"Susie Bubble is a Sign of The Times" The embodiment of success in the Web 2.0 economy

• Published in: Feminist media studies Vol. 13; no. 2; pp. 245 - 267
• Main Author: Pham, Minh-Ha T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Taylor & Francis Group 01.05.2013; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Asia; Blogs; creative economy; digital self; Digital technology; entrepreneur of the self; Fashion; fashion blog; Journalists; Lau, Susanna; Neoliberalism; Racial attitudes; Signs; Software; Success; Susie Bubble; Women
• ISSN: 1468-0777; 1471-5902
• DOI: 10.1080/14680777.2012.678076

This essay takes as its point of critical departure the digital stardom of Susanna Lau, aka Susie Bubble, the most recognizable and respected fashion blogger in the world, in order to consider the historical formation of success in the postmillennial digital economy. By examining Lau as an embodied sign rather than an exceptional figure of success, I am concerned with the technical, cultural, and economic forces that give shape to hegemonic notions of success and the ideal subject it produces. More specifically, I hope to demonstrate the cultural frames that structure our ways of seeing and recognizing successful individuals in the post millennium by highlighting the gendered and racial construction of the ideal Web 2.0 subject. The aim of my discussion is to show that the discursive construction of Lau's success is reflective of emerging global patterns born out of the rising significance of Asians and young women (especially young Asian women) as consumers and producers in the digital economy.