Showing progress: Defining self-tracking as an aesthetic audio-visual genre

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelfagfællebedømt

This article characterises the growing phenomenon of men creating and sharing videos of themselves trying out medical treatments to avoid baldness and/or gain more substantial beard-growth. We analyse a sample of amateur YouTube-videos of men trying, evaluating and discussing the two most popular products: Minoxidil (to increase beard growth), and Finasteride (to increase hair growth and/or slow down balding processes). We situate these videos within self-tracking as a field of study, and we define and analyse the videos as a particular genre of self-tracking with specific characteristics, labelling them as either a momental or longitudinal video. It is our claim that these defining characteristics are significant for this particular kind of videos, tracking the decline and/or growth of hair, but that the outlined core characteristics are also applicable to other (and potentially all) forms of videos preoccupied with tracking transformation.
OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftConjunctions : transdisciplinary journal of cultural participation
Vol/bind9
Udgave nummer1
Sider (fra-til)1-16
StatusUdgivet - 4 jul. 2022

ID: 279108191