‘Who am I, really?’ – Self-help consumption and self-identity in the age of technology

Rens, Simphiwe Emmanuel

doi:10.4102/hts.v75i1.5336

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Evidently, Africans with access to these media forms have been able to imagine and reimagine romance, sexuality, courtship, and happiness -among other topics -through these texts for decades (Cooper, 2013). Young urban individuals across diverse regions of Africa are noted to still actively engage with these kinds of advisory media texts (Rens, 2016;Nehring & Kerrigan, 2020;Rens, 2019;Jones, 2019), arguably allowing these individuals to engage subject matter about romance, sexuality, courtship, and happiness through a psychosocial lens of self-care.…”

Section: The Advisory Media Text In Africa: a Brief Contextual Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The self-help media texts, in this article, refer to media materials containing information and advice for resolving people's perceived socio-psychological problems/shortfalls. The advisory information is often, but not always, provided by a distant professional who does not grant direct supervision over the consumer except encouraging independent consumption of this information, with the said outcome being beneficial to the help seeker (Rimke, 2000;Rens, 2016Rens, , 2019. Essentially, self-help can be understood as "…self-guided betterment, with the intention to cope with life problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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“It’s about finding and knowing myself”: Why Johannesburg-based South African Millennials consume self-help media

Rens¹

2023

JCSA

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Using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with a group of ten middle-class, internet-connected, South African millennials in Johannesburg, Gauteng this analysis explores the psychosocial gratifications derived from their self-declared active sourcing and consumption of self-help media texts. Developing within the uses and gratifications theoretical framework, the article finds that self-help media texts (books, blogs, videos, etc., significantly sourced from digital platforms via the internet) are sought as tools that offer a psychological “quick fix” to the day-to-day psychosocial “problems” that push the interviewed participants to seek coping mechanisms. The article presents evidence to demonstrate that self-help media texts are consumed by the interviewees to gratify a psychosocial need for self-knowledge where they engage self-help media texts as surveillance mediums on which they rely to better “find” and “know” themselves in relation to others, as far as socially “acceptable” interpersonal behaviour is concerned. As such, these Johannesburg-based South African millennials consume self-help media texts, and the moral grammar of norms, beliefs, and values about successful living encoded therein, as tools for self-management with the goal of “mastering” the self – in relation to others – to understand how best to behave to avoid the “mistakes” that impede the smooth-sailing of what these participants describe as their life journeys.

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Section: The Advisory Media Text In Africa: a Brief Contextual Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It’s about finding and knowing myself”: Why Johannesburg-based South African Millennials consume self-help media

Rens¹

2023

JCSA

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Self help atau tolong diri adalah model penanganan yang dilakukan secara mandiri oleh konseli berdasarkan langkahlangkah atau penduan yang telah dikembangkan konselor [11]. Adapun bentuk terapi yang terdapat dalam self help antara lain dapat berupa teks, artikel, video, rekaman suara dan lainnya [12]. Model self help berbasis website yang sesuai dengan kebutuhan dengan dapat mencakup secara menyeluruh pada konseli yang membutuhkan layanan konseling dan kondisi saat ini dengan penggunaan media digital serta pemanfaatan internet [13][14] [15].…”

Section: Pendahuluanunclassified

Peningkatan Kompetensi Self-Help Konseling Realita Berbasis Online

Ramli,

Hidayah,

Saputra

et al. 2023

ajad

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The problems faced by students are currently increasingly complex with the uncontrollable developments of the times and the impact caused by the co-19 pandemic. One solution that can be applied is the use of self-help online reality counseling to help overcome student problems, however, counselors have low competence in the development and application of self-help online reality counseling. Low competence both in terms of understanding and application is shown by service partners who have never implemented self-help-based counseling services for students. Therefore, the implementation of this service provides training in the application of self-help online-based reality counseling to counselors in Malang Raya. The training activity took place in the D3 FIP UM hall with the Malang Raya High School MGBK partner. The results of training on the application of self-help online reality counseling show that in terms of understanding, counselors experience a change from low to moderate to high. Counselors have the ability of counselors to design and use online reality counseling self-help applications.

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How does mortality salience influences personal identity-based consumption? The role of meaning in life

Xiao,

Liu,

Chen

et al. 2023

Curr Psychol

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‘Who am I, really?’ – Self-help consumption and self-identity in the age of technology

Cited by 3 publications

References 12 publications

“It’s about finding and knowing myself”: Why Johannesburg-based South African Millennials consume self-help media

“It’s about finding and knowing myself”: Why Johannesburg-based South African Millennials consume self-help media

Peningkatan Kompetensi Self-Help Konseling Realita Berbasis Online

How does mortality salience influences personal identity-based consumption? The role of meaning in life

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