Papers by Arthur D . Soto-Vásquez
Journalism and Media
Dramaturgical analysis has been applied by scholars to social media influencers, but how props an... more Dramaturgical analysis has been applied by scholars to social media influencers, but how props and settings are used to signal identity is understudied. This study uses a series of in-depth interviews with Latina influencers who live and work in a mid-size city on the U.S./Mexico border and an analysis of corresponding posts to explore how props and settings can be used to signal gender and race while also communicating authenticity. The findings show that influencers have to carefully and strategically navigate the use of props and settings not to appear fake and contrived. They blend the use of frontstage props with calibrated sharing of backstage settings to approximate an authentic online performance of their branded identity that is approachable but also monetizable. When performing their gender, the influencers adopt a having-it-all performance, balancing family, beauty, career success, and health while using backstage settings to create connection. Finally, Latina influencers...
Background: Misinformation is known to affect norms, attitudes, and intentions to engage with hea... more Background: Misinformation is known to affect norms, attitudes, and intentions to engage with healthy behaviors. Evidence strongly supports that Spanish speakers may be particularly affected by misinformation and its outcomes, yet current insights into the scope and scale of misinformation is primarily ethnocentric, with greater emphasis on English-language design. Objective: This study applies Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze a corpus of English/Spanish tweets about vaccines, broadly defined, for misinformation indicators. Methods: We analyzed N English = 247,140 and N Spanish = 104,445 tweets using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic models with Coherence score calculation (model fit) with a Mallet adjustment (topic optimization). We used informal coding to name computer-identified topics and compare misinformation scope and scale between languages. Results: The LDA analysis yielded a 12-topic solution for English and a 14-topic solution for Spanish. Both corpora contained overlapping misinformation, including uncertainty of research guiding policy recommendations or standing in support of antivax movements. However, the Spanish data were positioned in a global context, where misinformation was directed at government equity and disparate vaccine distribution. Conclusion: Our findings support that misinformation is a global issue. However, misinformation may vary depending on culture and language. As such, tailored strategies to combat misinformation in digital planes are strongly encouraged.
The surprising results of the 2020 election showed swings toward the Republican party among U.S. ... more The surprising results of the 2020 election showed swings toward the Republican party among U.S. Latinos. Specifically, there were unexpected vote shifts in South Texas and South Florida. In addition to heavy media coverage of this voting shift, there is a slowly forming academic approach to studying the phenomenon of Latinos for Trump. In this chapter, three predominant schools of thought that explain this shift are reviewed and weighed. First, we address the historical literature that explains this shift should not be surprising given efforts to mobilize Latino Republicans by the party and allied groups. This sets the stage for Trump to appeal to specific groups within the larger umbrella of the pan-ethnic label. The second approach places the blame on a targeted and mostly unopposed disinformation campaign. Here the focus is on culturally relevant Spanish language disinformation shared and spread on WhatsApp. Finally, the last school of thought gives credit to the unique candidacy, persona, and populist approach of Trump in appealing to segments of the Latino voting base, showing where and how his appeal derives from. We also relate this schools of thought against each other and to narratives that have shaped Latino voting since the twenty-first century.
Consumption Markets & Culture, 2022
The global COVID-19 pandemic was the latest instance of a crisis of pleasure. Crises of pleasure ... more The global COVID-19 pandemic was the latest instance of a crisis of pleasure. Crises of pleasure are periodic eruptions of discontent when consumption is disrupted by external forces. In this case, the pandemic also disrupted expressions of identity on social media, where identity is made legible through conspicuous consumption on social media in the early 2020s. Drawing from six qualitative focus group interviews conducted in the summer of 2020, we analyze how social media users interpret the accounts they follow posting content that seemingly violates social distancing guidelines during COVID-19. We find that consumption during the pandemic was highly contested and surveilled, with participants describing the disciplining power of social media and their use of news and public health guidelines to inform their identities. Both trends illustrate how surveilled modes of consumption characterize the post-lockdown consumption reality, which is polarized and partisan leading towards hedonist and puritanical models.
Journalism and Media, 2020
Dramaturgical analysis has been applied by scholars to social media influencers, but how props an... more Dramaturgical analysis has been applied by scholars to social media influencers, but how props and settings are used to signal identity is understudied. This study uses a series of in-depth interviews with Latina influencers who live and work in a mid-size city on the U.S./Mexico border and an analysis of corresponding posts to explore how props and settings can be used to signal gender and race while also communicating authenticity. The findings show that influencers have to carefully and strategically navigate the use of props and settings not to appear fake and contrived. They blend the use of frontstage props with calibrated sharing of backstage settings to approximate an authentic online performance of their branded identity that is approachable but also monetizable. When performing their gender, the influencers adopt a having-it-all performance, balancing family, beauty, career success, and health while using backstage settings to create connection. Finally, Latina influencers on the border portray it as a setting that differs from its mainstream representation as a place to avoid. They also strategically deploy Latina identity to market themselves and localize national trends.
Online Media and Global Communication
Purpose Due to existing Disney fandom and the increased popularity of online travel documentation... more Purpose Due to existing Disney fandom and the increased popularity of online travel documentation, there is an opportunity to study brand internationalization, online video culture, and fandom. There are questions of whether video based social media allows for more humane representations of cultural others and to what extent the topic of content shapes representation. Methodology In this study, an inductive qualitative method is applied to top YouTube travel videos and TikToks to analyze how non-Chinese visitors to Shanghai Disneyland represent their experience and mediate cultural difference. Findings Videos often exhibit the technologically advanced attractions of the park, inspiring awe and envy in comments. A minority of videos discuss the behavior of Chinese guests and mark them as non-normative and different from expected Disney guest behavior. However, there are differences in representation on YouTube and TikTok from sub-genres, comments, gazes, and closeness to brand. Pract...
Online Media and Global Communication, 2022
Purpose: Due to existing Disney fandom and the increased popularity of online travel documentatio... more Purpose: Due to existing Disney fandom and the increased popularity of online travel documentation, there is an opportunity to study brand internationalization, online video culture, and fandom. There are questions of whether video based social media allows for more humane representations of cultural others and to what extent the topic of content shapes representation. Methodology: In this study, an inductive qualitative method is applied to top YouTube travel videos and TikToks to analyze how non-Chinese visitors to Shanghai Disneyland represent their experience and mediate cultural difference. Findings: Videos often exhibit the technologically advanced attractions of the park, inspiring awe and envy in comments. A minority of videos discuss the behavior of Chinese guests and mark them as non-normative and different from expected Disney guest behavior. However, there are differences in representation on YouTube and TikTok from sub-genres, comments, gazes, and closeness to brand. Practical Implications: Brands entering the Chinese market must also be aware of how their accommodations appear to loyal non-Chinese online fandoms. This study shows how reoccurring tropes of travel writing influence online travel media, which also shapes perceptions of China, and is reinforced by platform incentives for controversy and sampling diverse cultures. Social Implications: Technological awe and critiques of guest behavior are structured by Disney fan culture, which includes a possessive protectiveness over the brand due to its close association with identity. These elements play out slightly
Cultural Studies <=> Critical Methodologies, 2022
The January 6 Capitol insurrection highlighted the central role conspiracy and disinformation pla... more The January 6 Capitol insurrection highlighted the central role conspiracy and disinformation play in motivating political violence among the right wing in the United States. In this paper, the spread of Spanish-language disinformation by right wing media in the United States is explored from a cultural and intersectional perspective. We analyze the mythological and dramatic narratives in content from a Spanish-language conspiracy website posted between the 2020 election and the Capitol insurrection. These narratives are explored through the lens of the deep story, which is the epistemological basis of U.S. conservatism. We argue that the deep story and right-wing conspiracy culture are highly flexible and can appeal to certain non-white audiences online. We then interrogate right-wing U.S. Latina/o/x political identity through an intersectional analysis of the conspiracy culture exemplified in the disinformation from the website.
Social Media + Society, 2022
This article examines the representation of the migrant caravan on Instagram showing how an aesth... more This article examines the representation of the migrant caravan on Instagram showing how an aesthetics of otherness has prevailed in this representation. Aesthetics of otherness is the result of the interaction between platform users' selections and platform affordances that creates a gap between the marginalized other and the user. Based on a qualitative content analysis of posts with the hashtags #caravanamigrante and #migrantcaravan, this research reveals that the two hashtags form parallel, although not alike, communicative spaces where migrant caravan representation is mostly mediated by professionals and organizations interested in promoting their own work and not by the migrants themselves. Despite this trend, users posting with #caravanamigrante were less likely to hijack the intent of the public, more likely to reference reasons for migration, and overall less likely to employ the aesthetics of otherness, which point to the possibility of circumventing the role of the platform in shaping the representation of marginalized people and social justice movements.
Howard Journal of Communicatons, 2022
This study assesses how the “not a monolith” narrative in U.S. journalism after the 2020 presiden... more This study assesses how the “not a monolith” narrative in U.S. journalism after the 2020 presidential election serves to further shape the Latina/o/x electorate into a politically marketable category. This study employs a qualitative content analysis of 159 media texts produced in the first two weeks after Election Day. We find that the contradictions inherent in the construction of Latina/o/x voters—such as class, racial, and regional differences—are reconciled through revising old media narratives, like the “sleeping giant” metaphor, and the inclusion of Latina/o/x voters into other metaphors, like the “blue wall.” In addition, a host of rationales drawn from racialized aspects of Latina/o/x history and culture, like religion, machismo, and anti-socialism, are used to explain voting behavior. Finally, new narratives emerged around Latina/o/x voters not being owned by the Democratic Party, which we view as disciplining.
Howard Journal of Communications
This study shows how research on misinformation correction on social media must be contextualized... more This study shows how research on misinformation correction on social media must be contextualized by an understanding of race, class, and local culture. Using an inductive analysis of focus group data, we find that correction of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic on the US/Mexico border is multilayered between the family and community institutions. It is also structured by information poverty, local Latinx border practices, and cultural constructs such as chisme and a culture of skepticism. Trust in expert correction is mediated by medical paternalism and distrust of city leadership. Local leaders in the Latinx border community are wary of communicating with the general public and hesitant to correct misinformation in online mediums. Nevertheless, correction of misinformation does occur in the intimate networks of family and friends in online group chats, discussions around the television, and interpersonal communication.
Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, 2022
The question of how to address the spread of misinformation in the digital era has become an inte... more The question of how to address the spread of misinformation in the digital era has become an international issue. Drawing from the field of communication, this article discusses three perspectives that could inform the debate and potential policy responses. First, the article covers the concept of the public sphere and how it applies to information flow. Second, it covers how responses that focus on media literacy development often fall short. Lastly, it provides an alternative account of misinformation as a process in which cultural groups are demarcated. All three perspectives are contextualized through contemporary issues like “fake news,” the 2020 presidential election, communication during the presidency of Donald Trump, COVID-19, the conspiracy theory QAnon, and the Capitol insurrection of January 6, 2021, along with a historical review of misinformation culture in the United States.
Communication Studies, 2021
In this article I use an auto-ethnographic account of personal Fitbit use to develop the interrel... more In this article I use an auto-ethnographic account of personal Fitbit use to develop the interrelated concepts of body narratives and fit subjectivities. Body narratives are data-informed personal rationalizations we make about the state of our bodies. For example, we can use personal Fitbit data to form a post hoc rationalization to explain aches and pains from being sedentary the day before. The same goes for increased energy from a longer-than-average workout or a negative mood following a low sleep score. Body narratives are further enhanced through gamification, which provides feedback loops for narrative construction, and encouraged through technological nudges built into the device and application. Fit subjectivities emerge as identities that conform to the disciplinary technologies and culture of late capitalism and the neoliberal focus on individualized care for one’s body. Fit subjectivities encourage people to view their body as a portfolio of data points, a digital other, to optimize in the marketplace. Fit subjectivities are also communicated through the new media ecology of late capitalism, such as with the hashtag #fitspo on Instagram, wellness YouTube channels, and corporate wellness programs. Both disciplinary concepts must also be racially contextualized, since ideal bodies often conform to white standards. Ultimately, the ability to qualitatively use the quantitative data of Fitbit and its app is explained as an extension of the project of knowing and disciplining oneself and the digital other. Negotiating this process will characterize the further integration of technology into our bodies under the current regime of late techno-capitalism.
Western Journal of Communication, 2021
Disneyland is one of the most Instagrammed locations and its mediation reveals cultural changes r... more Disneyland is one of the most Instagrammed locations and its mediation reveals cultural changes related to place and identity. Using a grounded approach to analyze the posts of influential Instagram users who tag their posts at Disneyland, this study shows how place is mediated through new logics developed on social media. Instagram users favor fantasy elements of Disneyland, such as escapism and childhood nostalgia, over other historical elements of the parks and its midcentury U.S. American values. Disney has responded by synergistically integrating new media logics, as seen in the creation of vibrantly colored, limited-run food and merchandise. The intersection between Disneyland and Instagram shows how place is being transformed for the lenses of consumers seeking experiences, food, and merchandise in late capitalism.
Communicating Across Differences: Negotiating Identity, Privilege, and Marginalization in the 21st Century, 2021
Howard Journal of Communications, 2020
This study shows how research on misinformation correction on social media must be contextualized... more This study shows how research on misinformation correction on social media must be contextualized by an understanding of race, class, and local culture. Using an inductive analysis of focus group data, we find that correction of misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S./Mexico border is multilayered between the family and community institutions. It is also structured by information poverty, local Latinx border practices, and cultural constructs such as chisme and a culture of skepticism. Trust in expert correction is mediated by medical paternalism and distrust of city leadership. Local leaders in the Latinx border community are wary of communicating with the general public and hesitant to correct misinformation in online mediums. Nevertheless, correction of misinformation does occur in the intimate networks of family and friends in online group chats, discussions around the television, and interpersonal communication.
Howard Journal of Communications, 2018
Latino political integration into the American body politic is a theme that has entered the publi... more Latino political integration into the American body politic is a theme that has entered the public agenda recently. Political leaders, researchers, activists, and media organizations have devoted tremendous energy to understanding the U.S. Latino demographic and its potential political influence. However, there are also tremendous racial and socioeconomic differences, along with varying political and citizenship histories, in American Latino communities. But instead of considering all of these variables, Spanish language ability and other cultural similarities have been treated as signifiers of community homogeneity. This article uses a critical framework to analyze how official political communication from American presidents has worked to create a purposeful Latino abstraction for political efficiency. It also analyzes public papers and speeches from the administrations of John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama to explore how presidents have constructed Latino pan-ethnicism through their rhetoric. To investigate this question, a qualitative content analysis of presidential rhetoric directed toward or about U.S. Latinos is conducted through a theoretical framework of Latino rhetorical styles. The data indicate that (a) Latino pan-ethnicism emerged in presidential rhetoric in the early 1990s, (b) Democratic presidents have deployed pan-ethnic rhetoric more consistently than their Republican counterparts, and (c) Latino pan-ethnicism is the dominant discourse in presidential politics today. This article concludes with a call for further investigation into the political construction of a Latino pan-ethnic identity, and it also contributes to the question of Latino inclusion in the United States by complicating traditional notions of assimilation and political acculturation.
The Journal of Communication and Media Studies, 2017
Following the Snowden revelations of pervasive surveillance by the National Security Agency, Pew ... more Following the Snowden revelations of pervasive surveillance by the National Security Agency, Pew has found that forty-six percent of Americans still support the mass collection of data. While there was significant outrage after the revelations, the controversy has fallen out of the public eye and the surveillance state remains intact. In addition, commercial and political data collection by companies and campaigns also presents threats to privacy. In 2010, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook declared, “The age of privacy is over,” and other technology leaders have told the public to “get over it” when it comes to privacy concerns. The digital realm, where almost all commercial, political, and personal activity occurs, presents new ways to understand and conceptualize online activity. In this article, I argue that the traditional activities understood to be the domain of online privacy—sharing social media updates, commercial transactions, news gathering—can be reframed through the economic conceptions of labor and currency. This article uses the 2016 presidential election campaigns to analyze how online political privacy can be understood in a new context. As a result, this work reframes the debate over online privacy from a research perspective and also from a public-facing perspective.
Books by Arthur D . Soto-Vásquez
Mobilizing the U.S. Latinx Vote: Media, Identity, and Politics, 2020
This chapter considers how Latinxs in the United States navigate online spaces that intersect wit... more This chapter considers how Latinxs in the United States navigate online spaces that intersect with established media and political institutions. Within these networks Latinx identity is contested, reframed, updated, and commodified. It is not the case that identity homogenization is a simple, unidirectional process where elite actors and institutions shape Latinxs into perfect consumers of U.S. politics and ideology. Instead, Latinx subjects simultaneously receive essentialized narratives about themselves and selectively perform aspects in advantageous moments. Online, hybrid media networks enable the use of culture capital for Latinxs in ways not previously possible. These moments of performance vary by class and institutional circumstances, such as middle-class Latinas preforming quince culture online or Latinas in Congress giving intersectional context to policy issues. In summary, these works point to a post-modern system of racial performance. In this system we preform our identity as Latinxs through media consumption and personalized new media. Culture then becomes a form of immaterial capital, or as I have said before – a commodity.
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Papers by Arthur D . Soto-Vásquez
Books by Arthur D . Soto-Vásquez