Date of Award

8-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Ellis, David

Area of Concentration

Political Science

Abstract

This study examines how identity is performed and stabilized within digital platform environments, where visibility becomes central to how the self is recognized and sustained. Drawing on a framework that treats identity as relational, performative, and shaped by algorithmic systems of attention, the study approaches digital selfhood not as a fixed expression of belief, but as an ongoing performance shaped by recognition, engagement, and repetition. Using a comparative case analysis of six creator archetypes across competing ideological orientations and gendered pairings, the study analyzes patterns of self-presentation, audience response, and engagement on YouTube. Through cross-case comparison, the findings show that projected identity stabilizes through recognizable and repeatable forms of performance even as audience responses vary. The study argues that platform environments privilege clarity, affective intensity, and oppositional distinction as durable strategies of visibility, suggesting that political polarization reflects not only ideological disagreement, but also the structural dynamics of visibility-driven interaction within digital content economies.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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