From ‘being real’ to ‘relatable tales’: Formatted authenticity and stories in TikTok short form videos

TY - JOUR

T1 - From ‘being real’ to ‘relatable tales’

T2 - Formatted authenticity and stories in TikTok short form videos

AU - Georgakopoulou-Nunes, Alexandra

PY - 2024/11/1

Y1 - 2024/11/1

N2 - Authenticity in the sense of off-the-cuff, raw, believable presentation of the teller and their everyday life through storytelling has been a widely circulating discourse in digital storytelling (e.g. brand storytelling). In my longitudinal technographic study of stories online, I have explored the connections of this type of authenticity with stories as a feature on platforms (Georgakopoulou 2022). I have shown authenticity to be a platformed directive, supported by specific affordances & design, and integrally connected with the storytelling practice of sharing-life-in-the-moment. These choices have developed recognizablity and normativity (i.e. formatting). Building on this research, in this article, I examine how formatted authenticity in stories migrates onto TikTok short form videos. I focus on a series of videos with conventionalized captions “when your/my mum … “, that build a generic tale about roles and relationships within the family. Using small stories and positioning analysis, I show how the formatted authenticity that I have attested to in previous work, is reconfigured and repurposed at different levels, in line with TikTok affordances for creating multi-layered, intertextual storytelling. The intermingling of the personal with the collective/generic within sharing-life-in-the moment emphasizes the shift of authenticity from teller-based truth-telling to a tale-based relatability. The discussion shows how studying authenticity in social media narratives requires a historical, media-genealogical approach so as to understand the evolution and trans-platformization of storytelling genres and choices that serve as recognizable emblems of authenticity. (232 words)

AB - Authenticity in the sense of off-the-cuff, raw, believable presentation of the teller and their everyday life through storytelling has been a widely circulating discourse in digital storytelling (e.g. brand storytelling). In my longitudinal technographic study of stories online, I have explored the connections of this type of authenticity with stories as a feature on platforms (Georgakopoulou 2022). I have shown authenticity to be a platformed directive, supported by specific affordances & design, and integrally connected with the storytelling practice of sharing-life-in-the-moment. These choices have developed recognizablity and normativity (i.e. formatting). Building on this research, in this article, I examine how formatted authenticity in stories migrates onto TikTok short form videos. I focus on a series of videos with conventionalized captions “when your/my mum … “, that build a generic tale about roles and relationships within the family. Using small stories and positioning analysis, I show how the formatted authenticity that I have attested to in previous work, is reconfigured and repurposed at different levels, in line with TikTok affordances for creating multi-layered, intertextual storytelling. The intermingling of the personal with the collective/generic within sharing-life-in-the moment emphasizes the shift of authenticity from teller-based truth-telling to a tale-based relatability. The discussion shows how studying authenticity in social media narratives requires a historical, media-genealogical approach so as to understand the evolution and trans-platformization of storytelling genres and choices that serve as recognizable emblems of authenticity. (232 words)

M3 - Article

JO - Narrative Works

JF - Narrative Works

ER -