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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

“Stay for What You Discover”: Understanding Virtual Community, Identity, and Ideology on Tumblr.com

Krutsch, Mary Martha "Frankie"
http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6482-2490
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1647951369739645

Abstract Details

2022, Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, American Culture Studies.
Since its inception in 2007, the microblogging platform Tumblr has grown from its modest roots as a social media website founded on short form, user-generated content into a hub for diverse subcommunities and unique experiences. Scholars have been keen to note the breadth of Tumblr users’ worldviews and knowledgebases, and to identify the significance of its practices and emergent cultures. This thesis intends to expand upon such research and create a substantive theory of Tumblr which recognizes the platform’s relevance according to users, and in connection with current scholarly understandings. It situates Tumblr as a key online platform in the creation of identity, community, and meaning for its users, one which has proven to be influential in present understandings of how people gather and interact in virtual spaces. Using constructivist grounded theory (CGT) methodology and the lens of social constructionism, this thesis seeks to analyze the lived experiences of users of Tumblr to theorize how their time on the platform have shaped who they are, how they engage with others, and how they navigate the world around them online and offline. Additionally, this thesis looks to suggest what the practices of Tumblr have contributed to users’ understandings of community and identity, as well as to provide suggestions for future scholars.
Radhika Gajjala, Ph.D. (Advisor)
Yanqin Lu, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
70 p.
American Studies; Communication; Cultural Anthropology; Web Studies
Tumblr.com; online culture; new media studies; grounded theory; identity; community; ideology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Krutsch, M. M. "F. (2022). “Stay for What You Discover”: Understanding Virtual Community, Identity, and Ideology on Tumblr.com [Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1647951369739645

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Krutsch, Mary Martha "Frankie". “Stay for What You Discover”: Understanding Virtual Community, Identity, and Ideology on Tumblr.com. 2022. Bowling Green State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1647951369739645.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Krutsch, Mary Martha "Frankie". "“Stay for What You Discover”: Understanding Virtual Community, Identity, and Ideology on Tumblr.com." Master's thesis, Bowling Green State University, 2022. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1647951369739645

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

bgsu1647951369739645
229
© 2022, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License “Stay for What You Discover”: Understanding Virtual Community, Identity, and Ideology on Tumblr.com by Mary Martha "Frankie" Krutsch is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by Bowling Green State University and OhioLINK.