Bloggers on Fire Performing Identity and Building Community

Considerations for Cyber-Autoethnography

Bibliographic Data

ID21206169
AuthorsJudith C Lapadat (0000-0002-2943-4991, University of Lethbridge, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume13
Issue3
Pages332-350
Publication date2020-11-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Review of Qualitative Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1940-8447 • E-ISSN: 1940-8455
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1940844720939847
OpenAlexW3092776992
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited22

As a research approach, autoethnography has revolutionized qualitative inquiry. To date, most autoethnographies represent the lives of academics and are published in the research press for a small audience of other academics. However, in the digital world, a subset of blogs has emerged in which the self-narratives are substantially similar to autoethnographies in content, quality, and level of social commentary, but with a broader scope and audience. For example, FIRE bloggers write about how they are striving to reach the goal of Financial Independence and Early Retirement (FIRE). They share detailed accounts of their financial circumstances, personal stories, strategies, and social insights. Through an analysis of FIRE blog texts, I examine digital presentation and performance of identity, relational aspects of online communication, and strategies these bloggers and their followers use to create community. The success of bloggers in bringing together people around the world to form communities with shared aims points to possibilities for how cyber-autoethnographers might broaden the reach of autoethnography while also building a collaborative sense of agency to accomplish personal and political goals. My interest in this cyber-community is theoretical, but intersects with challenges I have grappled with in my personal transition to retirement

Aesthetics · Autoethnography · Media studies · Narrative · Political science · Public relations · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Mental Health and Patient Involvement · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics

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