SELF-OPTIMIZATION THROUGH INSTAGRAM: HOW FOLLOWERS ARE INFLUENCED BY ‘THAT GIRL’ TREND?

Date

2024-10

Author

Tiske, Sema

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This thesis investigates the phenomenon of self-optimization within the context of lifestyle influencers on Instagram, especially focusing on the ‘That Girl’ trend. Through the theoretical background of self-optimization, ethopolitics, technologies of the self, healthism, commodification of self, this study analyzes how self-optimization is realized through That Girl trend. It shows how influencers promote and commodify healthy lifestyle, presenting it as a reachable consumer product, while promoting self-discipline through depicting idealized images under the process of “being the best version of yourself”. In doing so, they align with neoliberal ideals of personal responsibility, positioning self-optimization as a moral project. The theoretical framework is heavily based on Nikolas Rose’s concepts of ethopolitics and optimization of self and Michel Foucault’s technologies of the self, highlighting how these influencers act as facilitators of self-governance.

Subject Keywords

Influencer, Instagram, surveillance, self-optimization, healthism

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/112265

Collections

Graduate School of Social Sciences, Thesis