Paradox of Humour: : The Use of Disparaging Humour as a Form of Social Control in the Social Media Discourse

Khli-In, Apisara and Awanis, Sandra and Piacentini, Maria (2020) Paradox of Humour: : The Use of Disparaging Humour as a Form of Social Control in the Social Media Discourse. In: Research in Consumer Culture Theory :. UNSPECIFIED, GBR.

Abstract

The widespread proliferation of social network sites (SNSs) in contemporary society has opened up the ways that consumers approach selfrepresentation and self-promotion, raising new questions around the authenticity of SNS portrayals. SNSs and their features have enabled social media users to portray an exaggerated, curated and idealised version of themselves whilst simultaneously evaluate their own abilities and attributes, and thereby running the risk of experiencing feelings of inadequacy. Using Foucault's concept of power and governmentality, we explore the role of humour as a mechanism of control, and consider its role in the production and negotiation of power relations and social order in the social media landscape. Preliminary findings found that disparaging humour, through the apparatuses and institutions of biopower, may inadvertently participate in the continuous production of both normative and deviant categories of (in)authentic practices on SNSs.