomy and a hierarchical browsing system that emphasises a culture of competition and which favours the already popular content of YouTube. With this taxonomic approach, the UGC videos are registered and analysed in terms of empirically based observations. The article identifies various UGC categories and their principal characteristics. Furthermore, general tendencies of the UGC within the interacting relationships of new and old genres are discussed. It is argued that the utility of a conventional categorical system is primarily of analytical and theoretical interest rather than as a practical