[Air-L] Book Announcement: Monetising the Dividual Self. The Emergence of the Lifestyle Blog and Influencers in Malaysia

[Julian Hopkins]

Dear All,

I am happy to announce the publication of 'Monetising the Dividual Self.
The Emergence of the Lifestyle Blog and Influencers in Malaysia', I believe
it is the first book focused on the emergence of
microcelebrities/influencers in an Asian context and the data is based on
long-term ethnographic on- and offline fieldwork.

In a nutshell, this book traces the beginnings of what are now know as
social media influencers. I started looking at them in about 2005 and the
book starts with a 'blog war' in the pre-monetised Malaysian blogosphere. I
use this a starting point to discuss the components of personal blogging -
the performance of authenticity and the interaction of blogs and self
expression.

The chronological development of the chapters intersperses detailed
academic and theoretical discussions with case studies and thick
descriptions suitable for classroom discussion. The book uses actor-network
theory, assemblage and affordances as its theoretical foundations. It
describes lifestyle bloggers as entrepreneurs of the dividual self and
suggests that they offer prototypes of future forms of self-expression and
being.

The account ends with a regional blogmeet in 2009 that - in hindsight -
might have been the high point of blogging in Malaysia and Singapore,
before Facebook, Twitter and Instagram came to dominate.

I'd like to thank all of the bloggers who gave me their time, the School of
Arts and Social Sciences at Monash University Malaysia, the many academics
who provided feedback and support over the years and the very patient
editors at Berghahn Books.

For those who are interested, there is a two months limited time 50%
discount available for purchases via the publisher website. The book is
here: https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/HopkinsMonetising and the code
HOP185 can be used when an order is placed via this site.

Best regards,
Julian

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*DR JULIAN HOPKINS*
Adjunct Senior Research Fellow
School of Arts & Social Sciences
Monash University Malaysia
Recent publication: https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/HopkinsMonetising
E: julian.hopkins at monash.edu
W: http://julianhopkins.com

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