I Call Myself What I like: Mixed Race Identity & Social Media |
I Call Myself What I like: Mixed Race Identity & Social Media
University of Leicester
October 2013
68 pages
Nadia Riepenhausen
Submitted for the degree of MA in Mass Communications, Media & Public Relations
This research study asserts that mixed race people are hyper-visible in terms of their images in media and popular culture, yet still remain largely invisible, due to a lack of recognition and acknowledgment, in mainstream media. As a result of a lack of representation, social media has become an important and significant way for mixed race people to interact, in terms of producing and consuming content. The study uses a qualitative research methodology, in the form of in-depth interviews, as well as incorporating several theories, including a ‘uses and gratifications’ approach. The research also shows that social media allows those who identify as mixed race to navigate multiple identities more freely and express themselves in ways that are not always possible in ‘real life’.
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1 Research questions
- 1.2 Why mixed race?
- 2. Theoretical Perspective
- 2.1 Representation theory
- 2.2 New ethnicities
- 2.3 Critical theories and mixed race
- 2.4 Uses and gratifications theory and social media
- 3. Literature Review
- 3.1 Mixed race studies
- 3.2 Race, mixed race and media
- 3.3 Social media and race
- 4. Research Methodology
- 4.1 Objectives of research
- 4.2 Qualitative Research/In-depth Interviews
- 4.3 Research sample
- 4.4 Shared Identities
- 4.5 Data Collection and analysis
- 5. Results and Discussion
- 5.1 Multiple Identities
- 5.2 Mixed race identity and gender
- 5.3 Media representations of mixed race
- 5.4 Navigating mixed race and social media
- 5.5 Creating new identities.
- 5.6 ‘Produsage’
- 5.7 Cheerios Commercial
- 5.8 The way forward
- 6. Conclusion
- 6.1 Limitations
- 6.2 Future Research
- 7. Appendices
- 8. References
Read the entire thesis here.
Tags: Nadia Riepenhausen, University of Leicester