A Multi-method Examination of Race, Class, Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Motivations for Participation in the YouTube-based “It Gets Better Project” Laurie Marie Phillips A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Chapel Hill 2013 Approved by: Daniel Riffe Daren Brabham Barbara Friedman George Noblit Terri Phoenix © 2013 Laurie Marie Phillips ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT LAURIE MARIE PHILLIPS: A Multi-method Examination of Race, Class, Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Motivations for Participation in the YouTube-based “It Gets Better Project” (Under the direction of Dr. Daniel Riffe) On September 15, 2010, Dan Savage and Terry Miller created a YouTube channel that turned into a global phenomenon: the “It Gets Better Project” (IGBP). This multi-method study employs: 1) Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis (MCDA) to examine race, class, gender, and sexual orientation within IGBP videos; and 2) video chat-based in-depth interviews for determining participants’ motivations for IGBP participation and production of crowdsourced, social media-based strategic communication. Using sociologist Patricia Hill Collins’ “matrix of domination” as a theoretical framework for understanding structural, disciplinary, hegemonic, and interpersonal oppressions that led to the IGBP’s creation, video production, and video content, this empirical study draws from a sample of 21 videos and 20 interviews. MCDA findings reveal that participants presented a pared-back version of their own racial, class, gender, and sexual identities; projected their identities onto viewers; and created and perpetuated myths through their video narratives. In doing so, certain identities are presented to the exclusion of others, potentially leaving viewers outside of these boundaries more isolated, at risk for being even more suicidal because again they do not fit in, and confused about what identities are iii even possible. Thus, the IGBP videos both challenge the matrix of domination and reify its very existence. Interview data reveal four categorizations, including participants’: 1) felt sense of camaraderie with at-risk LGBTQ and questioning youth; 2) urgency to rectify what was missing from their own sexual identity development; 3) need to alter the media representation of lesbian and gay men in – and through – the IGBP; and 4) impact of their current positionality. Participants were forthcoming about the intersectionality of their racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, age, religious, and geographic identities and how those led to their IGBP participation, though that intersectionality rarely surfaced explicitly in their video content. In addition to contributing to numerous literatures on LGBTQ suicide, bullying, and harassment; LGBTQ media representation; strategic communication; and online participatory culture, this study has several methodological, theoretical, and practical implications for both scholars and practitioners, including participant recruitment, video chat-based interviewing, application of the matrix of domination to strategic communication efforts, and more. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS There are several people who deserve special recognition for helping me along the long, dark, and winding road to writing and successfully defending a dissertation. First and foremost, without my interview participants this study simply would not have happened. I’d like to sincerely thank all twenty of them once again – Abbie, Andie, David, Deb, Dennis, Gregory, Jill, Joe, Jordon, Kaali, Kevin, Kile, Kim, Kristin, Lauren, Lee, Rafael, Sam, Sarah, and Thomas – for so graciously sharing their time and intimate details about their lives with me. Next, I am indebted to those who financially supported me during my studies. The Triad Foundation generously funded three years of my doctoral studies through a Park Fellowship, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Graduate Student awarded me a Dissertation Completion Fellowship allowing me to extend my studies a fourth year. Additionally, the American Academy of Advertising provided me funding through their AAA Dissertation Proposal Award, monies of which I used toward transcription services for this study. I am extremely grateful to all three entities for their generosity and believing in the quality of my work as a young scholar. My committee members were instrumental in the planning and execution of this study, and I sincerely thank all of them for their guidance – and patience – throughout this process. Dan Riffe: Thank you for being a patient mentor throughout the dissertation process and my entire time at Carolina, including your unwavering v support of my methodological adventures, guidance when I so boldly handed you an (excruciatingly painful) 300-plus page “chapter” (!), and for calming my nerves throughout the long ride to dissertation completion. You have given me a strong drive to seek methodological excellence, no matter what the method, and have had a fundamental role in all of my scholarly successes, and for that I extend a sincere thank you. Daren Brabham: thank you for your endless support, advice, willingness to listen to me vent my frustrations, and humor as a colleague, mentor, and great friend these past three years and for shaping me into the scholar I am today. I would not have made it through this PhD program in one piece – professionally or personally – if it weren’t for you. Barbara Friedman: thank you for always challenging me to view an issue from multiple dimensions; instilling the importance of historical context in my research; and tirelessly striving to help me become a stronger writer, editor, and researcher. Terri Phoenix: thank you for introducing me to Collins’ “matrix of domination” and one of the most influential texts I’ve read during my time at Carolina; the hours and hours spent helping me plan, refine, and disseminate this study; and for always pushing me to consider how to translate scholarly research into practical applications that can help LGBTQ individuals well beyond the ivory tower. George Noblit: thank you for so eloquently introducing me to the world of in- depth interviewing; getting me hooked on qualitative research through your captivating course; and for encouraging me to examine research data from multiple perspectives I would never have thought of on my own. To my friends and family who supported me throughout this lengthy pursuit, I owe my deepest gratitude. It wasn’t always a pleasant process, nor was I, and I vi thank you for your unwavering emotional support. Thank you to my parents for instilling the importance of education in me from a very early age; encouraging me to always be intellectually curious; and for cheering me on through the pursuit of my doctorate. Thank you to my sister Jen and her family for always believing in and supporting me - and Jen for being one helluva great copyeditor. Thank you to my sister Amy and her family for providing refuge for me when I needed psychological and physical space from North Carolina and unconditional support in my eggheaded pursuits. To my love, LJH: thank you for your patient love and support; making me laugh when I needed it most; letting me vent about the process; and whipping me into shape when I got lost in the dissertation darkness. I cannot forget about my beloved pooch, Chile Pepper, who thoughtfully demanded I step away from my laptop every few hours to get some fresh air with her. To my numerous friends at Carolina and beyond, thank you for all of your support throughout this turbulent, yet rewarding process, especially Lynsy Smithson-Stanley; Erica Ciszek; Brendan and Tamara Watson; Rebecca Ortiz; Joseph Erba; Laura Meadows; Jess Myrick; Dean Smith; Erin Willis; Annie Maxfield; Scott Parrott; Temple Northup; Woodrow Hartzog; and many, many more. Suffice it to say, I have an impressive professional and personal network that helped me and cheered for me throughout this process. There were several times when I wasn’t sure I would make it. For some of you, that was painfully clear; and for others, perhaps not as much. But in the darkest of times, y’all literally kept me alive and prevented me from becoming yet another statistic that the “It Gets Better Project” seeks to prevent. For that and more, thank you. vii PREFACE “Today we have the power to give these kids hope. We have the tools to reach out to them and tell our stories and let them know that it does get better. Online support groups are great, GLSEN does amazing work, the Trevor Project is invaluable. But many LGBT youth can’t picture what their lives might be like as openly gay adults. They can’t imagine a future for themselves. So let’s show them what our lives are like, let’s show them what the future may hold in store for them” (Savage, 2010b). viii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: Introduction……………………………………………………...………......1 CHAPTER 2: Background and Literature Review…………………………………….…4 The It Gets Better Project…………………………………………………………..4 LGBTQ Bullying, Harassment, and Suicide…………………………………….11 LGBTQ Media Representation…………………………………………………...22 Online Participatory Culture………………………………………………………27 Theoretical Framework……………………………………………………………33 CHAPTER 3: Methods…………………………………………………………………….41 Survey………………………………………………………………………………43 Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis………………………………………….49 In-depth, Semi-structured Interviews…………………………………………….54 CHAPTER 4: Analysis