The document analyzes how individuals perform their identities on Twitter. Through content and discourse analysis of 1798 tweets, it finds that performances on Twitter center the self, involve play through strategies like reordering and exaggeration, and resemble "public dreaming." These performances balance needs for publicity, privacy, and sociality, and involve theatrical acts, tagging, and storytelling to curate authentic networked identities.

1. Performances
of
the
Self
on
Twi3er
Zizi
Papacharissi
Professor
and
Head,
Communica<on
University
of
Illinois-­‐Chicago
@zizip

2.
Performing
is
public
dreaming
(Schechner,
2003,
p.
265)
• The
theater
of
everyday
life
• Performing
a
networked
self
• Imagined
and
actual
audiences

3. Performance
Studies
Twi3er
Individuals
live
by
performance
Performa<ve
props/spaces
defined
by
scalability,
Performances
are
self
reflexive
persistence,
replicability,
searchability,
and
disclosure
Restored
ac<ons
and
context
produce
performances
Ambient,
always
on
Theatricality
and
“as
if”
element
performa<ve
spaces
that
of
playing
out
behaviors
that
are
heighten
social
awareness
encoded/decoded
Homophily,
in
and
out
Self
satura<on
and
self
group
affilia<on,
self-­‐
monitoring
online
invite
affirma<on
performa<ve
strategies
that
underscore
and
poke
fun
at
Steganography,
polysemy,
authen<city
of
performance
redac<on,
play
possible
strategies
–
networked
self

4. Research
Design:
Content+discourse
analysis
RQ:
How
is
the
self
performed
on
Twi3er?
(content
analysis)
Also:
(discourse
analysis)
In
technosocial
environments
of
social
hypersatura<on,
what
shape
does
performance
of
the
self
take,
and
how
does
it
balance
needs
for
publicity,
privacy,
and
sociality?
What
processes
of
redac<on
are
invoked
so
as
to
permit
an
edi<ng
of
the
self?
How
do
redac<onal
and
other
performa<ve
strategies
enable
performances
that
are
authen<c?
How
are
performances
of
the
self
on
Twi3er
part
of
the
ongoing
storytelling
project
of
the
self,
and
do
they
resemble
‘public
dreaming’?
1798
tweets,
manually
coded
magnitude
of
performance
play
reordering,
exaggera<on,
fragmenta<on,
repe<<on,
exaggera<on+repe<<on,
incomplete
movements
general
content
characteris<cs
themes,
redundancy

5. Findings
(content
analysis)
• The
self,
front
and
center
• Play
• Reordering
• Magnitude
of
performance
and
play
(+
play
strategies)
inversely
related

6. Findings
(discourse
analysis)
• Ac<ng
out
and
“as-­‐if”
element
– Profanity,
vulgarity,
drama
and
shock
value,
private/public
• Tagging
a
performa<ve
act
• Affect,
deliberately
improvised

7. Storytelling
of
the
self
• Play
in
everyday
life
• Emo<onal
release/affect
• Fantasy,
publicity
and
the
everyday
• Redac<on
+
improvisa<on
=
theatricality

8. Thank
you!
zizi@uic.edu,
uic.edu/~zizi
This
photo
courtesy
smART
minds,
all
other
images
author’s
own,
available
at
ziziweb.tumblr.com,
cosmograffiI.tumblr.com