Rogozinska Blogtalk 2008

Everyday Body Regimes
The Construction of Self in Weblogs
about Dieting
Anna Rogozińska, M.A. Institute of Polish Culture Warsaw University

Inspirations: Identity as a Reflexive Project Identity as a Reflexive Project
Self-identity [(late and post-) modern] described as fluid, fragmented and ever-changing. No longer given, but reflexive, self-constructed, discursive and mediated.
Goffman’s performative identity
Giddens’ narrative identity
Bauman’s palimpsest identity

Inspirations: Identity as a Reflexive Project Identity as a Reflexive Project
Goffman’s performative identity
Giddens’ narrative identity :
self constructed through a set of biographical narratives
narratives further materialized through lifestyles, consumptive choices and body regimes.
Bauman’s palimpsest identity

Inspirations: Theories of Virtual Identity Theories of Virtual Identity
A set of internet features, above all its anonymity, disembodiment and its being a predominantly male sphere, has been analyzed as facilitating identity play (with particular importance of gender play and race play).
Turkle (1997) :
multiple selves
distinction between the “real life self” and those staged online
Wakeford (2000) :
identity staged not only as text
different media and environments, different analysis

Methodological concerns
how to “read” identity from the logovisual discourse of the internet:
many internet environments still predominantly logovisual, not multimedial (blogs as an exception)
attention must be paid to their specificity (medium, its materiality and content organizing rules, aesthetics, modes of production and consumption, social roles of author and reader, channels of distribution)
how to place virtual identities within existing theories of self-identity:
categories should be developed in relation to content, not content in relation to categories (Turkle 1997)
analyzed notions cannot be distilled from their wider context

Alternative: Writing the Self as a Cultural Practice Writing the Self as a Cultural Practice
Context as a key notion in anthropological research of the internet. Analyzed set of meanings is always:
mediated (internet as a supermedium, internet environments, text, image, sound, motion picture, language itself)
social (roles, hierarchies, institutions)
cultural (norms and values, customs)
Cultural practice is entangled in all these contexts.

Alternative: Writing the Self as a Cultural Practice Writing the Self as a Cultural Practice
Three main aspects of writing the self as a cultural practice:
technology (registration, data presentation, thematic construction, multimedia use, convergence of many internet environments)
means of identity construction (tickers, links, personal galleries, biographical narrative, frequency)
social context (rules of identity construction, weblog biographical narrative as a genre, language knowledge)

Methodology
discourse analysis: form and content
participatory observation
researcher as an user
being a fellow user as participation
(Jenkins, Hills)

Research Material
Dieta.pl ( http://www.dieta.pl ) - one of the biggest Polish portals about dieting
founded in 2000 (blogs started in 2007, about 1000)
more than 60000 registered users
82% are women ( average in Polish internet: 48%)
almost 70% younger than 25 (average: less than 45%)
50% from small towns smaller than 20000 citizens (average: 14%)
more than 140000 visits per month
many internet environments
Source: Megapanel PBI/Gemius (November 2007)
Raport “Internet 2006” by Gemius SA

Context of the Portal
structure: articles, diet plans, calculators, BB, chat, contacts, ads
registration: from guest to co-author
“ Chubby” (age, gender, height, weight, city)
Measure Thyself - role of calculators in identity formation and maintenance (BMI, Kcal, Weight)
forum:
profile
sub-fora (identification with a group)
being a host (my own “I’m Starting Tomorrow!” thread)
stress on interaction and information exchange

Diet (B)logging in Context
Blogs as a part of a thematic portal:
Technological aspects:
technological framework (fixed set of themes and categories, widgets/lack of widgets, template features)
separate login - what are the intersections of blog and forum usage?
no blog/portal linkage (apart from the domain name)
Social and communication aspects
presentation of self vs interaction
monologue vs dialogue
structured and focused experience (clear division, calendar)
Cultural/Thematic aspects
My Space vs We Space (different aspects)

Dieting Self on Blogs
the everyday organized by certain lifestyle:
counting calories
eating 4-5 times a day, always with food in mind
making certain consumptive choices (i.e. diet supplements)
where to go to, whom to go with
body as the main determinant of one’s identification, body under regime (always too much and not close enough to the ideal)
calculators - no blog widgets available, presented as text
self is reflexive, counting and constantly on watch
all true for BB as well - difference of extent?

(B)Logging the Diet
my blog = my journal = the space where I set rules (even though not outside of convention)
making technology mine (expressing oneself through design, media use, marking space)
blogging and dieting as two ways of structuring one’s life intertwined in diet weblogs (multi-thematic genre)
functions: therapy, self-help, structure, self-definition, self-reflection, self-expression, interaction on my own terms

To sum up
Identity of a diet blogger:
constructed through personal uses of technology at hand
built around specific subject set in a context of everyday life
refers to other online identities that may also be staged within the same thematic context
Question for discussion:
Is miladka on blog, forum, Flickr and Last.fm the same person?

Thank you!

Rogozinska Blogtalk 2008

by Blogtalk 2008 on Mar 01, 2008

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Rogozinska Blogtalk 2008 — Presentation Transcript

http://heinz.typepad.com	8
http://all-for-women.com	3
http://database.cd	1