From re-viewers to me-viewers: The #Bookstagram review sphere on Instagram and the uses of the perceived platform and genre affordances | Intellect Skip to content
1981
Volume 10, Issue 1-2
  • ISSN: 1757-2681
  • E-ISSN: 1757-269X

Abstract

This study looks at the emerging forms of reviewing cultural products by investigating #bookreviews on Instagram. The multiple-case study focuses on characteristics of book-review posts in global and national contexts. First, the global community is outlined, with the help of quantitative data ( = 163,269 entries). Second, a local book-reviewing community ( = 645 entries) is studied, with a thematic analysis of platform and genre affordances. Instagram-native formats identified include textual reviews, metacoverage of reviews, video reviews, reviews with visual effects and facilitated reviews. The findings have implications for the conceptualization of user-generated reviewing as part of cultural critique, which requires the incorporation of the consumption/prosumption paradigm into the understandings of cultural intermediation.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/iscc.10.1-2.91_1
2019-07-01
2024-04-26
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Abidin, Crystal. ( 2017;), ‘ #Familygoals: Family influencers, calibrated amateurism, and justifying young digital labour. ’, Social Media + Society, 3:2, pp. 115.
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Bausells, Marta. ( 2015;), ‘ Subway book review glimpses the lives of New Yorkers via the books they read. ’, The Guardian, 5 October, https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/05/subway-book-review-glimpses-the-lives-of-new-yorkers-via-the-books-they-read. Accessed 8 January 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Blank, Grant. ( 2007), Critics, Ratings, and Society: The Sociology of Reviews, Lanham, MD:: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers;.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Bolin, Göran. ( 2011), Value and the Media: Cultural Production and Consumption in Digital Markets, London and New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Boot, Peter. ( 2011;), ‘ Towards a genre analysis of online book discussion: Socializing, participation and publication in the Dutch booksphere. ’, Selected Papers of Internet Research, Chicago, IL:: Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR);.
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Burgess, Jean E.. ( 2006;), ‘ Hearing ordinary voices: Cultural studies, vernacular creativity and digital storytelling. Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, 2, pp. 20114.
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Bruns, Axel. ( 2008), Blogs, Wikipedia, Second Life and Beyond, New York:: Peter Lang;.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Bruns, Axel. ( 2018;), ‘ Facebook shuts the gate after the horse has bolted, and hurts real research in the process. ’, Internet Policy Review , 25 April, https://policyreview.info/articles/news/facebook-shuts-gate-after-horse-has-bolted-and-hurts-real-research-process/786. Accessed 8 June 2018.
  9. Bryman, Alan. ( 2016), Social Research Methods, , 5th ed.., Oxford:: Oxford University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Caliandro, Alessandro, and Candini, Alessandro. ( 2017), Qualitative Research in Digital Environments: A Research Toolkit, London:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Couldry, Nick,, Livingstone, Sonia, and Markham, Tim. ( 2010), Media Consumption and Public Engagement: Beyond the Presumption of Attention, London:: Palgrave Macmillan;.
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Curran, James, and Morley David. (eds) ( 2006), Media and Cultural Theory, Abingdon and New York:: Routledge;.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Domsch, Sebastian. ( 2009;), ‘ Critical genres: Generic changes of literary criticism in computer-mediated communication. ’, in J. Giltrow, and D. Stein. (eds), Genres in the Internet: Issues in the Theory of Genre, Amsterdam:: John Benjamins Publishing Company;, pp. 22138.
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Frey, Mattias, and Sayad, Cecilia. (eds) ( 2015), Film Criticism in the Digital Age, New Brunswick:: Rutgers University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Gibbs, Martin,, Meese, James,, Arnold, Michael,, Nansen, Bjorn, and Carter, Marcus. ( 2015;), ‘ #Funeral and Instagram: Death, social media, and platform vernacular. Information, Communication & Society, 18:3, pp. 25568.
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Gibson, James J.. ( 1979), The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception, Boston, MA:: Houghton Mifflin;.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Giltrow, Janet, and Stein, Dieter. (eds) ( 2009), Genres in the Internet: Issues in the Theory of Genre, Amsterdam:: John Benjamins Publishing Company;.
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Goffman, Erving. ( 1990), The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, London:: Penguin;.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Grafton, Kathryn. ( 2010), Paying Attention to Public Readers of Canadian Literature: Popular Genre Systems, Publics, and Canons, Vancouver:: University of British Columbia;.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Guest, Gren,, MacQueen, Kathleen M., and Namey, Emily E.. ( 2012), Applied Thematic Analysis, London:: Sage;.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Hayes, Elizabeth R., and Gee, James R.. ( 2010;), ‘ Public pedagogy through video games: Design, resources, and affinity spaces. ’, in J. A. Sandlin,, B. D. Schultz, and J. Burdick. (eds), Handbook of Public Pedagogy: Education and Learning Beyond Schooling, New York:: Routledge;, pp. 11624.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Hohendahl, Peter U.. ( 1982), The Institution of Criticism, Ithaca, NY:: Cornell University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Ito, Mizuko. ( 2010;), ‘ The rewards of non-commercial production: Distinctions and status in the anime music video scene. ’, First Monday, 15:5, https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2968/2528. Accessed 10 June 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Jaakkola, Maarit. ( 2018;), ‘ Vernacular reviews as a form of co-consumption. The user-generated review videos on YouTube. ’, Mediekultur, 34:65, pp. 1030.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Jaakkola, Maarit. ( forthcoming 2019;), ‘ From vernacularized commercialism to kidbait: Toy review videos on YouTube and the problematics of the mash-up genre. ’, Journal of Children and Media.
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Jenkins, Henry. ( 2006), Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, New York:: New York University Press;.
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Kammer, Aske. ( 2015;), ‘ Post-industrial cultural criticism: The everyday amateur expert and the online cultural public sphere. ’, Journalism Practice, 9:6, pp. 87289.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Kim, Jin. ( 2012;), ‘ The institutionalization of YouTube: From user-generated content to professionally generated content. ’, Media, Culture & Society, 34:1, pp. 5367.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Kristensen, Nete Nørgaard, and From, Unni. ( 2017;), ‘ From ivory tower to cross-media personas: The heterogeneous cultural critic in the media. ’, in N. N. Kristensen, and U. From. (eds), Cultural Journalism and Cultural Critique in the Media, Abingdon:: Routledge;, pp. 94112.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Leadbeater, Charles, and Miller, Paul. ( 2004), The Pro-am Revolution, London:: Demoso;.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. McWhirther, Andrew. ( 2016), Film Criticism and Digital Cultures: Journalism, Social Media and the Democratization of Opinion, London:: IB Tauris;.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Miller, Carolyn R., and Shepherd, Dawn. ( 2009;), ‘ Questions for genre theory from the blogosphere. ’, in J. Giltrow, and D. Stein. (eds), Genres in the Internet: Issues in the Theory of Genre, Amsterdam:: John Benjamins Publishing Company;, pp. 26390.
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Naseem, Faroukh. ( 2018;), ‘ Bookstagram for beginners!. ’, The Guy with the Book , 17 May, http://theguywiththebook.com/2018/05/17/bookstagram-for-beginners. Accessed 8 January 2019.
  34. NBRC, Nothing but Reading Challenges ( 2013;), ‘ What is buddy read? How does it work?. ’, Goodreads , 19 May, https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1333468-what-is-a-buddy-read-how-does-it-work. Accessed 8 January 2019.
  35. Nicoll, Benjamin, and Nansen, Bjorn. ( 2018;), ‘ Mimetic production in YouTube toy unboxing videos. ’, Social Media + Society, 4:3, pp. 112.
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Norman, Donald A.. ( 1999;), ‘ Affordance, conventions, and design. ’, Interactions, 6:3, pp. 3842.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Orlik, Peter B.. ( 2016), Media Criticism in a Digital Age: Professional and Consumer Considerations, London:: Taylor & Francis;.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Schwemmer, Carsten, and Ziewiecki, Sandra. ( 2018;), ‘ Social media sellout: The increasing role of product promotion on YouTube. ’, Social Media + Society, 4:3, pp. 120.
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Smith, Aaron, and Anderson, Monica. ( 2018;), ‘ Social media use in 2018. ’, Pew Research Center;, 1 March, http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/. Accessed 6 December 2018.
  40. Steiner, Ann. ( 2008;), ‘ Private criticism in the public space: Personal writing on literature in readers’ reviews on Amazon. ’, Participations, 5:2, http://www.participations.org/Volume%205/Issue%202/5_02_steiner.htm. Accessed 10 June 2019.
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Steiner, Ann. ( 2010;), ‘ Personal readings and public texts: Book blogs and online writing about literature. ’, Culture Unbound, 2:2, pp. 47194.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Titchener, Campbell B.. ( 1998), Reviewing the Arts, , 3rd ed.., New York:: Lawrence Erlbaum;.
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Toffler, Alvin. ( 1980), The Third Wave, London:: Collins;.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Verboord, Marc. ( 2010;), ‘ The legitimacy of book critics in the age of the Internet and omnivorousness: Expert critics, Internet critics and peer critics in Flanders and the Netherlands. ’, European Sociological Review, 26:6, pp. 62337.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. WordStream ( 2019;), ‘ 33 mind-boggling Instagram stats & facts for 2018. ’, 9 April, https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2017/04/20/instagram-statistics. Accessed 25 June 2019.
  46. Jaakkola, M.. ( 2019;), ‘ From re-viewers to me-viewers: The #Bookstagram review sphere on Instagram and the uses of the perceived platform and genre affordances. ’, Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture, 10:1&2, pp. 91110, doi: 10.1386/iscc.10.1-2.91_1
    [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1386/iscc.10.1-2.91_1
Loading
/content/journals/10.1386/iscc.10.1-2.91_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error