Keeping fashionable company : ASOS and the collective logic of online spaces

On 'being' online: insights on contemporary articulations of the relational self, 2017

One of the growing research interests in media and Internet studies concerns how the self is constructed in the digital environment, while the complex relationship between the self and consumption continues to be of interest in consumer research. This thesis is an examination of relational being at the intersection of digital media and consumer culture. It takes a critical perspective to examine the conditions under which the contemporary self is constructed and how the self is articulated in digital contexts, and thus views the online as embedded in the offline. Rooted in social constructionism, the relational perspective sees the self as an intersection of multiple and shifting relations. The aim of the study is to gain a deeper understanding of the complexity of self-construction in our media-saturated consumer society. The study examines bloggers and fans and their mediated consumption practices through the lens of the social imaginary. The empirical material is collected from social media sites, plus-sized fashion blogs and YouTube, and analysed in the discourse analytic tradition combined with digital ethnography. The findings of the empirical studies show how ‘aspiration’ is constructed in the imaginary, with two conflicting, yet mutually constitutive notions of ‘being yourself’ and ‘improving yourself’ being negotiated at the site of the self, in the relational flow of the Internet. The studies also discuss disenfranchisement and marginalisation as properties of relationships, and show how imaginaries, in offering a range of interpretative resources for the self, also provide opportunities for counter-discourses. The study makes several theoretical and methodological contributions: within media and Internet studies, this thesis contributes to a better understanding of the embeddedness of the digital and to the ongoing discussion of how the digital is shaping the self; within consumer research, to the theorisation of relational self in the contemporary consumer context. Treating imaginaries as semiotic systems allows us to see imaginaries as constructed terrains of aspirations with complex significations. Thus, as sources of relational tension, imaginaries can be seen as implicated in the positioning, even othering, of individuals. The study suggests that the self is a fluctuating process of various alignments and disalignments within the matrix of social, cultural, and economic forces, with momentary discursive and relational achievements translating into temporary and situated congruence with others.

The study aims to shed light on the important yet often overlooked intersection of commodification and identity in online social networks. Although much has been written about the impact of social network sites on our daily lives, little attention has been paid to the effects of commercial discourses on such sites to the construction of identity. Taking a fluid and non-essentialist view of identity, this research reports the findings of a content analysis of five different marketing campaigns provided by third-party applications on Facebook. It will question the extent to which the association of SNSs users with particular brands contributes to their sense of self and their presentation to their online network. In particular, the research will be testing the hypotheses of previous studies about the work of representation in the construction of the self developed by Foucault and the constant aspiration for socially desirable identities in the context of online settings mainly advocated by Zhao, Grasmuck and Martin. Additionally, it will try to identify the power relations involved in this activity and whether this practice of presenting oneself online is achieved by means of liberation or oppression. In this line of inquiry, the investigation will assess whether the power exerted on the users can be seen as “productive” in a Foucauldian sense and what the implications are for that. The study concludes by arguing that particular brands can indeed provide highly socially desirable identities for many social network site users, and that they can play a significant role in constituting both a sense of self and a positive image to their online network.

Fashion consumption in digital media: Multiple practices and new identities, 2020

It is possible to assert that the fashion system constitutes a complex device that determines consumption agendas. Fashion clothing is massively consumed, and consumer habits are deeply affected by online advertising. These consumption practices are not simply passive, sometimes they are creative, yet they are still part of the fashion disciplinary device. In these consumption practices, a range of expressions and discourses between individuals may be detected as well as multiple subjectivities under construction within contemporary societies. The intention of this article is to shed some light on the role of online fashion consumption practices within our societies, which are traversed by daily and prevailingly online advertising and encourage increased consumption. 'Influencers' are one novel example of how online advertising is subtly influencing fashion consumption. Even though consumers show certain tendencies in acquiring fashion clothing from specific brands, via different digital media outlets depending on their socioeconomic status and their peer groups, their consumption practices may try to subvert the conventional formats through which fashion clothing has been consumed traditionally. Nevertheless, as much as these practices seem to promote freedom, they might confirm the tactics of the system and just be a part of the algorithmic logic that imposes certain products, reproducing established categories.

2012

IASDR 2023: Life-Changing Design

What if the brand is a place? In specialist literature, the brand interacts through a series of tangible and intangible touchpoints with its interlocutors. When we buy items, use services, or come into contact with any expression of a brand, we come into contact with its being. Whether these are points of sale, events, websites, packaging and products, touchpoints help the interlocutor enter the world of the brand and experience it. These elements play an essential role in building a long-term engagement with it. However, in an ever-changing environment where brands must be flexible and agile to remain market relevant, they must also be able to adapt their behaviours and modulate their identity and expressions based on conditions and context. It is, therefore, necessary to underline the transition from touchpoints to touchplaces in the system of relations between the brand and the audience. The concept of place, as that of the brand, contemplates spirit, personality, and character. Like each place, each brand has its own particular identity and moral character, making both emotional and relational hubs. An interpretation model will allow highlighting this evolution from touchpoints to touchplaces and how these places of exchange and meeting are key elements in offering relevant experiences to the interlocutors.

2010

This paper aims to improve our understanding of the sociality that emanates from virtual communities of consumption. We have collected life narratives, with a focus on agency in consumers' experiences of forums in a virtual community of video game players. Findings reveal the existence of different means of appropriation built on identified dimensions and leading to various knowledge projects. These projects are experienced throughout subject positions around which consumers build more or less salient identities. The roles that forums play in knowledge projects lead to four main interrelated consumption logics that are collectively embodied in different ways by social practices. [to cite]:

When Black Mirror first aired in the U.K. in 2011, it was introduced as a cautionary tale of a dystopian future where humanity lost its control over soul-sucking technological devices.

… Thesis, School of …, 2006

This thesis advances an explicit, consequent, and wholesome ethnomethodological perspective on brand community. It recognizes brand community as a social problem â something to be continuously solved and achieved. The two main perceivably stable ...

The Digital Turn: User’s Practices and Cultural Transformations, 2012

2005