Social Media, Individual Freedom, and the Commodification of Modern American Self

Abstract

The present study argues that the commodification of modern American self is a self- reflexive response to the ontological insecurity created by the consumerist and celebritized liberal capitalist discourses of individual freedom and authentic self- expression. Specifically focusing on self-commodification in the sphere of social media, it also posits that online popularity positively impacts an individual‘s sense of personal freedom by reducing ontological insecurity. Drawing on an integrated theoretical framework, the study combines Anthony Giddens‘ ideas of reflexivity and ontological insecurity with Teun A. Van Dijk‘s Socio-Cognitive approach to critical discourse analysis (CDA) and C.H. Cooley‘s theory of the "looking-glass self‖. By relying on a convenience/purposive sampling approach, the study adopts a quantitative research design comprising an online survey shared with a cross-sectional pool of US-based social media users. As predicted, the results confirm a significant mediating influence of ontological insecurity in triggering the urge for self- commodification in response to the celebritized and consumerist discourses of individual freedom and authentic self-expression. The results also indicate a significantly positive correlation between online popularity and one‘s sense of personal freedom while showing a significantly negative relationship between ontological insecurity and an individual‘s sense of personal freedom, even when controlled for the effects of demographic variables of age, gender, ethnicity, education level, and employment status. The study concludes that individual freedom perceived in terms of one‘s online popularity (entailing public validation of a commodified self- image modelled on a celebritized life-style), has profound implications for the individualistic and rights-based conceptions of freedom in America.