• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.449-459
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• 2023

This study focuses on online communities and the ritual conversations of users when participating in sharing activities. The study aims to understand the social and psychological phenomena that occur between users within the context of Erving Goffman's impression management theory. Case studies and a content analysis were conducted by collecting posts and comments related to fashion products in the sharing activities category on Naver Cafe "Family Sale." On the one hand, the study identified various disposition motives among givers, including a desire for recognition, self-expression, activation of the community, emotional sympathy, goodwill, play, and simple disposition. On the other hand, receivers' purchase motives included the need for a product, reciprocation based on a sense of belonging, play, gift-giving, and simple response. Analyzing the posts of givers and the comments of receivers of fashion products using impression management strategies and dramaturgical analysis, the study interpreted users' impression management and revealed propensities in fashion consumption: fashionability, conspicuousness, value orientation, and economic feasibility. Through ritual conversations, users managed to attain emotional stability on an individual level, while they reinforced collective bonds on a social level. They fulfilled their roles with their own narratives to achieve personal and collective goals in a non-face-to-face situations and non-monetary transactions. This study is significant in that it examines normative communication in an online community and user relationships to understand a recent phenomenon in the fashion industry.

• Journal of Popular Narrative
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.107-142
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• 2021

Emergence of new media platform had changed relationship between the broadcaster and the viewer, which used to form 'performer-audience' structure. This research has focused on the transition of 'streamer-viewer' role in single-media broadcasting, such as Youtube or Twitch, and identify how they progress group storytelling as a team. Walter Benjam and Leslie Marmon Silko's notion of 'story and storyteller' and Erving Goffman's 'social role theory' was used to define participants' role in new media broadcasting. channel, on Youtube, was selected and analyzed as example case. The domain of 'front stage' was broadened in recorded contents comparing to live streaming. The audience of live streaming is included to the front stage during the expansion. The role of streamer, game participant, and live stream contents viewer is also adjusted during the change, which leads to group-creation of the contents. Streamer plays a role of main-storyteller and suggest identity of the community. Game participants work as sub-storyteller, filling in the blank space in game storytelling and making it sophisticated. They also perform based on community's identity, which streamer has built in advance. Lastly, live steam viewers are intermittent sub-storyteller, which seldom add up the narrative. Though, their main role is to preserve identity of game broadcasting community by reacting according to community's identity. As a result, the game broadcasting narrative is developed by combining and adding up pieces of story made in different level and role of participants. The research redefine the role of viewer and storytelling method in new media, especially in single-person broadcasting. Considering the rapid shift in recent media and contents, a new approach to the streamer-veiwer role and group storytelling of this research can be one of the new method to analyze contents produced in new media, such as Youtube.