Part 1:
Reese Witherspoon, an actress and entrepreneur, communicates her identity through her Instagram social media platform. She does this specifically through her posts, stories and highlights, each presenting a snapshot into her life and identity. Her highlights include her YouTube channel, where she has personable “Get Ready With Me” videos to her fans. Her clothing brand line, “Draper James,” has its own highlight, which is “steeped in Southern charm and designed for real life,” as well as her book, Whiskey in a Teacup, centered around her Southern life. There are also highlights of television shows she is currently working on, in addition to her women’s empowerment company, Hello Sunshine. Her Instagram posts are non-filtered and transparent, rarely having tagged, high-class brands. She communicates a relatable, family-oriented, powerful yet humble identity who is proud of her Southern culture and tries to relate to the average woman through her presentation choices.
In connection to Peters’ “The Brand Called You,” Witherspoon developed her social media into a brand of herself, a platform her fans can trust and relate to, where we feel like equals to her beyond fans. “The sites you go back to are the sites you trust. They’re the sites where the brand name tells you that the visit will be worth your time — again and again. The brand is a promise of the value you’ll receive” (Peters, 1997). This value includes a sense of empowerment by her motivational, feminist captions, and trust, since her posts are real and transparent. Rather than loading her pictures with tags from extravagant brands, they are filled with family, equally influential friends, such as Jennifer Aniston and Dolly Parton, as well as her Southern-style clothes from her line. When she rarely does tag other clothing brands in her posts, she downplays it with humor. For example, she posted a picture prior to her appearance at the Global Globes with tagged brands such as Jimmy Choo. In the caption, she jokingly said “Wearing white to the biggest party of the year, wish me luck!” Through her self-branding, she gains loyalty from her fans, and ignores the typical money and fame associated with celebrity culture.
According to Marwick (2013), “identity in social media sites is often expressed through customization. People who create blogs, homepages, and online profiles can use a variety of digital tokens such as pictures, avatars, icons, nicknames, fonts, music, and video to represent themselves” (p. 358). Reese Witherspoon exemplifies this identity construction through her Instagram feed. Her role as a motivational entrepreneur and mother plays in the content she produces, which is not explicit or contains typical glamorous, unrealistic celebrity culture material. She communicates to her audience the value she places on humbleness, family and gratitude, ensuring to promote her values of women empowerment. Witherspoon chooses influence power over ladder power. “Getting and using power — intelligently, responsibly, and yes, powerfully — are essential skills for growing your brand” (Peters, 1997).
Part 2:
Marwick (2013) discusses a crucial concept related to archive. “A multiple self explains why people vary identity performance based on context: multiplicity is an inherent property of identity rather than somehow dishonest or false” (p. 356). With the ability to archive, people have the power to present themselves in an ideal, flawless way. For example, on Instagram, we have the option to archive past pictures that no longer appeal to us, making them invisible to our followers. This power of presentation and preoccupation with controlling our image is inevitable in our era of digital archives. We also have the option to “hide” statuses from our Facebook feeds to the public. These archiving processes connect to how we self-brand ourselves and present our online identities, which are typically a more attractive version of our real-word identities.
