The Qualified Self QUIZ Tweet or Diary Entry

The Qualified Self

QUIZ: Tweet or Diary Entry 1. “I must say I find this weather to be very disagreeable. ” 2. “Cold disagreeable day. Felt very badly all day long and lay on the sofa all day. Nothing took place worth noting. ” 3. “Had an early morning today. Went for breakfast at Mr Teh Tarik, passed invitation card to my youngest aunt and visited my Grandma. . . ” 4. “Fidelia Mirick here visiting to-day”

Media accounting People using media to document their lives and the world around them and sharing it with others

Media Accounting

Media Accounting • Account – Tied to an identity – Subjective • Accounting – Evidentiary • Accountability – Sociality – Ritual communication

Definition: the sense of self that comes from engaging in media accounting The Qualified Self

Qualified Self • Quality – One’s character, disposition, nature, often desirable or valued • Qualify – To designate in a particular way, modified version • Qualifications – Selective evidence of who we are and what we’ve done, our accomplishments

How has media accounting changed over time? • Size of audience • Degree of interactivity • Commodification of media traces

Take aways • 20 th century American broadcast media set the stage for the political economy of social media today • The economic model needs people to constantly engage with social media platforms by creating and consuming media accounting in order to make money • They have created a “cult of notifications” to encourage continual engagement.