Cover not available

Article published In: International Journal of Language and Culture
Vol. 9:2 (2022) ► pp.292–321

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

Emotional self-disclosure and stance-taking within affective narratives on YouTube

A qualitative case study of four Spanish YouTubers

ORCiD logo with link | University of Turku
Published online: 15 June 2023
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijolc.22050.pel
Abstract
This case study explores how Spanish YouTubers construct affective narratives in terms of self-disclosure in the context of sensitive topics. In addition, it sheds light on how YouTubers take up a stance within the stories, and the components of this stance-taking. Stories and stance-taking will be evaluated through multimodal analysis, observing both the verbal and non-verbal cues used. According to the results, YouTubers’ affective narratives are characterized by emphasis on explicitly named feelings and by non-verbal cues that reinforce the transmission of mediated emotion, as well as functioning to boost self-disclosure. The narratives reveal a kind of stance-continuum that underlines the dynamic nature of phenomena, where YouTubers gradually construct, in conjunction with self-disclosure, the act of stance-taking, starting from self-oriented positioning, then moving toward a more instructive and self-to-others perspective, and finally acting as stance-influencers of the community in which they are involved.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework of narratives, self-disclosure, and stance-taking on YouTube
    • 2.1Features of online narratives
    • 2.2Online self-disclosure
    • 2.3Multimodal nature of emotion
    • 2.4About taking a stance
  • 3.Data and methodological aspects
    • 3.1Data
    • 3.2Methodological aspects
  • 4.Spanish YouTubers’ affective narratives with self-disclosure and stance-taking
    • 4.1The YouTuber as a stance-taker and emotional self-disclosure
    • 4.2Non-verbal cues as stance and self-disclosure intensifiers
  • 5.Spanish YouTubers’ stance-taking related to audience
    • 5.1Transition from a personal perspective to audience orientation
    • 5.2YouTubers as stance-leaders
    • 5.3Closing with eye contact with the audience
  • 6.Discussion and conclusions
  • References
References (69)
References
Ahmed, S. (2004). The cultural politics of emotion. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Archer, R., & Earle, W. B. (1983). The interpersonal orientations of disclosure. In P. B. Paulus (Ed.), Basic group processes (pp. 289–314). New York: Springer-Verlag. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Argyle, M. (2013). Bodily communication. 2nd edition. London/New York: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barrett, L. F. (2006). Solving the emotion paradox: Categorization and the experience of emotion. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10 (1), 20–46. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Emotions are real. Emotion (Washington, D.C.), 12.31, 413–429. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Barton, D., & Lee, C. (2013). Stance-taking through language and image. In D. Barton & C. Lee (Eds.), Language online (pp. 96–116). Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bazarova, N. N., & Hyung Choi, Y. (2014). Self-disclosure in social media: Extending the functional approach to disclosure motivations and characteristics on social network Sites. Journal of Communication, 64.41, 635–657. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bednarek, M. (2009). Emotion talk and emotional talk: Cognitive and discursive perspectives. In H. Pishwa (Ed.), Language and social cognition: Expression of the social mind (pp. 395–432). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beers Fägersten, K. (2017). The role of swearing in creating an online persona: The case of YouTuber PewDiePie. Discourse, Context & Media, 181, 1–10. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Beers Fägersten, K., & Stapleton, K. (Eds.). (2017). Advances in swearing research: New languages and new contexts. Vol. 2821. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bou-Franch, P., & Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, P. (2014). Conflict management in massive polylogues: A case study from YouTube. Journal of Pragmatics, 731, 19–36. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Caffi, C., & Janney, R. W. (1994). Toward a pragmatics of emotive communication. Journal of Pragmatics, 22 (3), 325–373. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chun, E. (2013). Ironic blackness as masculine cool: Asian American language and authenticity on YouTube. Applied Linguistics, 34 (5): 592–612. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Chun, E., & Walters, K. (2011). Orienting to Arab orientalisms: Language, race, and humor in a YouTube video. In Crispin & K. Mroczek (Eds.), Digital discourse: Language in the new media (pp. 1–22). New York: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Crilley, R., & Chatterje-Doody, P. N. (2020). Emotions and war on YouTube: Affective investments in RT’s visual narratives of the conflict in Syria. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 1–21. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Fina, A. (2016). Storytelling and audience reactions in social media. Language in Society, 45.41, 473–498. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Fina, A., & Perrino, S. (2019). Storytelling in the digital world. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Du Bois, J. W. (2007). The stance triangle. In R. Englebretson (Ed.), Stancetaking in discourse: Subjectivity, evaluation, interaction (pp. 139–182). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
DuBois, J. W., & Kärkkäinen, E. (2012). Taking a stance on emotion: Affect, sequence, and intersubjectivity in dialogic interaction. Text & Talk, 32 (4), 433–451. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duprez, C., Christophe, V., Rimé, B., Congard, A., & Antoine, P. (2015). Motives for the social sharing of an emotional experience. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32.61, 757–787. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Frobenius, M. (2011). Beginning a monologue: The opening sequence of video blogs. Journal of Pragmatics, 43.31, 814–827. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2014). Audience design in monologues: How vloggers involve their viewers. Journal of Pragmatics, 721 (Oct), 59–72. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2013). Small stories research and social media practices: Narrative stancetaking and circulation in a Greek news story. Sociolinguistica, 27(1), 19–36. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017a). Small stories research: A narrative paradigm for the analysis of social media. In A. Quan-Haase & L. Sloan (Eds.), The Sage handbook of social media research methods (pp. 266–281). London: Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2017b). Life/narrative of the moment: From telling a story to taking a narrative stance. In B. Schiff, A. E. McKim & S. Patron (Eds.), Life and narrative: The risks and responsibilities of storying experience (pp. 29–54). OUP: Oxford. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gesteland, R. R. (2002). Cross-cultural business behavior. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Giaxoglou, K., Döveling, K., & Pitsillides, S. (2017). Networked emotions: Interdisciplinary perspectives on sharing loss online, Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 61:1, 1–10. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (1959). Presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goldin-Meadow, S. (2003). Hearing gesture: How our hands help us think. Cambridge (Mass.): Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2003.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goodwin, C. (1981). Conversational organization: Interaction between speakers and hearers. New York: Academic Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2000). Action and embodiment with situated human interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 32(10), 1489–1522. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2007). Participation, stance and affect in the organization of activities. Discourse and Society, 18(1), 53–73. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Green, M., Bobrowicz, A., & Siang Ang, C. (2015). The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community online: Discussions of bullying and self-disclosure in YouTube videos. Behaviour & Information Technology, 34:7, 704–712. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Griffith, M., & Papacharissi, Z. (2010). Looking for You: An analysis of video blogs. First Monday, 151, 1–4. (Retrieved from [URL]).
Izard, C. E. (1990). Facial expressions and the regulation of emotions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 58 (3), 487–498. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jandl, S. (2018). The intermediality of emotion representations of emotionality and fear in YouTube vlogs and beyond. In S. Jandl, I. Jandl, G. Tockner, S. Schönfellner & S. Knaller (Eds.), Writing emotions (pp. 175–194). Bielefeld: transcript Verlag.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jenvdhanaken, B., & Rangponsumrit, N. (2020). Intercultural communication in the Spanish-language classroom in Thailand: Differences in power distance, individualism, and expressiveness.” Journal of Intercultural Communication, 541, 17–30. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Keltner, D. (1995). Signs of appeasement: Evidence for the distinct displays of embarrassment, amusement, and shame. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 68.31, 441–454. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kendon, A. (1967). Some functions of gaze-direction in social interaction. Acta Psychologica, 261, 22–63. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2004). Gesture: Visible action as utterance. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kiesling, S. (2018). YouTube Yinzers: Stancetaking and the performance of ‘Pittsburghese. Identity and Dialect Performance, 1st ed, 245–264. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, J., & Dindia, K. (2011). Online self-disclosure: A review of research. In K. B. Wright & L. M. Webb (Eds.), Computer-mediated Communication in Personal Relationships (pp. 156–180). New York: Peter Lang Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Labov, W. (1972). The transformation of experience in narrative syntax. In W. Labov, Language in the inner city: Studies in the black English vernacular (pp. 354–396). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lange, P. G. (2014). Commenting on YouTube rants: Perceptions of inappropriateness or civic engagement? Journal of Pragmatics: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Language Studies, 731, 53–65. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Marwick, A. E. (2013). Status update: Celebrity, publicity, and branding in the social media age. New Haven: Yale University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mickles, M. S., & Weare, A. M. (2020). Trying to save the game(r): Understanding the self-disclosure of YouTube subscribers surrounding mental health in video-game vlog comments. The Southern Communication Journal, 85.41, 231–243. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mingione, D. (2014). Hello Internet! An analysis of Youtubers greetings. Explorations in Linguistics: An Online Journal of Undergraduate Research, 19–34. Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia University.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Misoch, S. (2014). Card stories on YouTube: A new frame for online self- disclosure. Media and Communication, 2(1), 2–12. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2015). Stranger on the Internet: Online self-disclosure and the role of visual anonymity. Computers in Human Behavior, 481, 535–541. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mondada, L. (2014). The local constitution of multimodal resources for social interaction. Journal of Pragmatics, 651, 137–156. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2018). Multiple temporalities of language and body in interaction: Challenges for transcribing multimodality, Research on Language and Social Interaction, 51:1, 85–106. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2019). Conventions for multimodal transcriptions. (Retrieved from [URL]).
Müller, C. (2013). Gesture as a window onto mind and brain. In E. Fricke, S. Ladewig, J. Bressem, C. Müller, D. McNeill & A. J. Cienki (Eds.), Body – language – communication: An international handbook on multimodality in human interaction (pp. 28–53). Berlin: De Gruyter Mouton.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ochs, E., & Schieffelin, B. (1989). Language has a heart. Text-Interdisciplinary Journal for the Study of Discourse, 9 (1), 7–25. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Page, R. (2018). Narratives online: Shared stories in social media. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pearce, W. B., & Sharp, S. M. (1973). Self-disclosing communication. Journal of Communication, 23(4), 409–425. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pelttari, S. (2020). ¡Hola, amores! Los saludos, las despedidas y las formas nominales de tratamiento de los Youtubers Españoles [Hello, my loves! The opening and closing greetings, and the nominal forms of address used by Spanish YouTubers].” Neuephilogische Mitteilungen, 121(1), 45–77. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Posey, C., Lowry, P., Roberts, T. & Selwyn, E. T. (2010). Proposing the online community self-disclosure model: The case of working professionals in France and the U.K. who use online communities. European Journal of Information Systems, 191, 181–195. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rimé, B., Mesquita, B., Philippot, P., & Boca, S. (1991). Beyond the emotional event: Six studies on the social sharing of emotion. Cognition and Emotion, 51, 435–465. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sabich, M. A., & Steinberg, L. (2017). Discursividad YouTuber: Afecto, narrativas y estrategias de socialización en comunidades de internet. Revista Mediterránea de Comunicación, 8(2), 171–188. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scolari, C. A., & Fraticelli, D. (2019). The case of the top Spanish YouTubers: Emerging media subjects and discourse practices in the new media ecology. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 25.3, 496–515. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sokolova, K., & Perez, C. (2021). You follow fitness influencers on YouTube. But do you actually exercise? How parasocial relationships, and watching fitness influencers, relate to intentions to exercise. Journal of retailing and consumer services 581: 102276. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Tamir, D. I., & Mitchell, J. P. (2012). Disclosing information about the self is intrinsically rewarding. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109 (21), 8038–8043. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Trompenaars, F., & Hampden-Turner, C. (1998). Riding the waves of culture, 2nd Edition. London: Nicholas Brealey.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wagner, P., Malisz, Z., & Kopp, S. (2014). Gesture and speech in interaction: An overview. Speech Communication, 571, 209–232. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (7)

Cited by seven other publications

Linke, Christine & Lisa Brune
2025. Intimate Yet Exploitative: Representations of Gender-Based Violence in Platformed True Crime Narratives. Media and Communication 13 DOI logo
Liu, Jiaying "Lizzy", Shuer Zhuo, Xingyu Li, Andrew Dillon, Noura Howell, Angela D. R. Smith & Yan Zhang
2025. From Regulation to Support: Centering Humans in Technology-Mediated Emotion Intervention in Care Contexts. Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction 9:7 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Pelttari, Sanna
2025. Commenting behavior as a mirror of parasocial relationships and emotional attachment on YouTube. Pragmatics and Society 16:6 ► pp. 828 ff. DOI logo
Pelttari, Sanna
2025. Emotional language within influencer marketing on YouTube. Pragmatics. Quarterly Publication of the International Pragmatics Association (IPrA) DOI logo
Yang, Na & Jing Gu
2025. Emotion and self-branding in YouTube travel vlogs: A corpus-based analysis. Journal of Pragmatics 247 ► pp. 16 ff. DOI logo
Chovanec, Jan
2024. Chapter 8. Performing branded affect in micro‑celebrity YouTube reaction videos. In Influencer Discourse [Pragmatics & Beyond New Series, 349], ► pp. 200 ff. DOI logo
Giménez Sarmiento, Álvaro
2024. La Autorreferencialidad en Orson Welles' Sketch Book (1955). VISUAL REVIEW. International Visual Culture Review / Revista Internacional de Cultura Visual 16:7 ► pp. 47 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 december 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue