Do it for the gram a critical discourse analysis on the production curation and celebrification of feed worthy beauty

Navarro, R.A.D. (2019). #DoItForTheGram: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Production, Curation, and Celebrification of “Feed-Worthy Beauty” in Instagram, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis. University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.

Beauty is a concept that is tied to its time. Beauty is also perceived to be cultural. Meaning, beauty does not only varies through time, it also varies among societies. In the Philippines, beauty is discerned to be linked with Caucasian standards due to the country’s history of colonization. Following the argument however, that beauty changes through time, it is a must to look into the beauty standards that the Philippines currently has, a century after being colonized. In further intellectualizing culture’s role in the discourse of beauty and having considered that the Filipinos are one of the most active social media users, the image of beauty was explored in one of the most prominent social media platforms in Philippine society, the Instagram. In particular, this study sought to look into the image and standards of beauty presented in the Instagram accounts of 7 Filipina Instagram influencers. Employing Fairclough’s (1985) Critical Discourse Analysis, Valtýsson’s (2014) Conditioned Participation, and the previous literatures’ take on celebrification, the study aimed to explore the current image of “feed-worthy beauty” being presented in Philippine society. The image of “feed-worthy beauty” was found to be liberal and independent. Furthermore, the image of beauty posited by these influencers were seen to be carefully planned and curated by the influencers. In the image of “feed-worthy beauty”, motives of influencers were defined, however the study found that there is more than one author of the image. The findings of the study shows that there are agents who decide and weigh in on the creation, production, and celebrification of “feed-worthy beauty”. Thus, the image is not found to be a product of the influencer, but of the industry. The industry of the influencer industry in the Philippines, together with these agents were identified and mapped in the findings of this research.

View Thesis: https://iskwiki.upd.edu.ph/viewer/?fb=2015-07690-Navarro-#page-1