Styling the self online: semiotic technologization in weblog publishing

ABSTRACT

Testing on digital semiotic production the concepts of (self-)styling and technologization of discourse, developed for offline linguistic phenomena, the article investigates the role of digital platforms in shaping the relation between self-expression online, semiotic regulation and the social construction of taste. By focusing on the use of semiotic resources of webdesign for identity expression, the study analyses the semiotic regimes emerging from regulatory practices and webdesign styles on WordPress, and their influence on the changes in the projected identity of a personal blogger. In spite of the participatory character of WordPress, results show the role of the platform in objectifying/technologizing hegemonic semiotic preferences, with consequent normalising effects in bloggers’ self-styling practices. The conclusions relate the findings to broader power dynamics in the social construction of taste and their implications for both online and offline forms of self-expression.

KEYWORDS:

• WordPress
• blogs
• technologization
• styling
• webdesign
• self-expression

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Elisabetta Adami is a University Academic Fellow in Multimodal Communication at the School of Languages, Cultures and Societies, University of Leeds, UK. Her research specialises in social semiotic multimodal analysis. She is currently working on developing theories and methods for the analysis of intercultural sign-making in place, in face-to-face interaction and online. Recent publications include journal articles, edited special issues and volumes on sign-making practices in place (on disembodied multimodal communication in superdiverse markets) and in digital environments (on the aesthetics of webdesign and interactivity, on YouTube video-interaction, on the affordances of mobile devices, and on sign-making in social media). She is the editor of Visual Communication.

Notes

1 Blogs are considered one of the first examples of social media, as they afford online social networking, see e.g., https://www.cision.com/us/2009/06/why-are-blogs-considered-social-media/ (retrieved 29 December 2017), and are widely included in scholarly analyses of social media usage, e.g., Aichner and Jacob (2015).

2 Wordpress.com, originated in 2005, is owned by Automattic (https://automattic.com/), founded by one of the first developers of Wordpress.org. Its model and differences with Wordpress.org will not be subject to analysis; the web platform will be considered only for the analysis of theme styles.

3 The scope of the paper does not allow to include the whole dataset of contents examined. These are publicly accessible on https://wordpress.org.