Introduction to the social construction of identity and authenticity

Schwarz, Kaylan C.; Williams, J. Patrick

doi:10.4324/9780429027987-1

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The interaction between the values of young people and the values conveyed by the media is indeed a complex and ever-evolving theme. We know that the media can inevitably influence the values of young people in various ways, and, even more so, social media, starting with their widespread use, have provided young people with a space for visibility and self-representation that still allows them to navigate between a dimension of authenticity ( Schwarz and Williams, 2021 ) and one of “false representation,” deciding what to post or share, when to do it, and how to do it ( Boyd, 2014 ; Marwick and Boyd, 2014 ) and skillfully using both “authentic” and “fake” profiles ( Darr and Doss, 2022 ).…”

Section: Conclusion and Perspectives: Desire For Authenticity And Eme...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Generation Z, values, and media: from influencers to BeReal, between visibility and authenticity

Tirocchi

2024

Front. Sociol.

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This study examines the connection between values perceived as important by Generation Z and the values conveyed by the media contents chosen and consumed by young individuals. The article’s main objective is to identify the values that a sample of Italian university students, aged between 20 and 23, consider most significant. It explores their perceptions and expectations regarding contemporary society and the ethical trends therein. Furthermore, it investigates their preferred media and the values they believe these media platforms convey, trying to investigate the relationship between values and favorite media. Media and digital platforms, indeed, play an increasingly vital role in shaping and disseminating values. YouTubers, influencers, or, in a broader context, content on social media platforms (such as Instagram, TikTok, as well as entertainment platforms like Netflix) demonstrate how the new mediators of communication and the forms of media content favored by young individuals are, more evidently than ever, intertwined with the sharing of values, norms, and social expectations, much like family and school once were. One example that emerged from the research concerned the success of the “Bereal” platform, linked on the one hand to the desire to make public and share one’s self-image, and on the other hand to the need to show oneself as “authentic.” Through the conduct of five focus groups in December 2022 involving 60 university students from the University of Turin, this research reveals a substantial continuity in the values considered most important by young individuals (compared to previous national surveys). The article also demonstrates how the values conveyed by the media favored by young people do not always correspond to traditional ones and express needs that, at times, the new digital platforms and their protagonists manage to intercept.

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Section: Conclusion and Perspectives: Desire For Authenticity And Eme...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Generation Z, values, and media: from influencers to BeReal, between visibility and authenticity

Tirocchi

2024

Front. Sociol.

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“…The notion of authenticity often indicates a route of actualizing self, either in the individual or collective manner. It is framed in two distinct ways: the first is that authenticity is antagonistic to society (see Lewin & Williams, 2009;Schwarz & Williams, 2021). The second is that authenticity is tied to group membership or social identity (Schwarz & Williams, 2021;Williams & Copes, 2005).…”

Section: Authenticity In Experiencing Musicmentioning

confidence: 99%

Engaging With Objects and Feelings: The Making of Live Music Space in Shanghai’s Livehouses

2022

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Livehouse is a small venue for live music performance, a term commonly used in the Asian context. This article adopts an insider’s perspective to look at the connections between livehouse and its audiences. Instead of treating spaces and objects as silent textures of live music experiences, we regard livehouse as an active site filled with ideas and feelings. The meaning of livehouse is made by audiences through both human and non-human agents and extends to the broader social and cultural context of Shanghai. By highlighting the power of things and networking in between, this article combines the affordance theory to illustrate the experiential dimensions and interpretive processes of livehouse audiences in Shanghai. Drawing on ethnographic data from 26 in-depth interviews and participant observation, we conclude the social, cultural, and emotional affordances of livehouses perceived through tangible and intangible objects and settings.

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“…Commodified representations of authenticity in popular culture are imbued with power to define what is ‘authentic’, and have variously been described by scholars as ‘mediated authenticity’ (Enli, 2015) or the ‘manufacturing’ (Duffy, 2013: 137) and ‘branding’ (Banet-Weiser, 2012) of authenticity. Although the concept of ‘authenticity’ does not have a fixed meaning (Schwarz and Williams, 2021), articulations of authenticity tend to carry positive value and are commonly associated with attributes such as being ‘genuine’ and ‘real’ (Lindholm, 2013). Discourses that promote the pursuit of authenticity represent a quest for ‘free’ self-expression and ‘realness’ rooted in an alleged ‘true inner self’.…”

Section: Gender Authenticity and Popular Culturementioning

confidence: 99%

Constructions of self and the pursuit of ‘authenticity’ in women’s magazines: A study of British and Greek discourses

Orphanides

Predelli

Keightley

2022

European Journal of Cultural Studies

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This article examines discourses of authenticity embedded in European popular culture based on an empirical study of British and Greek women’s magazines. After a quantitative content analysis of 575 articles published in Greek and British editions of Cosmopolitan and Marie Claire during 2012–2016, we conducted a qualitative repertoire analysis of 80 articles and identified a shared discursive repertoire, that of women’s ‘authentic self’. Our analysis suggests that discourses of authenticity in women’s magazines contain contradictory elements. First, they are characterised by a ‘can do’ philosophy, an emphasis on ‘body-positivity’, ‘self-acceptance’ and self-help advice, which suggests women’s agency as well as a normalisation of postfeminist gender anxieties. Second, the discourses encourage women to accept their bodies, ‘internal selves’ and current circumstances through self-monitoring and self-surveillance, while silencing societal barriers that form obstacles to achieving ‘an authentic self’. These authenticity discourses rely on a triple entanglement of notions derived from third-wave feminism, post-feminism and neoliberal discourse.

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Introduction to the social construction of identity and authenticity

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

Generation Z, values, and media: from influencers to BeReal, between visibility and authenticity

Generation Z, values, and media: from influencers to BeReal, between visibility and authenticity

Engaging With Objects and Feelings: The Making of Live Music Space in Shanghai’s Livehouses

Constructions of self and the pursuit of ‘authenticity’ in women’s magazines: A study of British and Greek discourses

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