lecture

framing the theme: online vs offline

  • online is not necessarily separate from offline

  • question: how do interactions online compare to offline?

theoretical anchors

media ideologies

  • Gershon (2010): media ideologies are people’s beliefs about how communication works on different platforms

  • media ideologies: cultural beliefs about how communication media convey meaning

  • Gerson coined this term in ‘The Breakup 2.0’

    • eg: “texting is casual, email is formal”

    • our expectations shape interpretation of meaning online

authenticity as performance

  • Goffman (1950): Presentation of Self - frontstage/backstage performance

  • authenticity isn’t something we have - it’s something we do

  • Bucholtz (2011): authenticity as socially constructed through discourse and interaction

  • online authenticity = a performed ideal, not an objective state

case study 1: Scott Ross (2019)

  • negotiating authenticity in interpersonal spaces

‘being real on fake instagram’

  • finstagram as a private, ‘authentic’ space

  • realness expressed through unfiltered images and captions

  • a paradox: fake accounts used to show real self

likes, images and media ideologies of value

  • users are still guided by platform logics » likes, visibility, engagement

  • authenticity itself becomes a kind of currency

what does “being real” mean in Ross’ study?

  • “I enjoy [Insta] because it’s very much a change to just be like, ‘I don’t really care what I look like’… no filter, raw, and people appreciate it just for the content versus the outward appearance.” - Ross, 2019, p368

what role do likes and visibility play in defining “realness?”

  • "Ann said that she ‘couldn’t care less about likes’ on her finsta…Scarlet echoed this: “I enjoy [finsta] because it’s very much a chance to just be like, “I don’t really care what I look like” … no filter, raw, and people appreciate it just for the content versus the outward appearance.”

how does Ross’ study challenge the idea that social media is inherently performative?

  • “for my interlocutors, their primary Instagram accounts aren’t false version of themselves…”

summary

  • authenticity is relational: it exists when recognised by peers

  • private spaces allow experimentation, but still curated

  • visibility (likes, comments) both validates and constrains expression

  • ‘being real’ is an active negotiation between self n audience

case study 2: Sicong Zhao (2025)

  • engaging in intrapersonal dialogue

key findings

  • documenting the self » recording moments of emotion, inspiration, or routine life

  • reflecting on the self » rereading old posts, reinterpreting past selves

  • constructing the self » editing one’s digital presence to align with current identity

how is Zhao’s idea of “intrapersonal interaction” different from traditional notions of communication?

  • “Social media serves not only to communicate with others but also to engage in dialogues with the self…”

how does self-curation differ from self-presentation?

  • “building on participants’ descriptions, we can perceive social media as a museum of self…”

what does this tell us about how culture shapes online authenticity?

  • culture, technology and personal reflections all shape how we feel about being authentic

  • “through in-depth interviews with Chinese indie music enthusiasts…this article illustrates how individuals use social media as a digital platform…”

summary

  • self-curation is a form of identity work

  • platforms structure intrapersonal performance

  • can be empowering (reflection, continuity) and isolating (self-comparison)

  • authenticity is relational, even when not socially directed

comparative synthesis

Theme:

Ross:

Zhao:

Context

Instagram

Music Social Media

Focus

Interpersonal Performance

Self-curation

Key Intention

Authenticity vs Popularity

Reflection vs Isolation

authenticity

  • the paradox of authenticity: the more we try to “be real,” the more we rely on the conventions of “realness

  • the mediated self: our sense of self increasingly depends on digital infrastructures - algorithms, likes and memories

  • the self as ongoing performance: there’s no final or stable ‘true self’ behind our performances - only continuous becoming

  • authenticity is relational, contextual, mediated

  • emotional costs exist even in self-directed performance

  • awareness allows intentional engagement

I think the real self lives primarily offline, because it is much easier to maintain a facade online, where our actions are relatively temporary, in comparison to offline, where there are many aspects that contribute to deciphering whether someone is real ie body language, dialogue, etc, all of which are present offline

connecting threads

  • online and offline continuity: digital and physical interactions are not separate; they form an interconnected social ecology

  • media ideologies: our beliefs about platforms shape what we see as “appropriate,” “intimate,” or “real”

  • authenticity as labour: performing “realness” online takes work - emotional, aesthetic and temporal

  • reflexivity and curation: platforms encourage us to think about ourselves as both subjects and audiences of our own lives

online vs offline mapping

online interactions:

overlap:

offline interactions:

plenary reflection

  • digital and physical worlds are mutually constitutive

  • the same relational logics (attention, validation, vulnerability) - circulate across both

    • for Ross’ Finsta users, “being real,” was about creating safe online spaces that echoed offline intimacy

    • for Zhao’s curators, authenticity was about continuity with their inner, reflective lives

  • in both, the self “travels” - crossing boundaries between public/private, online/offline, self/other

summary

  • online n offline selves are intertwined

  • media ideologies define what feels “real”

  • authenticity is relational, not absolute

  • performing authenticity can both connect and exhaust us