The Self-Branding Practices of Celebrities on Instagram: An Extensive look at the Instagram accounts of Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé Knowles, and Cristiano Ronaldo

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Graduate School of Humanities

Media Studies: Television and Cross-Media Culture

MASTER’S THESIS

The Self-Branding Practices of Celebrities on Instagram

An Extensive look at the Instagram accounts of Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé

Knowles, and Cristiano Ronaldo

Student number: 11310138

Word count: 18,814

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Abstract

This thesis aimed to outline the self-branding practices of Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé Knowles, and Cristiano Ronaldo. It proposed how traditional frameworks of self-presentation from Dyer’s concept of the star image, Goffman’s ‘impression management’, Turners notions of the ‘real self’, and Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta’s meaning transfer models in celebrity endorsements could provide a starting point for the range of self-presentation strategies they adopt.

A textual and functional analyses of a sample of Instagram posts were carried out and these posts suggested the types of self-presentation practices used by celebrities. Nevertheless, it was outlined how the use of these theoretical frameworks on the contemporary platform of Instagram causes tensions. Moreover, these posts indicated what features and tools of Instagram were used and what facets of their appearances were most prominent for the particular self-presentation they wanted to convey.

The conclusions drawn from the analysis of these posts are that the traditional frameworks of self-presentation need to be adjusted in order to fit in with the modern-day usage patterns of Instagram. Secondly, they reveal that the self-branding practices always need to prioritise and condition to the expectations of their Instagram followers before fulfilling their own branding goals. Furthermore, the analytics demonstrated that the posts with an increased access into a celebrity's personal life were the most remarkable. Yet, follow up studies could investigate the self-branding practices of less famous celebrities as well to understand whether these patterns of expectations and the self-branding practices are only relevant for world-famous celebrities like Kim Beyoncé and Cristiano

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Introduction

‘It is a talent to have a brand that’s really successful off of getting people to like you, for you’ - Kim Kardashian (Whitaker, Bill. Interview, 21 October 2016)

The concept of the ‘celebrity’ has been framed as a historical process (Braudy 1986 in Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity Practice 140) and thus it used to mean something differently in the past than it does now. Historically celebrities were particularly visible through the medium of television and the types of celebrity stories that were broadcasted were those audiences found ‘worthy of intensive appreciation’ (Newman and Levine 142). The television mediated the perception of these celebrities as well as the communication of their lives, however because of its transformative process, there are new mediums that have redefined the concept of the celebrity in todays’ media saturated landscape. This refers to the advent of the web and the enhanced interaction with screens that generate individually customized feeds of images (Carah and Shaul 72). On these screens, being a celebrity is not just about their intrinsic personal characteristics or external labels but also about their ‘organic and ever-changing performative practices’ reinforced through the circulation of images on these media devices. This represents the logic of self-branding – a strategy or a new language for self-empowerment whereby celebrities cultivate a name and image of the self that can be manipulated […] for their own purposes and well-being (Davis, 41). Self-branding is similar to product branding, because it becomes a powerful tool through which the celebrities sell themselves in order to stand out from the competition (Davis 47). They do this by getting in touch with the “selling parts” of their personality, crafting them into a relentlessly focused persona, and enhancing their profile and their visibility through marketing so that, like a product they become ultimate objects of desire (Davis 47-8). As people react to situations based on context rather than fixed psychological traits (Meyrowitz in Marwick and Boyd , Context Collapse 116), these performative practices in self-branding are particularly crucial for the identity that the celebrities wish to communicate with their fans. Moreover, since traditional settings for in-person celebrity-fan interactions have become less popular and the highly mediated digitized-image culture take over, fans expect the images of celebrities to integrate the elements of performed intimacy, authenticity, and the ‘consumable persona’ that allow the viewer to see the real person behind the ‘celebrity’ (Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity Practice 149).

However, what can be defined as a ‘consumable persona’? What forms of self-presentation are perceived as the most intimate and authentic? And why have the ‘intimate’ and ‘authentic’ images become such a crucial component of a celebrity’s performative practices? These are the questions this thesis strives to answer by analyzing a number of their self-presentation strategies on social media. For this, traditional theories of self-presentation are productive starting points to understand the way celebrities present themselves to the many fans they have. Furthermore, celebrity practices are shaped to conform with the platform and perceptions of what a consumable persona is, is indirectly informed by the platform and the users present on it. This shaping and conditioning of a celebrity’s

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self-presentations with forms of consumption on social media a central characteristic of self-branding, in which the self and market fuse together (Davis 46) and allow the celebrity to transform their ordinary self-presentation practices into market-worthy performances.

The social media application ‘Instagram’ which was launched in 2010 has become one of the most significant sites in which celebrities position themselves as brands (Senft 2008). This is because it ‘a never-ending flow of images’ through which the bodies of users are increasingly available to the nature of the platform (Carah and Shaul 70).

Due to Instagram’s liveness, images receive most attention within the first several minutes of being posted meaning users have an instantaneous means for keeping on track with their favorite celebrities’ accounts. On this application, normal activities include scrolling through and navigating flows of images on a feed from people that users follow (Carah and Shaul 72). ‘Following’ on Instagram implies that the user approves of seeing all the content of that account on their feed. Moreover, following is unidirectional, meaning that a user may follow another without permission and with no mutual expectation of a ‘follow back’ in return. As celebrities’ profiles are public on Instagram, this model creates an environment convenient for fans as they have unlimited access to their celebrities’ content and potential for as much engagement as they want. Equally, the public nature of their accounts means all Instagram users can engage with their content in the forms of likes or comments without explicitly having to follow them. ‘A like’ on the platform is meant to convey a sign of favorability,

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approval, or agreement (Bryne, 2009 in Sarapin and Morris, 2014: 138). Whereas the ‘comments’ are a more open-ended feature of Instagram whereby users can indicate opinions or elicit conversations on the post of a celebrity. Another key feature used within Instagram are tags commonly used to mention or indicate other Instagram users, locations, or brands. Therefore, Instagram’s potential as a broadcast medium and dialogic medium has substantially contributed to its popularity among celebrity – fan relationships (Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity practice 142) allowing Instagram to become one of the most used mediums for self-branding among celebrities. In this logic, a celebrity’s ‘fans’ are classified as ‘followers’. The three case studies of celebrity self-branding on Instagram are Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé Knowles, and Cristiano Ronaldo1_.

Kim Kardashian is a model, actress, and star of the reality show

Keeping up with the Kardashians (E! 2007 – present) - a show that

follows her life and that of her family. Kim particularly became famous with a scandalous sex video leaked online in 2007. Kim’s celebrity status is thus highly attributed to her status as a sex icon and about the confidence she has about her own body. Moreover, particularly because she is a reality television star, Kim’s love life has also been a subject of intense media interest. She has had a string of high profile boyfriends and is now married to rapper and songwriter Kanye West with whom she has two children. Whilst Kim Kardashian has a career, like her reality show she uses her

Instagram account to reveal her personal life which generally refers to more intense glimpses of herself, her family, and the luxurious events, places and venues she visits (Biography.com).

The second celebrity discussed in this thesis is artist Beyoncé Knowles, who began her path to fame as the lead vocalist of the R&B group Destiny’s Child in 1997. She became one of the genre’s top-selling artists when she began her solo career with her debut album Dangerously in Love . Other highlights of her career are her performances at two Super Bowls’ particularly the second in which she performed her new single Formation from her album

Lemonade at the halftime show. Beyoncé’s love life was not a

popular topic of interest until she married rapper Jay-Z in 2008. Since then she has been the subject of many pregnancy rumors, therefore when she revealed the news of her pregnancy with her

1_{Cristiano Ronaldo may be referred to through frequently-used nickname ‘Ronaldo’}

Source:

Timpone/BFA/REX/Shutterstock

Source: Larry

Busacca/PW/WIREIMAGE

Figure 2: Kim Kardashian at the Met Gala in 2017

Figure 3: Beyoncé at the Formation World Tour Concert in 2016

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first child Blue Ivy as well as the pregnancy of her twins, it made quite an impact of a global-scale. As Beyoncé has a manager posting on the account for her, content is more professionally-oriented and thus seems to focus more on her performances as an artist and promotions for her albums. However more recently, similar to Kim Kardashian her Instagram account has started showing more of her personal life such as photos of her with her husband and her child Blue Ivy (Biography.com).

The third celebrity Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese professional football player. He was first discovered for his talents at the age of 16 playing on the national football team of his birth town Madeira against Manchester United.

In 2003, Manchester United signed him however, when Real Madrid offered him a more attractive deal he left Manchester United. Ronaldo has earned the title of the FIFA World Player of the year award four times, beating competitor Lionel Messi. While his football career is a highlight of his personality, quite recently his personal life has been too, particularly evident through the content he shares with his 7-year-old son. Similar to the other two celebrities, photos of his personal life are present

on his Instagram account, however his brand image as the football star and the various endorsement deal and advertisement posts he engages in are just as prominent on his account (Biography.com).

This thesis will engage extensively with these celebrities’ accounts as well as their practices of self-branding through a textual analysis of a sample of Instagram posts. The content from ‘Instagram stories’ and ‘Instagram live’ features were not used because these are ephemeral features. The majority of posts were static, posted within the last two years, and were selected based on how convergent they are with the traditional theories of self-presentation discussed throughout the thesis and for the popularity and the buzz they generate among mainstream media and gossip

columns. Moreover, the data analytics from these posts will be engaged with to reinforce the arguments made throughout the thesis.

The reason why these celebrities were chosen is because of how popular they were prior to joining Instagram. All celebrities were world-famous by the early 2000s, and thus their transition to Instagram are merely add-ons to their fame – not reasons for their fame. Nevertheless, according to Keong (2017), Kim, Beyoncé and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the top 10 most followed celebrities in the application allowing Instagram to validate their popularity online. As of

Source: Christian Bertrand/Shutterstock.com

Figure 4: Cristiano Ronaldo at the La Liga Match in Valencia, Spain

Figure 5: The Instagram profiles of Kim, Beyoncé, and Cristiano

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18th_{May 2017, all three celebrities have hit the 100 million follower milestone, with Kim being the last}

to join indicating that the self-branding practices they adopt are the among the most popular world-wide.

The aim of this thesis is to analyse the different types of self-presentation practices of these celebrities Instagram accounts to understand how social media has enhanced the conditions under which celebrities self-brand. The aim with this focus is to argue that Instagram has provided celebrities with better and more efficient ways to self-brand because the platform facilitates an illusion of openness between the celebrity and the follower. Parallel to this aim, another argument this thesis will establish is that celebrities need to fit in with all the expectations of their followers to fulfil their purposes with their self-branding practices. In light of this, the thesis will develop on the following research questions: What implications arise for the ‘public’ nature of the celebrities’ accounts? It will then elaborate on what techniques celebrities adopt to appear both extraordinary and ordinary among their followers. Thirdly, it will discuss what role the criteria of ‘intimacy’ and ‘authenticity’ play among the celebrities’ self-presentations as well as what the features of Instagram signify for the self-branding practices of celebrities. Lastly, this thesis will indicate what types of marketed posts on Instagram are most able to achieve the degree of performed intimacy with followers.

In order to illustrate this, Chapter 1 will engage with theoretical frameworks of self-presentation to understand how traditional frameworks are used and adjusted for the modern platform of Instagram. It will discuss how self-presentation requires an orchestration that will provide for fans, yet allow celebrities to channel these into their own interests. For this, traditional theories from De Certeau (1984), Jenkins (1988), Kavka (2011), and Jacobs (2000) will be used to understand the different ways in which the cultural industry used to condition for fans by providing enhanced opportunities for participation, particularly through the medium of Television. Equally, works from Fiske (2003) will be used to demonstrate what these opportunities for participation can attribute for a celebrity’s own purposes with their self-presentation practices. This will be followed by an evaluation of a number of self-presentation frameworks to understand how Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo are able to fulfill these actions under the conditions of Instagram.

Chapter 2 will discuss Richard Dyer’s concept of the ‘star image’ to indicate how the distinctions of the public and the private collapse on Instagram. This chapter will illustrate that the public nature of the Instagram platform complicates celebrities’ uses of their star image for appearing authentic enough with their followers. Nevertheless, it will also use Marwick and Boyd’s (2011) study on celebrity practice to understand the ideal ways in which the star image can be used to compensate for Instagram’s public’s nature.

In Chapter 3, Turner’s concept of ‘the real self’ will reveal how extraordinary appearances of celebrities on Instagram resonate with the concept called the ‘institutional loci’ and ordinary

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representations with a concept called the ‘impulsive loci’. Moreover, it will be indicated that the back and forth shift between the ordinary and extraordinary shifts on Instagram impedes followers from grasping their ‘real identities’ however is still integral to a celebrity’s self-presentation practices. To expand further on this, the works from Grindstaff and Murray (2015), Gamson (2011), and Turner (2006) will be referred to, to understand why facets from the ordinary are important for establishing the sense of intimacy between celebrity and fan and Marwick (2015) and Marwick and Boyd’s (2011) assertions will be used to illustrate why facets of both the ordinary and extraordinary are important for a celebrity’s practices on Instagram.

Lastly, Chapter 4 will look at the marketing perspective of Instagram posts through Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta (2010) meaning transfer model to understand how a double-branding mechanism on Instagram influences a celebrity’s relationship with their followers. This will be demonstrated through comparing the effect of celebrity endorsements of other products with celebrity advertisements of the celebrity’s own products. This chapter will also explore the political economy views of Jhally and Livant (1986) and Duffy and Hund (2015) to understand the ways in which both celebrities and Instagram users perform labor for the Instagram posts.

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Chapter 1: Self-presentation on Instagram

‘How we appear is no less real than how we have manufactured that appearance’ (Dyer 2)

Self-presentation isn’t just a clear representation of the self, according to Giddens it is something someone ‘adjusts[..] in relation to whatever is demanded of a particular situation’ (190). When self-presentation is adjusted it usually takes on another dimension because it becomes a performance in which the individual tries to convince audiences of a ‘purposeful’ image. Moreover, it requires the individual involved in this performance to employ particular strategies in the aim of conditioning for a public. Such strategies are present on the Instagram accounts of celebrities Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé Knowles, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Through certain strategies of self-presentation, they condition for their followers by offering an ‘intimate’ glimpse of their lifestyles through Instagram and allowing them to participate through the features of the platform. In exchange, they use these acts from followers as an indication of what self-presentation strategies are most preferred.

However, on Instagram, presentation becomes complex because a number of different self-presentation practices are being used. For this reason, this chapter will explore traditional concepts in the field of presentation to understand how Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo have adapted their self-presentation for Instagram. The first section will draw on studies of fan culture and the political economy to demonstrate how a celebrity is able to both condition for fans and fulfil their purposes. The second section will use Dyer’s concept of the ‘star image’ to illustrate how Instagram accounts portray ‘public’ and ‘private’ personas. Thirdly, Goffman’s concept of ‘impression management’ will be referred to, to understand how celebrities’ self-presentation strategies can be constructed to conform with the understandings and expectations of their followers. Then, Turner’s concept of ‘the real self’ will be used to reveal how self-presentations appear both ordinary and extraordinary through ‘impulsive’ and ‘institutional’ representations. Lastly, the marketing perspective of celebrity endorsements and advertisements will be used to understand how self-presentations are altered through the double commodification of a product and a celebrity. Ultimately, the goal of using these four theoretical frameworks is to suggest that celebrities’ self-presentation practices must first condition to patterns of consumption to maintain the attention and loyalty of others and so as to conceal a hidden scheme that operates in the needs and interests of the celebrity.

1.1 Celebrities conditioning for fans:

In the context of fandom and celebritization, self-presentation practices are integral as these are the ways in which the fan enables a connection with a celebrity.In 1984,De Certeau, used the term ‘textual poaching’ to refer to the way in way in which the fan is able to interact with the objects of fandom provided by the cultural industry. Through textual poaching, he states that fans benefit because they are involved in an active form of consuming cultural products whereby they take away things of pleasure and use to them (De Certeau, 1984 in Jenkins Textual Poaching, 23). The pleasures they can derive off

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the products of the cultural industry are about the fact that they are no longer in ‘social and cultural isolation [...], but immersed in a more active participation in a community receptive to their cultural productions and where they feel a sense of belonging’ (Jenkins Star Trek, 88). When this term was first derived, it referred to writing such as through personal letters, newsletters, or fan fiction magazines (Jenkins, Star Trek, 89). However, now this term can be re-appropriated today through the development of interactive media. Newman and Levine, name this ‘technologies of agency’ (132). In the context of fandom, these types of mediums would allow fans a more interactive mode of viewing their favorite celebrities through a new conception of television textuality arising out of the use of digital technologies (144).

Instagram can be seen as a ‘technology of agency’ or an opportunity for ‘textual poaching’ because followers are no longer limited to a strictly broadcast form of viewing celebrities. For instance, they can participate and indicate their approval of the content through ‘likes’ and ‘comments’, providing them with more opportunities to tangibly demonstrate their love (Newman and Levine 139). Moreover, they have control in how frequently they see the content of a celebrity as the content a celebrity posts is not ephemeral. As a technology of agency, all the content posted on a celebrity’s Instagram accounts ‘become collectible likes works of plastic art, literary works, and like movies’ (Newman and Levine 139). Therefore, the Instagram platform itself can be seen to condition for fans, and celebrities use this to their advantage however the celebrities themselves also need to adopt ways to condition for their followers.

Jason Jacobs (2000) used to the concept of ‘the intimate screen’ to describe the way television was able to condition for its viewers. He argued that the transfer of these images into the home resulted in a collapse of distance between the viewer and the medium of television (26), generating a sense of ‘visual closeness’ that no other technology was capable of at the time (31). He described three main characteristics of the television that allowed it to function as ‘intimate screen’; immediacy, intimacy, and hybridity. Whilst ‘intimacy’ refers to the form of direct visual address, ‘immediacy’ referred to the direct and instantaneous access to reality it offered and hybridity to the different forms of media and purposes it was able to encompass (28). More recently, Misha Kavka (2011) explained that reality television is able to activate audiences through intimacy by generating a ‘palpable flow’ between the viewers and the ‘real’ people on the opposite side of the screen (88). Similar to Jacobs’ conception of ‘the intimate screen’, Kavka explains that this flow is possible through ‘offering viewers an intimate knowing of the people on the screen’ and by effectively transferring the affective charges (90).

In today’s contemporary discussion of Instagram, this criterion of ‘intimacy’ has become even more important because technologies of agency and social media have popularized techniques for ‘intimate’ representation. When conditioning for followers, celebrities create a sense of ‘closeness’ and familiarity between them and their followers, so that followers can feel like they are a part of their lives. Intimacy is achieved in different ways however in its most general sense it is able to make the fan feel they possess insider, candid knowledge about the celebrity (Marwick and Boyd, Celebrity Practice

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148). This typically includes content that is meant to be ‘private’ and not in tabloids or gossip blogs. Moreover, due to the increased presence of images and audiovisual content this type of intimacy generated on Instagram is able to facilitate ‘parasocial interaction’, or a substitute for actual interaction that allows the fan to feel like they are interacting with the celebrity (Horton and Wohl in Peters 118). Nevertheless, whilst this form of ‘intimacy’ may allow the followers to feel more immersed in the lives of their favourites celebrities, all content is always strategically chosen and thus merely constitutes ‘performative intimacy’.

1.2. Celebrities fulfilling their own purposes:

These opportunities for fans also illuminates what benefits these forms of participation can attribute for celebrities. In John Fiske’s perspectives, fan cultures were embraced for their ability to reproduce equivalents of the formal institutions of ‘official culture’ or the culture of the ‘cultural industries’ (Fiske 33). As active users of the cultural capital, he believed fans offered ways ‘of filling cultural lack and provided the social prestige and self-esteem that went with cultural capital’ (ibid) [Y.A.]. When cultural industries started recognizing the value of these works, they began producing ‘[…]an enormous range of material designed to give the fan access to info about the object of fandom’, so that their works or efforts ‘can be more readily turned into economic capital’ by capitalist societies (Fiske 45). Fiske states that this is possible by using ‘information about the artist to enhance or enrich the appreciation of the work’ (43). If the fan is equated with the ‘artist’, and the work to the celebrities’ content about their lives, Fiske’s assertions can directly translate to a follower-celebrity relationship on Instagram. Therefore, when followers use the ‘like’ and ‘comments’ features on Instagram, these are the types of information that the celebrity will use to enrich and improve on their future posts. Moreover, any action that a follower performs on Instagram indirectly becomes an indication of how conveniently a celebrity’s self-presentation resonates with the needs of a follower. In other words, when celebrities use the forms of knowledge work provided by Instagram they are also concealing a scheme of how useful these forms of participation are for their own purposes.

Nevertheless, the fans are not the only ones important when fulfilling their own purposes with their self-presentation practices on Instagram. In order to gain the value off of each followers’ participation, the celebrities themselves must employ a number of different self-presentation to connect with their followers and meet their needs. This is synonymous with Redmond’s contributions on ‘liquid identities’, in which the realm of the digital encourages a person to adopt multiple identities so that they connect globally with diverse social groups and reach across barriers (Redmond 92). According to Redmond, ‘this has the benefit of allowing audiences to invest in the transient nature of the spectacle’ (85). These multiple identities indicate that the celebrity must always adapt their self-presentation practices to prioritise the engagement of the follower so that they can fulfil their own purposes. This is due to the logic of the Instagram platform, its open-ended nature as an ‘image machine’ (Wissinger

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2007 in Carah and Shaul), and its unpredictable and uncontrollable flow of images (Clough 2007 in Carah and Shaul 711). To alleviate this condition, celebrities must encourage the followers to participate in the production and judgment of images of the celebrities’, bodies, identities, and lives (Banet-Weiser, 2012; Nurka, 2013 in Carah and Shaul 79), so that they in turn use them to full their purposes of these self-presentation practices. However, strategies are necessary in order to attract the attention of the followers, and a number of traditional theoretical self-presentation strategies indicate the types used by celebrities on Instagram.

1.3 Star Images and Impression Management: Appealing to fans

According to Richard Dyer (1986), a celebrity’s self-presentation can be explained by the concept of the ‘star image’. When this concept was first developed, the star image was composed of the ‘public persona’ commonly witnessed at staged-managed public appearances and the ‘private persona’ who is the hidden site of this public appearance (7). Historically, star images were controlled by Hollywood and therefore only certain aspects of their private persona got into the press. In these times, the impressions of a star in the press revealed more than what would otherwise be available through public appearances, which is how fans accessed the private moments of a star’s life.

The traditional concept of the star image can still be applied to this era, however now it has changed because the stars have the ability to be in control of their own star images (Dyer 4). This means that the aspects of their ‘private’ and ‘public’ personas is no longer about what impressions of them is left under interviews, biographies, and other sorts of press, but also about the details of their performance they want to reveal to the public. Furthermore, choosing what specific elements of their private or public persona they want to reveal to the public and having more control over their star-images means the representation of a ‘true or authentic star image’ is not possible. According to Dyer this is because ‘a star image is not a straightforward affirmation of their individualism’ (7) meaning that their true star images are irreducible to the role of the ‘star image’. Often times, this means that there is more to a star than what the ‘star image’ reveals. Nevertheless, the star image is still a useful model for celebrities’ contemporary practices of self-presentation because they frequently alternate between images of the private and public, making their self-presentations irreducible like the concept of the star image. The purpose of including both the public and private appearances of a celebrities’ star image is to reveal controlled yet personified glimpses of their lifestyles. This incentive works because audiences want to be taken behind the scenes of a celebrity’s life (10) so that they can access ‘the site of openness’ (ibid.) that the public persona of a star is not able to fulfill. As a result, fans of the star and the public have a privileged reality to hang onto such as the reality of the stars’ private self revealing that those images of the ‘private’ will work to attract their attention (14).

The concept of star images is relevant to the Instagram accounts of Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo because their accounts are a representation of their public and private lives. The public personas include the photos and videos of them that are available in other media and the private personas include those

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photos of them in domestic settings or with their children. However, as already mentioned the star image commonly does not capture the true version of the celebrity that fans are searching for because in theory the real person in the site of the star image is irreducible (Dyer 10). Thus when followers of celebrites believe they are getting a glimpse of a celebrity’s private life through the star image as illustrated on Instagram, they are just clinging onto a fiction or illusion that a celebrity’s private life actually this way.

Therefore, much of what makes up a star image is what the audience makes of the images, what they can select from the complexity of the image as well as the meanings and feelings that work for them (Dyer 3). This is a result of the way that self-presentation has been orchestrated by the celebrity; and such presentations of their public and private personas may benefit the followers but simultaneously reveal a way in which self-presentations are conditioned by patterns of consumption. A celebrities’ star image, especially their ‘private persona’ is meant to be appear truthful, however in reality this private persona is being constructed and manipulated for the Instagram account. This raises a debate on whether a celebrity’s star image as shown on the Instagram page shows the private persona of the celebrity, or whether the orchestration of this private persona destroys the nature of it.

Constructing the private persona of the star image for the benefit of fans means that celebrities prioritise certain self-presentation practices. This is done through a concept of impression management that Goffman developed in 1990. Impression management refers to acts that celebrities take on to fit into the expectations of their audiences (Goffman 30). Dyer’s concept of the ‘the private persona’ is synonymous with what Goffman would refer to as ‘backstage performances’ and Dyer’s concept of ‘the public persona’ synonymous with ‘frontstage performances’ (Goffman 126). This understanding is essential as it highlights how Goffman and Dyer’s frameworks can work together to indicate which types of self-presentation strategies are perceived the most ‘authentic’ among a celebrity’s followers. Therefore, celebrities can use ‘impression management’ on Instagram as a tool for control over their followers by fulfilling their expectations and stereotypical requirements of self-presentation in exchange for social recognition. For instance, having a set amount of people to observe their self-presentations as well as forms of engagement for their self-presentation, means celebrities always have a form of ‘dramaturgical loyalty’ ready for them (Goffman 189). Thus, the concept of ‘impression management’ suggests that the Instagram posts of Beyoncé, Kim, and Ronaldo are conditioned to both appeal to followers and fulfil their own interests. Following these guidelines both in impression management and through Dyer’s concept of the Star Image could allow celebrities to better condition for their followers.

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1.4 The Institutional and Impulsive: The extraordinary and ordinary lifestyles

Cristiano Ronaldo’s first ever Instagram post is a representation of

Turner’s concept of the ‘Institutionalized locus’ as it reveals a representation of himself that was ‘attained, created, and achieved’ (Turner 992); like his appearance as the football star.

Basing self-presentations on the types that would appeal most to others indicates that self-presentations can be modified. In 1976, these modified presentations of the self were represented by Turner’s concept of ‘the real self’, which relates to a self constructed in relation to others or in a dynamic interrelationship (Berger 1966 in Turner 989). Turner believed that the real self is best represented in interpersonal relations (Turner 1001) because these modified versions of the real self are only accentuated under reciprocated love from audiences as well as under the opportunities for gratification that come from them (Turner 1005).

Turner constituted the real self under the ‘institutionalized’ and ‘impulsive’ loci, in which the former relates to the practices that adhere to high standards and live up to social norms (Turner 993). These loci infer a self-formation that is exteriorized to convey an ‘an outer world of objects and images valorized by commodity culture’ (Dunn 115). This means that the person has a particular goal in mind of what they want their self presentation to attain, and as a result is in full control of their faculties and behaviours (ibid). The ‘impulsive’ relates to performances with which celebrities avoid technical perfection and instead embrace their frailties (Turner 994). Another term used to refer to these ‘impulsive’ forms of self-presentations is ‘the demotic turn’ (Turner 82 in Carah and Shaul 140) in which stars have been made ordinary. The performance of self-presentation in this position contrasts dramatically as the self is revealed whilst inhibitions are lowered or even abandoned (Turner 993). Furthermore, these two expressions of ‘the self’ also differ because the ‘institutionalized’ form depends significantly on gratification to validate a self-presentation (Turner 1005) whereas the ‘impulsive form’ doesn’t as its intrinsic ordinariness is able to validate the authenticity of the self-presentation (Turner 1009). For this reason, there has been ‘a shift in the locus of the self away from the institutional pole to the impulse’ (Turner 989) and according to Turner this means ‘opportunities to gratify impulse have increased and norms against doing so have weakened’ (Turner 1007).

On Instagram, the ‘impulsive’ locus or representations under ‘the demotic turn’ (Turner 82 in Carah and Shaul 140) could refer to the use of ‘selfies’ on their Instagram feeds. Equally, the institutionalized loci are synonymous with content that reflects the typical luxury and glamour in the

Figure 7: Ronaldo’s first Instagram post Source: Instagram, 2012

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celebrity lifestyle. However, Turner’s framework of both the ‘institutional’ and ‘impulsive loci’ can also reveal the potential limitations of adapting this framework for Instagram. For instance, it seems that the ‘real or ‘true’ element of self-presentation is ‘obscured by the compliance with the institutional role’ (Turner 1008). In other words, if an individual chooses to use the institutional role they will need to ‘play their role to the hilt to appear genuine enough to their audiences’ (ibid). Moreover, the constant shift present between the institutionalized and impulsive loci means that followers are impeded from grasping the real identity of the celebrities. Consequently, celebrities’ self-presentations under the institutionalized and impulsive loci run the risk of appearing false, especially for the institutionalized role. However, if celebrities apply the right techniques, they can appear genuine and authentic through the institutional or impulsive locus.

In other words, contrary to Turner’s belief, impulsive representations do not necessarily resonate with more recognition from followers on Instagram. Rather allowing elements of both institutional and impulsive loci to coexist together on an Instagram account can still result in forms of gratification (Turner 997). Therefore, whilst the celebrity is in control of which loci they occupy, a genuine representation is never predictable as these are indicated through followers. Nevertheless, it does demonstrate potential techniques that this concept can offer for celebrities to show both the extraordinary and ordinary sides of their self-presentation.

1.5 The Star Commodity: Celebrity endorsements and advertisements

Halonen-Knight and Hurmerinta (2010) indicate an alternative form of self-presentation such as the celebrity endorsement. They suggest that there are two forms in which the celebrity endorsement can function. The first one is the traditional view as ‘a one-way meaning transfer’ model whereby the celebrity merely brings his associations to the endorsed brand (See Appendix Q) (454). Whereas, the second form, ‘the reciprocal meaning transfer’ model implies a brand alliance whereby the meanings and transfers brought to the brand being endorsed are also transferred back to the celebrity (See

Appendix R). These meanings and associations can be difficult to control, but generally they refer to the

consumers’ attitudes towards a brand alliance, and can come either in the form of positive meanings and associated with high brand leverage or negative associations that could damage the reputation of the brand (453).

In the marketing perspective, these types of models can be used to indicate whether a celebrity’s endorsement was sufficient in obtaining commercial effectiveness (452). However, on Instagram this model can be used can demonstrate what a double-form of commodification of the celebrity and the brand they are endorsing can mean for the self-presentation of celebrities on Instagram. Moreover, it can reveal what differences a celebrity endorsement may have with an advertisement of a celebrity’s own brand. For instance, If the celebrity is endorsing brands they are not affiliated with then the meanings and associations are solely involved with the product, not the celebrity whereas

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advertisements of a celebrity’s product has meanings and associations for both the product and themselves.

Therefore, whilst these models are particularly relevant for the marketing perspective, this perspective highlights how significant self-presentation becomes when a celebrity represents another brand on top of their own. Through the double form of commodification, it could easily deflect attention away from engagement with the followers by focusing on the marketing message or promotion. As a result, the forms of validation deriving from followers through the features of Instagram are important in revealing whether their self-presentations are authentic or intimate enough and which types of celebrity endorsements or advertisements they prefer the most.

Thus to go back to self-presentation and the role of Instagram within it, scenarios like celebrity endorsements indicate how important it is to appeal to followers and how necessary it is to encourage a sense of interaction with them through the Instagram features so that they can feel inclined enough to validate the celebrity brand. When celebrity endorsements and advertisements are used on Instagram these are the types of self-presentations that most obviously fulfil their purposes rather than conditioning for followers. This is because Celebrities receive financial compensation for these forms of self-presentation, however this is not to say that these self-presentations cannot condition for followers. Kim, Beyoncé and Ronaldo’s endorsement and advertisements have specific techniques they use for connecting with their followers through the double-form of branding they employ. Nevertheless, some are more ‘intimate’ than others, and these are indicative through Instagram’s features and tools.

1.6 The self-presentation as a reflection of a celebrity’s goal:

Self-presentation has the ability to take on many different forms, it can represent the public as well as the private persona, it can over-communicate some facts and conceal others or live up to high standards or completely avoid them. Ultimately, all these different forms are adopted by celebrities on their Instagram accounts because they believe it is the ideal way to engage with their fans. Thus, what star image, impression management, the two loci of the real self, and celebrity endorsements have in common is that the self always has to be constructed in relation to others. On Instagram, the followers take on the position of ‘others’ and celebrities’ choice of self-presentation are a reflection of the mediated relationship they want to build with them. This interpersonal relationship is able to function because the celebrities get increased attention, gratification and at times monetary compensation for their performances and the followers have an increased proximity and access to the intimate and private areas of their life.

However, behind each facet of self-presentation lies a scheme of the celebrity that is well hidden. Dyer’s star image reveals that the true image of the celebrity is irreducible, and the star image is merely a fictional construction meant to convince followers of a consistent ‘persona’. Similarly, Goffman’s impression management indicates that fans may be seeing self-presentations of celebrities

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that they approve of or expect but are at large only being given a glimpse of their lives that resonate with the preferences of the public. Lastly, Turner’s notion of the ‘real self’ indicates that celebrities may be able to appeal more to followers through the ‘impulsive’ role rather than the ‘institutional’ however the shift between them covers up the possibility of a celebrity’s real representations. Thus, conditions for self-presentation on Instagram have positively contributed to self-branding however the nature of the platform also reveal the potential wider schemes that are at work behind these performances. Consequently, the followers of these celebrities Instagram accounts can enjoy the increased access they have to their private lives, allowing celebrities to better maintain the attention and loyalty of their followers, however followers also have the upper-hand because each self-presentation strategy is dependent on their forms of validation and gratification. The following chapters will demonstrate the battle of how different self-presentations attempt to lure followers in. Whilst each nature of the self-presentations are different the aim within them remains the same – they are all in it to for their own goals and the activities of the followers on Instagram bring them a step closer to fulfilling them.

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Chapter 2: The Star Image on Instagram

‘The openness of society is assumed by the way we are addressed as individuals’ (Dyer 8) This chapter will focus on Dyer’s concept of ‘the star image’ introduced in Chapter one, to understand how celebrities are represented through their Instagram accounts. To reiterate, Dyer’s concept of the public persona refers to the ‘character commonly witnessed at staged-managed appearances’ whereas the private persona to the hidden character ‘who is at the site or occasion of this public appearance’ (Dyer 7). In this time period a celebrity’s star image was controlled by Hollywood, however now Instagram can add another dimension by allowing celebrities to have more control over their own star images and for the ways in which they address fans. Marwick and Boyd’s (2011) study on celebrity practice reveals the typical ways celebrities would address fans through this increased control over the self-presentation; such as intimate and candid representations or the strategic re-employment of strategies already present in the mainstream media (139). In Dyer’s terms, the intimate and candid representations would constitute ‘the private persona’, whereas the latter ‘the public persona’ as content in the mainstream media are typically just sites of news and information.

Nonetheless, the intimate glimpse that star images are capable of providing means little when these representations are posted publicly for the whole world on Instagram. On Instagram, ‘public’ and ‘private’ personas have overlapped, causing all seemingly ‘intimate’ and ‘private’ star images to be public. In this sense, an Instagram follower is no longer authentic as any Instagram user has access to this content. For this reason, Dyer’s distinction between the ‘public’ and ‘private’ personas needs a new conceptualisation for Instagram. The types of Instagram posts representing the star image can be split into two categories; the first being the ‘candid’and ‘professional’ and the second; the ‘intimate’ and ‘post-private’ moments. The ‘candid’ and ‘professional’ refer to the public within the public, because these photos display celebrities in public appearances on the public site of Instagram whereas the ‘intimate’ and ‘post-private’ to the private within the public, as these photos reveal the instances in which celebrities share the ‘intimate’ parts of their lives on the public site of Instagram.

This overlap between the ‘public’ and ‘private’ persona will be illustrated and discussed in five sections. The first sections 2.1. and 2.1. will contextualise Dyer’s concept of the star image within the Instagram posts of Beyoncé, Kim, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Then 2.3 will demonstrate the tension of applying the public and private distinctions of the star image to their Instagram accounts. Lastly 2.4 will map out how celebrities condition for the needs of their followers through this concept and 2.5 will demonstrate how this allows them to fulfil their purposes. Ultimately, the aim of these different sections is to demonstrate that there is no border between the public and the private and thus questions of the private and public have evolved to questions of what star images are most able to appear authentic among audiences.

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2.1. The public within the public: ‘candid’ and ‘professional’ photographs 2_:

Kim Kardashian Beyoncé Knowles Cristiano Ronaldo

Kim Kardashian’s Instagram post on the 16th_{of September 2016 in Figure 8 shows her walking on the}

street in front of her husband Kanye West in close proximity to the rest of the public and paparazzi. The caption of the post reads ‘Miami’ and according to PopSugar, ‘Kim was in Florida for Kanye’s pair of concerts at American Airlines Arena for that weekend’ (Stephens, 2016). Through examination of the Instagram post and the blank expressions of Kim and even of husband Kanye, the photo appears candid. Especially because they are not posing for the camera and appear to have little interest in their surroundings or to the rest of the public behind the bodyguard. Moreover, whilst their walk on the street appears candid and ordinary, Kim’s outfit choice of the intimate black-lace corset allows her celebrity status to stand out. Therefore, Kim has used her candid public appearance for her star image by both celebrying her ordinary as well as her extraordinary life (Grindstaff and Murray 130-1).

Beyoncé’s Instagram post from the 8th_{of February 2016 in Figure 9 shows her performance of the single}

“Formation” at the Superbowl Halftime show. The post appears to be caption-less, however in the photo she is standing next to Chris Martin (lead singer of the British rock band Coldplay) and Bruno Mars (An American singer-songwriter) allowing her extraordinary celebrity status to stand out. Similar to Beyoncé, Ronaldo’s Instagram post from the 12th_{of March 2017 in Figure 10 shows him performing in}

the domain of his fame at a football game for team Real Madrid against team Real Betis. Therefore, both Beyoncé, and Ronaldo’s control over the representation of their public appearance take on a ‘professional communication’, allowing them both to ‘exercise control’ over the impressions their fans make of their public appearance (Marwick and Boyd 145). Moreover, these appearances allow them to

2_{See Appendices A-C for Original posts}

Figure 8 (Instagram, 2016) Source: Instagram, 2012 Figure 9 (Instagram, 2016) Source: Instagram, 2012 Figure 10 (Instagram, 2016) Source: Instagram, 2012

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re-employ the strategies already present in the mainstream media (Marwick and Boyd 147), by using their Instagram accounts and thus their star image to embody the site of news and information rather than a site for a fan-celebrity relationship (Avdeeff 109).

One of the similarities present between each celebrity’s ‘public within public’ Instagram posts, is that each of the photos appear candid and in the domain of their fame. However, since some appearances encompass more of the professional communications, this suggests that there is no set ‘public persona’ post for a celebrity and that the many dimensions of public appearances allow them to grasp more control over their star images.

2.2. The private within the public: the ‘intimate’ and ‘the post-private’ 3

Kim Kardashian Beyoncé Knowles Cristiano Ronaldo

Kim Kardashian’s post on January 3rd_{2017 in Figure 11 shows a family portrait of her with her two}

children North and Saint West and her husband Kanye West. The caption of the post reads: ‘Family’ and according to US Weekly, ‘this marked Kim Kardashian’s return to social media after being held at gunpoint in Paris during the Fashion week’ (Marquina, 2017). Similarly, Beyoncé’s Instagram post from February 1st_{, 2017 shows an artistic-style portrait of her sharing the news about twins that will be}

joining her family with husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue-Ivy. Part of the caption reads: ‘We have been blessed two times over’, receiving about 7.5 million likes in a span of 12 hours, and with a current

3_{See Appendices D-F for original Instagram posts}

Figure 11 (Instagram, 2017) Source: Instagram, 2012 Figure 12 (Instagram, 2017) Source: Instagram, 2012 Figure 13 (Instagram, 2016) Source: Instagram, 2012

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number of 10.8 million likes4_{, it has made “the most liked Instagram post in the history of the app”}

(Boyer, 2017). Both Instagram posts use the star image of the ‘private’ to create a glimpse into the ‘intimate’ and ‘post-private’ moments of their lives (Marwick 146) and express their willingness to share a picture from their domestic environments. Moreover, with both posts focusing on the theme of family, they each choose content their followers would easily be able to identify with. Nevertheless, whilst their family pictures or the news of Beyoncé’s pregnancy may seem candid or aesthetically appealing at first glance, both of their posts have used strategically-condensed performance for their own gains (Grindstaff and Murray 111) and for the construction of a ‘consumable persona’ for her followers (Marwick and Boyd 140). For Kim, this refers to her being able to elicit heightened emotional responses from her followers after being absent on social media for a period of three months. Equally, for Beyoncé this refers to the use of Instagram that made her ordinary pregnancy announcement an earth-shattering piece of news (Senft 2008 in Marwick and Boyd 140). On the other hand, Ronaldo’s Instagram post on the 28th_{of September 2016 in Figure 13 shows a picture of him working out at his}

gym. With caption title: ‘This is my life’, Such a self-presentation shows his followers what he is up to in his personal time, however also has the benefit of revealing the male ideal body type and thus opportunities for ‘celebrity worship’ (Brown and Tiggemann 42). Therefore, similar to Kim and Beyoncé, the use of his star image to show off how much hard work and effort he invests into his brand as the footballer player, reveals that he also, has used the ‘intimate’ glimpse of his life strategically.

2.3 Questions of authenticity and the implications of the public and private overlap:

Dyer’s interpretation of the star image does distinguish between the public and private personas; however, his assertions mean something different for the self-presentations of celebrities on Instagram. As already mentioned, this is because the nature of their ‘private personas’ is possible on the public nature of Instagram. As a result, questions of ‘authenticity’ and ‘merit’ that audiences first had to keep into account have become overpowered by what types of star images are able to most effectively appeal to the followers on the public site of Instagram. Nonetheless, ‘authenticity’ is still an expected criterion since fans expect these celebrities’ Instagram accounts to show more than the interviews, biographies, or talk show appearances already present in the mainstream media.

Questions of authenticity become more challenging with Beyoncé’s Instagram account as she has a social media manager posting on the account for her (Avdeeff 109). Therefore, even those Instagram posts that are meant to reveal her intimate or post-private moments of her star image are under question.However, even when the celebrity maintains control over the content on their Instagram accounts, such as the case of Kim and Ronaldo, this does not necessarily mean that their followers

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always get the most ‘intimate’ glimpses of their star image. For instance, the constant shifting between professional-style photos of Ronaldo at the broadcasted football match of Real Madrid vs. Real Betis to the more ‘intimate’ photos of him in the privacy of his home-gym (Figures 10 and 13) means that followers are not always exposed to ‘the site of openness’. The consistent presentation of ‘intimate’ posts would be able to accomplish this greater degree of authenticity (Dyer 7), however achieving this is difficult when these ‘intimate glimpses’ are available to the public and when each celebrity appears to have strategic purposes.

The fact that the star images are public means not only that posts of the ‘intimate’ or ‘post-private’ are difficult to achieve, but that celebrities must adopt strategies with their posts in order to fit into the expectations of all types of Instagram users. Consequently, the ‘candid’ and ‘professional’ Instagram posts in Section 2.1 have been tailored according to each celebrity’s purposes in relation to Instagram users. Whilst these purposes are not explicit, the content available within the Instagram post itself can reveal potential strategic purposes. For instance, in Section 2.1, Figure 8, Kim’s choice to post a such a photo allows her to appear candid and ordinary by walking on the street like the other members of the public, however the choice of attire seems to illustrate that she is simultaneously trying to appear extraordinary. Moreover, Beyoncé’s professional photo of the Superbowl performance in Section 2.1, Figure 9 illustrates her desire to use her Instagram account as a site for ‘professional communications’. Similarly, Ronaldo’s professional photo in Section 2.1, Figure 10, appears as an opportunity for him to re-employ the strategic revealing already visible in the mainstream media, conveniently allowing such a photo to reinforce his career image.

In the representation of their ‘intimate’ sides in section 2.2, strategic purposes are still present however in an attempt to cover up their strategies in the public and private overlap, the celebrities have applied the highest degree of their ‘private’ and ‘intimate’ selves in an effort to appeal to Instagram users. For instance, in Kim’s family portrait in Section 2.2, Figure 11, she seems to suggest how happy she is with her husband and two kids, however the orchestration of such an emotionally-engaging post after staying offline for three months may reveal a strategy hidden behind the ‘public presence of this post’. Similarly, Beyoncé’s star image in Section 2.2, Figure 12 is meant to share the news of her twin-pregnancy with her followers, yet the timing and staging of the post is suddenly able to make followers aware of the posts’ public presence because her revelation addressed to millions of people can stand out as a means to maintain popularity among her followers. Lastly, Ronaldo’s star image in Section 2.2, Figure 13, appears as a demonstration of hard work and effort for maintaining his public status as the football star, however the public presence of this post also allows his photo to serve as a way to boast about his ‘body’. Therefore, whilst the concept of Dyer’s ‘star image’ does provide a useful starting point for understanding the way celebrities present themselves on Instagram, traces of potential strategies as well as the overlap between the public and private changes the nature of star images for Instagram.

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2.4. Conditioning ‘star images’ for followers: Goffman’s ‘Impression Management’

Nevertheless, the intimacy engendered by star images are important because they provide the glimpse into the inner life that fans want (Marwick and Boyd 149). In Goffman’s perspective, this intimacy engendered by their star images would be a way to appeal to their followers (30) and since followers are often satisfied with this, it can be argued that intimate glimpses of a celebrity’s life only exist because it is the most efficient means to maintain their attention and loyalty (Marwick and Boyd 149). These conscious efforts that a celebrity takes to appeal to their followers through intimacy and personal disclosure on their Instagram accounts would be the ‘backstage performances’ (Goffman 126).

However, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo in particular also use their accounts as a site for news as illustrated through Figures 9 and 10, in which they showcase the professional and career aspects of their star image. In such moments, the increased attention dispensed into showcasing their ‘professional’ side deflects them from bonding with their followers because their star images encompass decreased access to a celebrity’s intimate life (Marwick and Boyd 149). This particular professional type of communication would constitute the ‘frontstage performance’ (Goffman 126) and occurs because celebrities often need to temper the perception that they have become an insider’ (Marwick and Boyd 154) [Y.A.]. This back-and-forth logic between their ‘professional’ and ‘intimate’ communications or between their frontstage and backstage performances are important because it solidifies the celebrities’ status in their fame.Consequently, these celebrities are never seen as an average Instagram user and get their recognition for occasionally reminding their followers of their extraordinary status, creating the friction necessary between the celebrity and their followers (Marwick and Boyd 154).

This is part of impression management and techniques like these are important for providing celebrities with their ‘social reinforcements’ in the form of ‘likes’ and ‘comments’ (Marwick 141). In this sense, followers are no longer passive; they adopt a more active role by observing whether the celebrities’ posts fit into their expectations. As observers, the followers use the ‘likes’ to indicate which type of star image they prefer the most and thus which types of Instagram posts are the most popular. For instance, they indicate that ‘intimate’ posts have higher engagement than the ‘professional’ posts. This can be illustrated by looking at the sum of engagement rates of Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo’s ‘public within public’ posts in Section 2.1 in comparison to the sum of engagement rates of Kim, Beyoncé, and Ronaldo’s ‘private within private’ posts (See Appendices D-F).

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Figure 14: Sum of engagement rates for all 3 ‘public within public’ posts (Iconosquare, 2017) 5

Figure 15: Engagement rate for all 3 ‘private within public’ posts (Iconosquare, 2017):

With a sum of 6.4% mean engagement rate for the public within public posts in Section 2.1 in comparison to the 19.7% engagement rate sum for the private within public posts, it is evident that the followers of the celebrities’ Instagram accounts do prefer the intimacy characterized by the private within public posts in Section 2.2.

Even more explicit than engagement rates, examining the likes under their private within public

posts could have easily lead these celebrities to establish that these posts are given the most recognition

and may also provide an explanation for the strategic planning behind the appearance of these posts and

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the rest that follow. Figure 16 below shows the most liked posts during the week that the private within

public posts were posted and the position that they received in the ‘most liked posts’ of the week.6

Kim’s family portrait in Figure 11 and Beyoncé’s pregnancy portrait from Figure 12 ranked first, and Ronaldo’s gym workout from Figure 13 ranked fourth. Moreover, they received a total of 17.1 million likes. Whereas, Kim and Beyoncé’s public within public posts in Figures 8 and 9 ranked fourth, Ronaldo’s third, and only reached a total amount of 5.2 likes (See Appendix G).

Figure 16: The likes of the ‘private within public’ posts (Iconosquare, 2017):

In order to assess whether celebrities always respond to these patterns, eight consecutive posts posted after the private within public posts will be accessed. These posts range from the day after these posts in section 2.2 to the eight posts afterwards. By choosing to post similar or dissimilar posts right after these highly engaged posts of ‘performative intimacy’, it reveals certain guidelines that celebrities follow in order to sustain loyalty from their followers. Moreover, it indicates which celebrities engage the most with impression management or ‘backstage performances’ and those that prioritize professional communications, such as the ‘frontstage performance’.

6_{This week is defined as 2 days before the post and 5 days after it was posted – if photo appears alone there}

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Figure 17: The 8 consecutive posts after Kim’s private persona post (From left to right - January 4th _–

January 11th) (Instagram, 2017)

Figure 18: The 8 consecutive posts after Beyoncé’s private persona post (From left to right - 23rd

February – 19th_{March) (Instagram, 2017)}

Figure 19: The 8 consecutive posts after Ronaldo’s private persona post (From left to right - 29th

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These posts illustrate that there is a priority among the types of self-presentation practices celebrities take. For both Kim and Beyoncé, the priority after posting their ‘private within public’ posts, was to post content that resembled the same theme of their backstage performances. As illustrated by Figures 17 and 18 this includes series of photos with them with their husbands and children. More specifically, Kim’s collage of photos posted after her family portrait on January 3rd_{continued the theme of ‘family’,}

and similarly, Beyoncé’s series of photos continued the theme of her pregnancy through the release of photoshoot-style photographs of her in a range of fashionable outfits. However, contrary to the rest, Ronaldo’s posts in Figure 19 after his ‘intimate’ post of his gym workout contain a range of different type of content. This series of photos show frontstage performances of him such as photos with him on the football field with his team, but also contains promotion posts, and various photoshoots that contribute to his professional communications. This not only reveals the priority of his professional ‘frontstage performances’ over his intimate ‘backstage performances’ (Goffman 23), it also indicates that Ronaldo’s star image is not synonymous with Goffman’s concept of ‘impression management’ because he doesn’t prioritise the ‘intimate’ posts over his ‘professional’ posts.

2.5 Conditioning star images for purposes: Maintaining ‘openness’

Thus each celebrity has tailored the use of their star image in order to gain recognition. Whilst Kim and Beyoncé achieve this through a series of ‘intimate’ and ‘personal’ photos, Ronaldo is also able to achieve this through the focus on more professional communication. Ultimately then, the purpose of all these celebrities with the representation of their star image on Instagram is to appear open enough and express their willingness to share both the public and private appearances of their life and to embrace the sort of self-presentation that will help them achieve that.

However, determining whether a star image maintains openness is a social construct and therefore always relative and context dependent (Bendix, 1997; Cheng 2004 in Marwick and Boyd 149) allowing celebrities to use their star images in different ways to appeal to their followers. The star images facilitate openness through presentations of their ‘hidden inner life’ (Trilling in Marwick and Boyd 149), but equally through showcasing a brand image already accessible on mainstream media which also has the benefit of maintaining their interest and loyalty. For instance, in Section 2.1 Figure 9, Beyoncé’s Instagram post of her at the halftime Superbowl show appeared ‘open’ by offering her followers the chance to witness her ‘brand image’ as a popstar whereas the post of her pregnancy portrait in Figure 12 allowed her followers to see her life on the ‘inside’.

Thus, even though Dyer’s concept of the ‘star image’ claims to take audiences behind the scenes (Dyer 10), Instagram’s public nature impedes followers from gaining the private glimpse. Moreover, if celebrities are only invested in the outcomes they will get from their content, this leaves little room for