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Self-Presentation: A Video Study of People with Disabilities on Social Media
- 1 Wuhan University
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Abstract
Statistics show that there is one disabled person in every 17 people in China. Although in real life, people with disabilities are not evenly distributed in the same physical space as the able-bodied group, in the decentralized online society that eliminates the physical space separation, more and more people with disabilities are recording and sharing their lives and using self-media to present themselves. If the able-bodied group does not have the opportunity to contact and understand the life and inner world of the disabled group in real life, this distance is being bridged with the empowerment of individuals by social media. This paper attempts to focus on the online performances of disabled groups, and borrows Goffman’s self-presentation theory to study the images, ways and changes of disabled bloggers’ self-presentation with videos. Through the content analysis method, this paper paints a portrait of disabled bloggers and analyzes their narratives. Through in-depth interviews, it explores the inner thoughts and changes of disabled people in the process of self-presentation. Rethink what should be done to make the disabled group live a more dignified and happy life. It may also help the disabled groups clarify their complex psychological feelings in self-presentation and not let the collapse of the Internet context and the loss of control of public opinion affect their positive mindset.
Keywords
disability, self-presentation, media
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Cite this article
Xu,Y. (2023). Self-Presentation: A Video Study of People with Disabilities on Social Media. Lecture Notes in Education Psychology and Public Media,31,24-32.
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