Alone With Goffman: Impression Management and the TV Series

Abstract

Alone is an American reality television series on the History Channel. The show features 10 contestants who are vying to outlast each other while living off the land. Notably, there is no camera crew, and the contestants must film themselves everyday; the production team creates a weekly program that marks the journey of each individual. This study sought to understand the degree to which participants are able to shape their public identities through the video footage they shot and that was subsequently edited in Alone’s cutting room. The research team employed an explorative case study methodology, which allowed them to watch hours of publicly available official video clips from the History Channel’s Alone YouTube channel. The analysis was driven by theory (Goffman’s The Presentation of Self conceptual framework) and an inductive thematic analysis, which took place in a cyclical fashion through interpretation meetings at the end of each of the six series that were watched. The findings first showed that the contestants were performing to multiple audiences, such as their families, the public, the producers, and even God. Second, the boundary between the frontstage and the backstage was highly blurred. Third, the contestants were able to continue shaping and “repairing” their identities through their own social media outlets after the program. Finally, the theme of gendered approaches to living outdoors shone through in ways that were very complex, overlapping, and non-binary. There is an undeniably strong “impression management tension” between the selves that participants wanted to project and the narratives that were constructed by the Alone program’s producers.

Alone in the wilderness—Cultural perspectives to the participants' motives and values from participating in a danish reality TV-show

“…AIW can be understood as a new way of thinking and practicing the solo experience, which is not pedagogic or therapeutic motivated, but where technology and media use and appearance is essential ( 2 ). In this situation the participants may have other motives and values for participation which point in different directions in relation to well-known concepts or cultures of outdoor activities.…”

“…The participants are carefully casted to ensure dynamic, excitement and emotions in each episode, and they are shown in different, often critical, and emotional situations. The episodes often contrast the participants' approaches to survival and each episode usually ends with one of the participants deciding to tap out and return home ( 2 ).…”

“…Personal development and the relation to nature seems to be closely related to the solo experience and AIW may be seen as a modern TV-show that builds on the history and tradition of the solo experience but staged as a reality TV-show. The TV-show follows the characteristics of reality shows ( 4 ), e.g., with a particular challenge to the participants as to how they perform and manage different roles ( 2 ). Following the overall research question in this paper, we will not include the aspects of media, performance, or the participants different roles.…”

The Influence of the Online Persona on University Students

“…Persona initially refers to the image of a celebrity who is trying to maintain a good image in front of the public [2]. In 1959, the American social psychologist Goffman developed the theory of impression management, also known as the "impression modification theory" [3]. In psychology, it is explained as a theory of interpersonal techniques whereby one party to interaction designs or changes their own behaviour to trigger the other party to form the impression they want [3].…”

“…In 1959, the American social psychologist Goffman developed the theory of impression management, also known as the "impression modification theory" [3]. In psychology, it is explained as a theory of interpersonal techniques whereby one party to interaction designs or changes their own behaviour to trigger the other party to form the impression they want [3]. When people put it into the context of the internet, people find that the concept of an online persona is exactly that.…”