About the Author

Ümit Kennedy

E-Mail: umit.kennedy@gmail.com

Dr Ümit Kennedy is a digital ethnographer and social media researcher interested in identities, narratives and communities online. Her research explores the convergence of the self with networked digital media, as well as the methods and ethics of investigating digital lives and cultures. Ümit’s research areas include genres of vlogging, influencer culture, automedia, and virtual and auto-ethnography. She is a member of the Life Narrative Lab and a researcher with the Young and Resilient Research Centre in the Institute of Culture and Society at Western Sydney University.

Contributions by Author: Ümit Kennedy

Issue 18
homeless
tiktok
vlog
diary online
self-presentation
youtube
,

(Re-)framing the Homeless Experience

Exploring Homeless Lives and Identities on TikTok and YouTube

Despite growing rates of homelessness throughout the world, the phenomenon continues to be highly stigmatized, and the individuals affected, dehumanized. Homeless people are depicted as lamentable, dirty, lazy, undeserving, and a threat to society. They exist as “shadowy” figures on the outskirts of society, unwelcome and undesirable in public space…