Questions of presentation and representation of individuals, groups, and communities have become key sites of struggle, as evidenced by the battles in both physical and digital spaces – battles which have also thrown the roles of digital affordances, systems, industries, and structures into relief. This book shows that questions about the (re)presentation of the self in digital culture are now key to how the field of media and communication must engage with the political; and demonstrates the wide range of scholarship focusing on presentation and representation of the self in recent times. The contributors show that questions of self-presentation and representation in digital culture are the focus of lively debate, critique, and investigation and that this is taking place from a number of theoretical perspectives and locations across the globe. This book was originally published as a special issue of Popular Communication.
Introduction - Introduction to the special issue book: self-(re)presentation now 1. Verified: Self-presentation, identity management, and selfhood in the age of big data 2. Symbolic bordering: The self-representation of migrants and refugees in digital news 3. How Can We Tell the Story of the Colombian War?: Bastardized Narratives and Citizen Celebrities 4. Expecting penises in Chatroulette: Race, gender, and sexuality in anonymous online spaces 5. "Sharenting," parent blogging, and the boundaries of the digital self 6. "I will not hate myself because you cannot accept me": Problematizing empowerment and gender-diverse selfies 7. Sick bunnies and pocket dumps: "Not-selfies" and the genre of self-representation
Biography
Nancy Thumim is Associate Professor in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds, UK. Her published work variously considers the relationship between media users and media spaces. She is particularly concerned with understanding the constraints and opportunities shaping individuals’ and communities’ self-representation in contemporary digital cultures.
