Tobias Raun

Video blogging as a vehicle of transformation: Exploring the intersection between trans identity and information technology

This article explores the intersection between trans identity and technology as it manifests in trans video blogs on YouTube. Taking my point of departure in eight case-study vloggers I analyse the different ways that the vlog can work as a medium of transformation. The vlogs engender the ongoing process of ‘becoming’ man/woman/trans by inscribing the vlogger in multiple and intersubjective reflections, being visible to themselves and others as an image. I argue that the co-production of trans identity in/through the vlog takes the shape of a mirror, a digital diary or autobiography, and as artistic explorations and communications. The article demonstrates how vloggers take advantage of the multimodality of the medium to tell stories of trans that can animate and motivate others to dare to be visible or claim an identity as trans.

DIY Therapy: Exploring Affective Self-Representations in Trans Video Blogs on YouTube

This is a statement from Simon, put forth in a video blog (vlog), recorded in his home. We can barely see Simon because of the low-level light as he speaks straight into the camera with a rather timid look on his face. In this quote Simon suggests that the camera is an integrated part of his self — documenting his thoughts and inner dialogue. But the camera also serves as an external interlocutor, a companion you can trust and tell everything. The camera becomes ‘the eye that sees and the ear that listens powerfully but without judgement and reprisal’ (Renov quoted in Matthews, 2007: 443). Here, the vlog seems to work as a therapeutic tool that enables Simon to locate and release powerful emotional energy in ways that are not possible off-screen.