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Article published In: Formality and Informality in Online Performances
Edited by Sofia Rüdiger and Susanne Mühleisen
[Internet Pragmatics 5:1] 2022
► pp. 12–37

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Becoming #Instafamous

The analysis of (in)formality in self-presentation on Instagram

 | Masaryk University
Published online: 22 March 2021
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ip.00069.kov
Abstract
Drawing on Goffman, Erving. 1990 [1959]. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar metaphor of stage, this paper considers Instagram a frontstage environment where users are cautious of being watched and attune their performance to how they want to be perceived via strategic self-presentation. This understanding of online performance is particularly pertinent in the discussions of bloggers who turn to Instagram to promote their work to new audiences. Examining the self-presentation practices of three fashion bloggers, this paper argues that to gain popularity on Instagram, bloggers utilize the features of formality and informality in the construction of an authentic and likable self-image. Since in the photographs the bloggers’ professional life is usually depicted as distant from their audience’s reality, the accompanying textual caption serves as a means of providing balance for the overall image the poster seeks to present. Consequently, the caption abounds with features of informality, which connote linguistic immediacy and imitate an intimate conversation with peers.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Self-presentation online
  • 3.Methodology
  • 4.Data
  • 5.Analysis
    • 5.1Communicative situation
    • 5.2Content: Private and public topics
    • 5.3Visual and linguistic realization
      • 5.3.1Photos
      • 5.3.2Captions
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 march 2026. 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.

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