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Desperately seeking sameness: the processes and pleasures of identification in women’s diary blog reading

Karlsson, Lena LU (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:
author
organization
publishing date
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}},
}