I’m not who I seem to be’: Coming out of frontstage stylization on YouTube
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | In this presentation, I focus on a practice that I call the ‘coming out’ of YouTube celebrities, whereby they seek to abandon the stylized performance of their YouTube past and replace it with alternative models of self-presentation in the future. Using data from several YouTube video testimonials, I show how speakers discursively manage the act of ‘coming out of one’s frontstage performance’ and how they turn away from their earlier – presently dispreferred – public identities. While the testimonial format promises to give a glimpse of the real selves of these YouTubers, I suggest that when shedding their mask, they do not necessarily present us with a glimpse of the true backstage but, rather, with an alternative version of one’s frontstage performance. |
| Related projects: |