Overly Honest Acknowledgments.

Posted on by wishcrys

I just completed the acknowledgments for book 02 and now I want to cry.

Today in Overly Honest Academia:

“Finally, if you have made it this far down our acknowledgements, you have earned the *actual* backstory behind this book project. When we first proposed this book to each other in 2015, we were full-time PhD candidates who were multitasking on soon-to-be expired scholarships, but who were also running on wild ambition and pure adrenaline. Between this moment and the eventual publication of the book, the co-editors have collectively experienced two marriages, five house moves, one childbirth, three deaths, four job changes, and thousands of text messages on email, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Truth be told, this book could only be completed because neither of the co-editors lost stamina or hope concurrently, and were able to dip in and out of the project according to the peaks and troughs of our personal lives, while the other party soldiered on. As such, we would like to acknowledge the collegiality and friendship we have shared as young women academics, and to thank our partners, family, and loved ones for their understanding and support throughout this process.”

I love you, Megan Lindsay Brown (´• ω •`) ♡

Microcelebrity Around The Globe: Approaches to cultures of internet fame, coming to you in December 2018.

MA and PhD theses on cultures of internet celebrity.

Posted on by wishcrys

Moshimoshi folks,

I have just spent several days poring through a crop of MA and PhD theses by postgraduates around the world who are studying cultures of internet celebrity, microcelebrity, and influencers. I was really excited by this steady stream of pre-published or soon-to-be published works on emergent and cutting-edge practices that have been so swiftly archived and analysed by these early career researchers.

If it is helpful, I list these references and their publicly-available links (mostly Open Access via the authors’ institutional repositories) below. If you have a thesis to add to the list, please feel free to comment. If you are nearly completing a thesis on any aspect of internet celebrity, I would love to hear from you (especially if you focus on cultures outside of the US and UK).

Here is a paragraph summarising this crop of theses, lifted from a forthcoming piece of mine to be published in December 2018 in ‘Abidin, Crystal, and Megan Lindsay Brown (eds). (forthcoming, 2018). Microcelebrity Around the Globe: Approaches to cultures of internet fame. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing.’

“Focusing on how commerce and industry are impact microcelebrity-audience relations are Neal’s (2017) thesis on Instagram influencers and sponsorship, Mustonen’s (2017) thesis on YouTubers coming out to fan communities, Sedláček’s (2016) thesis on how YouTubers’ audiences are shifting away from TV practices, and Bruijn’s (2016) thesis on how YouTubers are negotiating a balance between commercialism and authenticity. Considering the cultures of microcelebrity on newer social media platforms are Gkoni et al.’s (2017) thesis on Snapchat and emoji use as ‘fam’ subcultures, Bingham’s (2017) thesis on practices of professionalism among Twitch microcelebrities, Blight’s (2016) thesis on community building across streaming platforms, and van de Put’s (2017) thesis on the process of becoming a celebrity on Musical.ly. Finally, looking outside of the Anglo-centric U.S. and Euro-centric U.K. are Bakke’s (2017) thesis on commercial bloggers in Norway, Meng’s (2014) and Wang’s (2017) theses looking at wanghong on Weibo in China, Meylinda’s (2017) thesis looking at beauty vlogs in South Korea, and Limkangvanmongkol’s (2018) thesis looking at beauty bloggers’ practices in Thailand. As newer cohorts of postgraduates and early career researchers delve deeper into the cultural and political complexities of microcelebrity practices in their parts of the world, one can be assured of generations of critical works on cultures of internet celebrity from around the globe.”

* Continue reading MA and PhD theses on cultures of internet celebrity.

New pop article: Layers of Identity

Posted on by wishcrys

Moshimoshi folks,

My latest piece for Real Life is on Influencer culture: On how to look extremely real when you are extremely online.

Read Layers of Identity: How to be “real” when everyone is watching, as part of the week’s series on Influencers.

“for influencers to convince an audience that they are being authentic, it is not enough for them to merely show themselves without “artifice”: barefaced, with a bedhead, and in pajamas. Instead, they must actively juxtapose this stripped-down version of themselves against the median and normative self-presentations of glamour, to continually create and assign value to new markers — faults and flaws, failures and fiascos — to affirm the veracity of their truth-ness.”

“An audience is enticed into trying to evaluate and validate how genuine a persona is by following the feedback loop across the front stage of social media and the backstage of “real life,” through inconspicuous and scattered holes or gateways that were intentionally left as trails for the curious.”

/C

Keynote video: Cultures of Internet Celebrity on YouTube

Posted on by wishcrys

Moshimoshi folks!

In March, I had the pleasure of keynoting at the Brand Experience Through New Media Event at Aalto University, in a building that was really a luxurious Finnish spa resort masquerading as a place of higher learning.

If you are so inclined, here is 23:59 of me speaking on Cultures of Internet Celebrity, based on my forthcoming book, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online.

Many many thanks to Miikka Lehtonen, Markus Ahola, and Tanja Sihvonen for the invitation and for pulling this together with your super efficient team and the unrivalled Finnish hospitality.

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The event was held in Mordor with giant mustard bean bags and giant table lamps for the Cosiest Atmosphere At An Academic Event ever. I almost didn’t want the event to kickoff so that I could lounge in Mordor forever in my matching mustard sweater.

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We ended the day with a 47:36 panel discussion and Q&A on Influencer cultures, featuring yours truly and Stina Varsikko of Splay, moderated by Miikka Lehtonen. Watch that goodness here:

/C