Micro-population

Micro-population is a concept introduced by Maly and Varis (2015) to make sense of group construction and identity formation in times of digitalization and (neoliberal) globalization. According to them, micro-populations are polycentric, layered and transnational groups.

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Subculture

Wiki

Subcultures consist of people who participate in a lifestyle that is typically regarded as deviant in dominant society. Engagement in such deviant activities usher people to find other like-minded individuals and interact with them in order to build a culture. This helps in the development of perspectives about oneself with relation to others in society (Becker 1963).

Identity

Wiki

Identity refers to various aspects of how we see ourselves, how we show ourselves to others, and how we perceive others.

Enoughness

Wiki

Enoughness is a theory of contemporary identity that states that identities are constructed out of a particular portion ("enough") of emblematic identity features.

Micro-population

Wiki

Micro-populations are the material expression of temporary and emerging micro-hegemonies. They group people together by their ‘style’, by the places where they hang out and the places where you can’t find them.

The K-Pop Fandom on Twitter

Article

Lola Vos

04/12/2018

17 minutes to read

K-Pop fans can now be found all over the world. Due to the mass organized fan actions, traditions, and complicated language, the K-Pop fandom sets itself apart from other fandoms. In this article I look at K-Pop fans on Twitter as a cultural niche.

Lifting: a weapon against capitalism or boredom?

Article

Lea Goeron

04/12/2018

11 minutes to read

The lifting community on Tumblr keeps growing and growing. Calling themselves lifters, they take over a controversial niche on the quirky and queer website. They're bragging about stolen goods online, gain followers, likes and reshares.

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response and the Rise of the ASMR community

Article

Mariosé Bergsteijn

03/12/2018

13 minutes to read

The ASMR community is rising from being outsiders to the mainstream. How and why is this happening now?

Understanding fashion instagram influencers as a social group

Article

Sanne Graumans

29/11/2018

15 minutes to read

In this article, I will describe how fashion Instagram influencers are a social group, how they make certain things mainstream and how they use Instagram as their platform to do this

Body positivity online

Article

Jelske van Es

28/11/2018

14 minutes to read

Body positivity is an online movement with an increasing amount of supporters. These body positivists used social media to spread their 'body positive' message. How do people respond to body positivity? And how can we recognize body positivity?

Metalheads: fighting the stereotypes

Paper

k.raaijmakers@uvt.nl Raaijmakers

19/10/2018

16 minutes to read

Do you really need to have dirty long hair, black clothes, band T-shirts and be covered in tattoos and piercings to classify as a metalhead? This paper portrays the micro-population of metalheads and how it deals with its many stereotypes.

The impact of Instagram influencers

Article

Jelske van Es

24/09/2018

15 minutes to read

On Instagram, influencers make a lot of money by promoting brands or products in their posts. How does an influencer stand out and gain a big following in the still-increasing amount of influencers on Instagram?

TAylor Swift Swifties Fandom superdiversity

Superdiversity within the Swifties

Article

Sam van Alebeek

30/12/2017

10 minutes to read

The fandom of Taylor Swift consists of people from places all over the world. However, they do wear the same merchandise and interact with each other on online platforms, so in what way exactly are Swifties superdiverse?