Slides presented at the Celebrity Studies Journal Conference 2016, University of Amsterdam. ABSTRACT Lifestyle blogging has become an established part of the Malaysian internet, and these ‘microcelebrities’ (Senft 2012) develop parasocial relations through the interactive affordances of social media, leveraging authenticity through a carefully managed exhibition of aspects of their lives and activities. As their audience changes in both quantity and quality, the bloggers’ perceptions of their audience develops, and they also adjust their performance according to their own changing life circumstances – such as graduating from university or changing jobs. When bloggers become parents, many of them are approached by advertisers keen to promote child- or parent centred consumer goods and services, meaning that their children become additional resources to leverage both audience and income. This paper presents research that focuses on the impact that parenthood makes upon the lifestyle bloggers. It asks how parents negotiate their microcelebrity status, and the need to share ostensibly authentic portrayals of their life, with the challenges of parenthood. It also explores the impact of the expansion of outlets in a variety of social network sites. This research follows up on a long-term participant observation of personal and lifestyle bloggers conducted from 2007-2009. Based on an inductive approach, it uses a combination of textual analysis and interviews to revisit microcelebrities who have become parents, and also expands the sample to other microcelebrities who are parents. It explores how they include their children and/or their parenting experiences into their online presence, and negotiate the attendant ethical and experiential challenges.

1. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Celebrity Studies Journal Conference 2016
University of Amsterdam
“Sooo cute”: Microcelebrity and
Parenthood in Malaysia
Dr Julian Hopkins
Monash University Malaysia

2. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Microcelebrity
• ‘Micro’: smaller, niche audience
(Marwick 2013, Senft 2008)
• Celebrity: professional self-
branding/commodification (Marwick
2013, Senft 2012)
Malaysia/Singapore
• Managing perceived intimacy and
commodifying privacy (Abidin 2013,
2014)
• Lifestyle blogs – ‘extended
parasocial relations’ translating
brands and leveraging authenticity
(Hopkins & Thomas 2011, Hopkins
2016)
• “brands […] are also produced by
consumers, through the everyday
practices in which consumers use
branded goods to create social
relations and shared meanings and
affect” (Foster 2007: 717)
• Commoditisation <> Branding
• Labour – affective, emotional,
domestic (Carah 2014; Hardt 1999)
• Consumption work (Foster 2005)
• Actor-network theory: “economy of
qualities” and destabilising “voicy
consumers” (Callon 2001; Callon et
al. 2002)
Branding

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• Brands are relations
• Effectively creating those relations requires skill
• Social media expands opportunities for this skill to be
monetised
• Microcelebrities are good at this

4. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Research Questions
• How do microcelebrities represent and share their
experiences of parenting online?
• What motivations do microcelebrities have for sharing
parenting experiences online?
• Does being a microcelebrity influence parenting
choices?
• What ethical questions do microcelebrities face with
regard to online representations of their children, and
how are they resolved?

5. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Method
• PhD research 2007-2010 – the monetisation of personal blogging
– emergence of the lifestyle blog (Hopkins 2016)
• 2016 – online observation, textual analysis and interviews
– Criteria: English language blog, income from social media, ‘social media
native’, a parent and talks about his/her children
– 38 ‘About Me’ pages downloaded for emergent coding in NVivo
– Two months of selected microcelebrities’ online activities downloaded
– Ongoing observation and interviews
• Ethics
– Names, URLs and brand names have been changed
– Exact wording changed where requested

6. So you may be wondering how we finally got a nice canvas print in our bedroom, after
leaving the walls bare for so long?
Well Printposters were introduced to me and the peeps there suggested that for my
house I try a 3-photo collage instead of a 1-piece like many people do. So I thought of
my bedroom, and to make a story with the three photos!
I decided to use photos from our wedding, the maternity photoshoot, and the new-
born photos :)
In just a few days the canvas print arrived at my door in a big box,
together with a hook that you can stick on and also remove easily after
use. So the boss did the work, cos he’s better at that than me. Not that
much skill is needed for this though :P
But just to be sure it was in the middle, I stood back to check while he
tried it out. Hehe what a major project hor? Now you know why we didn’t
get a picture up before :’)
How do microcelebrities represent and share their
experiences of parenting online?

7. amanda Now that we have
our photos on the wall it makes a big
difference to how we feel. Seeing the
poster reminds us how far we’ve
come and how blessed we are.
Get 30% off @printposters orders by
following their account or by quoting
AMANDALOVE in the checkout at
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See more on the blog –
www.amanda.com (bio has link)
nasha_tan I like it!!!   
maggie234 That’s awesome
amanda
amanda
amanda Our story.
Customised canvas print from
www.printposters.com. @printposters
kongah Is the quality good? Hope
you like the posters
amanda @kongah Great! They are
awesome :)
rdbalipictures Wonderful!
traceychowisme Oooh lovely!
No formal disclosure
on Instagram

8. We now have new portraits at home! Check it out and find
out how you can have your own personalised canvas print
with Printposters, and get a 30% discount too. Just follow
Printposters on Facebook or quote AMANDALOVE in the
checkout at www.printposters.com.
We now have new portraits at home! Check it out and find
out how you can have your own personalised canvas print
with Printposters, and get a 30% discount too. Just follow
Printposters on Facebook or quote AMANDALOVE in the
checkout at www.printposters.com.
Amanda Chan shared Amanda Chan – amanda.com’s photo
www.amanda.com/2016/04/new-photos-on-the-wall
Amanda Chan – amanda.com’s photo

9. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Magdalene
• YouTube – April (6),
May (5). Mostly
family and daily
activities, one
makeup tutorial
• Dayre – almost daily
• Snapchat – daily
• Twitter – rarely
Blog Instagram Facebook
April May April May April May
Advertorial 2 2 11 6 13 5
Children 4 4 21 14 14 14
Events 1
Family 1 1 4 3 1 1
Personal 4 1 2 4 5 4
Parent Post 2 1 6 2
ootd 1
Consumer Post 1
Miscellaneous 1 1 1
Total 11 9 41 30 40 27
• Malaysian-Chinese, English mother tongue
• Married with two children: boy (3) and girl (1)
• Age: 32
• Undergraduate degree
• Home-maker/self-employed
Blogging since 2004
Instagram followers: 110,000
Twitter followers: 18,500
Facebook followers: 12,821
YouTube subscribers: 1,378
Dayre followers: 34,390

10. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Amanda
• Dayre – daily
• Snapchat – daily
• YouTube – rarely
• Twitter – rarely
• She was on a
sponsored holiday in
April – high number of
Events
Blog Instagram Facebook
April May April May April May
Advertorial 1 6 14 12 10 17
Children 1 1 8 4 8 9
Events 1 1 27 4 27 3
Family 1 1 2 1 4
Personal 1 10 8 6
Parent Post 1
Food 1 1 2
Consumer Post 4
Miscellaneous 1 1
Total 3 9 51 34 60 42
• Malaysian-Chinese, English mother tongue
• Married with one child: boy (6 months)
• Age: 27
• Undergraduate degree
• Self-employed
Blogging since 2008
Instagram followers: 15,000
Twitter followers: 2,344
Facebook page likes: 8,606
YouTube subscribers: 375
Dayre followers: 2,476

11. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Amanda on Instagram
• Instagram – younger and more
engaged audience
• Consistent aesthetics
• Representations of motherhood,
femininity, and family
• Consumption and display
• Caption is paid for

12. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Yvonne
• Facebook – an online
shop for clothes.
Business posts: April
(10), May (11)
• Has an active MLM
business
Blog 1 Blog 2 Blog 3
April May April May April May
Advertorial 1
Paid Link Post 2 3 1 1 1
Business 2 2 2 1
Children 3 4 1 2
Family 3 1 4 2
Parent Post 1
Personal 2 2
Food 4 2 3 3
Consumer Post 1 3
Health 3 3
Miscellaneous 1
Total 18 16 11 12 3 4
• Malaysian-Chinese, Chinese mother tongue
• Married with three girls: 13, 11 and 8
• Age: 41-45
• Diploma level
• Self-employed
Blogging since 2007
Instagram followers: 669
Facebook page likes: 6,515

13. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Wendy
• Her other social media
platform use is limited
to personal use
Blog
April May
Paid Link Post 2 1
Business 1
Children 1
Family 2
Personal 3
Food 2 2
Consumer Post 3
Miscellaneous 1
Total 8 10
• Malaysian-Chinese, Chinese mother
tongue
• Married with one child: girl (11 years)
• Age: 46
• Diploma
• Employed
Blogging since 2006
Pinterest followers: 207

14. Commodity Blog?
• Paid link
• Globalised supply
chain
– ‘content marketing’
So last weekend I was shopping and checking out some sales. While I was
browsing, I saw a lady standing opposite me who had the same top on as me!
Horror! She didn’t notice me so I quickly moved away and avoided her. But
because I wanted to keep shopping there I used my bag to cover my chest to
hide the top. It was a little embarrassing although a bit funny too. I bet if I had
done my shopping online at portland store Guitar Centers, I do not have to
worry about meeting someone with the same outfit again.
Has this ever happened to you before?
Wendy

15. www.sass.monash.edu.my
How do microcelebrities represent and share their
experiences of parenting online?
• Half or more content is advertorials or
commercially related
Multiple platforms
• Blogs are still used
• Instagram is important
• Facebook often replicates Instagram
and/or the blog
• Snapchat is becoming more popular
• YouTube is in the minority – but seen
as important
• Twitter is not popular
• Polymedia (Madianou and Miller 2013)
Dayre – Magdalene and Amanda
• A locally developed mobile
blogging app
• More meaningful
• Less commercialised

16. www.sass.monash.edu.my
What motivations do microcelebrities have for sharing
parenting experiences online?
Financial
• Ability to earn up and
above to the average
Malaysian salary (approx
RM 2,500)
• Substantial additional
income and goods for the
family
• Domestic, emotional and
affective labour is
monetised
Intrinsic
• Keeping memories
• Creative outlet
• Sharing information with
other parents
Branding and commodification is not
a sufficient explanation

17. www.sass.monash.edu.my
‘Baby Blogs’
What motivations do microcelebrities have for sharing
parenting experiences online?
My intent was to blog about my time
through my pregnancy, being a mother and
parent, hoping that it will be a good way for
her to find out about her childhood when
she is older and can read.
Motivation Identity

18. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Lifestyle Blogs (‘Pre-Baby’) ‘Baby Blogs’
What motivations do microcelebrities have for sharing
parenting experiences online?
My vision for the long-term (wow…) of my
blog is that I will eventually be able to look
back at all my posts when I’m older and
grey. This space will aid the future old and
forgetful woman remember all the
blessings, ups and downs, and milestones
of the life that God has sent to her. I
mean, me.
My intent was to blog about my time
through my pregnancy, being a mother and
parent, hoping that it will be a good way for
her to find out about her childhood when
she is older and can read.
Motivation Identity

19. Taylor is also highly regarded in the fields
of skin care, fashion, e-commerce, and
social. She has been invited on a few
occasions to collaborate with brands as a
model, ambassador and social media.
Taylor’s high sense of beauty and fashion
as well as her strong based of followers
have made her highly sought after on
social media.
Motivation
IdentityFinancial

20. I have even done a series of advertorials
for Nappies in Mother & Baby magazines.
Below are just a few of the articles which
featured mainly Nurul and Naini, and their
growth from little newborns to 1 year old
toddlers! It was a lot of fun doing these.
Thank you Nappies once again for this
great opportunity which serves as lovely
keepsakes for me and my twins.
Taylor is also highly regarded in the fields
of skin care, fashion, e-commerce, and
social. She has been invited on a few
occasions to collaborate with brands as a
model, ambassador and social media.
Taylor’s high sense of beauty and fashion
as well as her strong based of followers
have made her highly sought after on
social media.Motivation
Identity
Financial
Authenticity

21. www.sass.monash.edu.my
The truth, the partial truth, and nothing but that which
is true
• Authenticity is asserted but there is no claim to purity
• Negative content is avoided
• Paid advertorials and content is the norm
• The audience have different expectations and interests

22. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Does being a microcelebrity influence parenting
choices?
• Possibly in financial ways
• Offline influences probably outweigh online
• Concern with judging
– e.g. Not sharing breastfeeding images because she might get
negative comments
– The need to negotiate ideals of motherhood and femininity

23. What ethical
questions do
microcelebrities
face with regard to
online
representations of
their children, and
how are they
resolved?
magdalene I’d like to teach the world
to swing in perfect harmony. ♥
#battlerboy #michelleong #jimong
#heyseanmichellebelle
19th.king What’s battler’s full name?
tupanga Miss timid michelle.. soooo
cute
sailormoon @19th.king Sean
Maximus Ong! They call him battler
because he was born premature due
to pre-eclampsia but he managed to
pull through and is growing well :)
mickee_lim @susantonggh look on
battler
leenapreena Peni @peterabulio
qwertyjpelle Nice pun @magdalene!
Haha
19th.king @sailormoon Oh oh ic ix
magdalene

24. www.sass.monash.edu.my
What ethical questions do microcelebrities face with
regard to online representations of their children, and
how are they resolved?
• Only Wendy hides her child’s face – because the girl is older and
worries about her friends at school, etc.
• Yvonne explained that it was getting more difficult as they got
older, so she had to catch them at the right moment
• Magdalene and Amanda both argued that it was an inevitable part
of life and as such it was not an issue
• They would advise their children to practice basic online safety
measures such as not putting their address online, not trusting
strangers, etc.
• Abidin (2015) “micro-microcelebrities”: unclear legal position and
parents decide.

25. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Relational Brands: the confluence of Commercial,
Identity, and Relations
• Social media enables identity performance and the tracking of
interactive development of interpersonal and social relations
– stimulates commercial interest
• If brands are used in social and interpersonal relations, how
are microcelebrities impacting their followers’ lives?
• Direct interaction seems to be lessening – i.e. less comments
• Phatic and algorithmically quantifiable interactions
increased?
• Importance of Likes, Followers, performance
Relations
IdentityCommercial
Brand

26. Microcelebrity
& Parenthood
Brand/Commodity
Blog
Baby Blog/
Lifestyle Blog
DiversityLabour
Domestic
Affective Age
Language
Gender
Class
Ethnicity
Emotional
Global
Consumption
Local

27. www.sass.monash.edu.my
Microcelebrity
• A label for a practice we don’t fully understand yet?
• When do they stop being micro?
• What is a celebrity?

28. www.sass.monash.edu.my
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