Desperately seeking sameness: the processes and pleasures of identification in women’s diary blog reading
(2007) In Feminist Media Studies 7(2). p.137-153- Abstract
- The Internet offers a plethora of venues for autobiographical self-representation: webcams,
personal websites, blogs. There is much research on self-representation online, whereas very
little research has focused on the consumption of online self-representation. This article
focuses on the act of reading diary blogs. Who are the actual readers of a specific blog and
what values do they place on the event of reading? What draws them to the diary site in the
first place and what mechanisms make them return? To attempt to uncover the reading
practices involved for readers of diary weblogs I have conducted an explorative web survey on
“how/when/why we read weblogs” on four... (More) - The Internet offers a plethora of venues for autobiographical self-representation: webcams,
personal websites, blogs. There is much research on self-representation online, whereas very
little research has focused on the consumption of online self-representation. This article
focuses on the act of reading diary blogs. Who are the actual readers of a specific blog and
what values do they place on the event of reading? What draws them to the diary site in the
first place and what mechanisms make them return? To attempt to uncover the reading
practices involved for readers of diary weblogs I have conducted an explorative web survey on
“how/when/why we read weblogs” on four independent diary blog sites kept by women in
their 30s. The consumption of these blogs seem to be severely circumscribed by notions of
sameness: based on gender, age, place of living, race/ethnicity, educational level. Readers
report being drawn to the diary blog for the rhythm of serial autobiographical consumption
and the possibilities of identification. They report looking for “likeness” in the first place. The
lure of identification might always have led readers to autobiographical writing. Yet, these
diary weblog readers, who in the main self-identify as female, report feeling heightened senses
of identification by the proximity in time between the scenes of production and the scenes of
consumption and by the deferral of the notion of an ending. This article explores the discursive
connections made between the serial, the longitudinal, the consistent, and the construction
and consumption of recognizable female selves. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1858940
- author
- Karlsson, Lena LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2007
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- online self-representation, reception studies, diary blog reading, identification
- in
- Feminist Media Studies
- volume
- 7
- issue
- 2
- pages
- 137 - 153
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:61249335602
- ISSN
- 1471-5902
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- b81ee79b-1acf-4d34-9cc4-c3dc01d9039c (old id 1858940)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 11:56:48
- date last changed
- 2022-04-05 07:23:05
@article{b81ee79b-1acf-4d34-9cc4-c3dc01d9039c, abstract = {{The Internet offers a plethora of venues for autobiographical self-representation: webcams,<br/><br> personal websites, blogs. There is much research on self-representation online, whereas very<br/><br> little research has focused on the consumption of online self-representation. This article<br/><br> focuses on the act of reading diary blogs. Who are the actual readers of a specific blog and<br/><br> what values do they place on the event of reading? What draws them to the diary site in the<br/><br> first place and what mechanisms make them return? To attempt to uncover the reading<br/><br> practices involved for readers of diary weblogs I have conducted an explorative web survey on<br/><br> “how/when/why we read weblogs” on four independent diary blog sites kept by women in<br/><br> their 30s. The consumption of these blogs seem to be severely circumscribed by notions of<br/><br> sameness: based on gender, age, place of living, race/ethnicity, educational level. Readers<br/><br> report being drawn to the diary blog for the rhythm of serial autobiographical consumption<br/><br> and the possibilities of identification. They report looking for “likeness” in the first place. The<br/><br> lure of identification might always have led readers to autobiographical writing. Yet, these<br/><br> diary weblog readers, who in the main self-identify as female, report feeling heightened senses<br/><br> of identification by the proximity in time between the scenes of production and the scenes of<br/><br> consumption and by the deferral of the notion of an ending. This article explores the discursive<br/><br> connections made between the serial, the longitudinal, the consistent, and the construction<br/><br> and consumption of recognizable female selves.}}, author = {{Karlsson, Lena}}, issn = {{1471-5902}}, keywords = {{online self-representation; reception studies; diary blog reading; identification}}, language = {{eng}}, number = {{2}}, pages = {{137--153}}, publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}}, series = {{Feminist Media Studies}}, title = {{Desperately seeking sameness: the processes and pleasures of identification in women’s diary blog reading}}, volume = {{7}}, year = {{2007}}, }