The Final Push

Tomorrow I leave for districts, easily one of the most grueling tournament weekends of the the debate season, the chance for a school to rise up from the bottom and prove they're worthy of debating at the NDT, or a school who was a "sure thing" flopping; no one is safe at districts, anything can happen, and its certainly anyone's game to be won (and hopefully ours!)

This time of year always has a push to work harder, prodding and shoving debaters and coaches alike to give it their all, which means setting school aside for a few days, focusing your entire time for 5 straight days on debate, on what you need to say in each round and make it work for the judges you could/know you have. It's that exact push that is felt to an even HIGHER degree when it comes to the NDT and CEDA Nationals at the end of the season, when teams make it to the outrounds (double octofinals, octos, etc) where the pressure to perform, to win, to be the best that you can possibly be in the activity, can break you.

By now you're fully aware of my interest/intent to discuss the debate community and their identity management given technological developments and the incident on YouTube almost two years ago involving a CEDA outround in Wichita, KS that led to the firing of a debate coach, and a general attack against the community for what one university official believed was "eroding standards" of behavior by debaters and coaches alike. In this post I intend to clarify the direction of my research, by setting forth the trends that exist within the literature on the topics, and suggest the type of gaps in impression management research that this study would serve to fill. Using debate then as a model of a normally isolated activity/culture, we can see how the existence and proliferation of new technology such as YouTube has increased the impression management in these types of groups, in effect censoring the behavior/thoughts/ideas of the community for fear of the ramifications of thought by the larger society as a whole.


Defining Impression Management

The term "impression management" was coined by Erving Goffman (1959) to explain the process by which individuals manage how other people view their identity; that is it say, the ability for an individual to purposefully control the image projected of who they are in given situations- effectively laying forth a "claim" that "this is who I am." Goffman believed strongly in the words of William Shakespeare that all the world is a stage- his dramaturgical perspective established individuals as characters in their own lives. This view suggests that as characters, we have a variety of roles we play based on the context of the situation we find ourselves in: for example, we can have many roles we play in our lives at once: teacher, student, sister, daughter, coach. Those roles can conflict- who you are as a teacher can certainly defer from your position in a classroom as a student. This is where impression management comes into play; wherein we control who we are, step into those roles, play that character part in each situation, careful to keep them separated from each other and consistent with the view of "who we are" in those given moments.

Development of Online Media

The development and accessibility of both the Internet and a variety of digital video sharing sites (as well as cameras) has made the ability to tape and post footage of almost any event possible. Vlogs about dating and fashion advice to more socially oriented topics like the War in Afghanistan and misrepresentations of Irish culture sprinkle throughout YouTube, each vying for their own spot within this evolving cultural phenomenon. There is no question that online media has changed/effected the culture of our society; the impact is hotly debated as both positive and negative (Jenkins, 2008; Creeber & Royston, 2008; Trend, 2001) with a wider conclusion drawn that if nothing else, as de Zengotita (2005) puts it "we've been turned into method actors." Online media not only serves to monitor our every move in an almost 24/7 surveillance mentality (Redden, 2000) but it establishes a precedent of awareness of the camera that alters out behavior regardless of whether the camera is recording, will result in a video, or ever be seen by anyone but you. It's the moment the red blinking light comes out that a change occurs in the behavior of the individual the little glass dot is being directed at: a realization that that action occurs exists not only in the established reality of the moment, but could forever be replayed for not only that person to see, but anyone who came into possession of that video. This becomes the point of contention: the lasting nature of the digital material created within society changes a person's behavior to an extent, raising the question of the effects of new media on culture and society when the camera is turned on to a group that is typically not under surveillance.

Technologies Impact on Impression Management

While Goffman could not have predicted that this management could occur in an online environment; it has been a hot topic of research in the most recent years. In a digitally evolved world, impression management has become a constant site of struggle and uncertainty with Internet users navigating a vastly unknown territory. Increased transparency (Beal & Strauss, 2008; Solove, 2004; Solove, 2007) has taken its toll on impression management. Users are constantly questioning and altering their online persona; while research has been conducted in regards to impression management for social network sites such as Facebook (Zywica & Danowski, 2009; Martinez-Aleman & Wartman, 2008) there isn't a lot of research in regards to impression management in video sharing sites where a high number of the videos posted are personally created videos from a handheld camera or computer. The research on Facebook suggests that impression management hasn't changed all that much from the days of Goffman; participants still indicated that they changed/altered their character role on these sites as a way to meet the social standards set by society of what was considered acceptable and/or attractive.

The NDT/CEDA Debate Community and YouTube

NDT/CEDA debate co-existed with the growth of YouTube and proliferation of videos from tournaments peacefully until the Summer of 2007, when a video taken by coach who watched a debate round caught a post-round fight/discussion on tape that was posted to YouTube. The intensity of the fight gained national attention, leading to an investigation by the both universities in question, and ultimately the firing of the head coach for Fort Hays University, Bill Shanahan. Prior to this event, debate rounds were frequently posted to YouTube by schools as tools for preparation for future tournaments, education for new generations of debaters, and for entertainment sake when the round held particularly meaning/interest based on the content. The result of this video led to a removal of those videos, and rules at tournaments in addition to guidelines for specifics teams where debaters and debates could no longer to taped, and if they could, they couldn't be posted to any online forum. What remains on YouTube as far as NDT/CEDA debate concerns is slim. Footage from debate documentaries (Debate Team; CSTV NDT Championships 2004-2006; Resolved) in clips remain, in addition to less then a handful of videos from actual tournaments, and at least a third of those videos come from one university, Towson, a squad involved in the debate that led to the firing of Shanahan.

Debate Culture

Literature on the impact of debate on the competitor is expansive. This is due, no doubt, in large part to the increasing number of debaters who go on to work towards their Masters or PhD and use these opportunities within Communication Studies departments to study the activity and the production that occurs as a result. There are two camps functionally when it comes to the question of the quality of debate: one side is pro-policy making, suggesting that having an activity wherein the competitors role play as policy makers has a positive influence on the participants (Coverstone, 1995; Speice & Lyle, 2003; Dybvig & Iverson, 2002) and a camp that suggests the activity could stand to grow and change, that it supports a pro-government system that only serves to alienate and allude the larger discussion on the needs/wants of citizens (Spanos, 2004; Hicks & Green, 2001). Beyond this two broad sides of the activity however, discussion on the culture of the community and what debate constitutes is a separate question that is not frequently addressed. McDonald (2001) discussed the sacrifices and role of being a coach of NDT/CEDA debate reaching the conclusion that there is a fine line to be walked between maintaining a competitive and productive squad. In addition, there have a been few (less publicized) glances into the culture of the activity (Gilbert, 2008; Nugent, 2007) wherein past participants attempt to shed light on the changes/driving demand for success the activity produces in an individual, but neither speaks to the overwhelming nature/effect of debate as an entity.

Concluding Thoughts

As the literature and research stands at the moment, impression management in the digital realm has been studied only in the context of the change in behavior specifically to portray an online persona for YouTube (Chen, 2008), rather then changing every day behavior as a result of a fear that those moments could be taped/placed online (such as what has presumably happened with the debate community.) Meyrowitz (1985) explains this gap in understanding situationism as a result of new media, that this research seeks to fill. Meyrowitz explains the difficulty in dealing with new media in relation to individual development/management, summarizing the commonalities of media literature and situationism (a focus on the larger effect of the structure on an environment) and differences (medium theorists don’t address face-to-face interaction, situationalists ignore the existence of media) with a final call to action of a need for a framework that has a static definition and connection between these two areas of study as they converge in the digital age.

Research Goal

My intention with this research then is to follow the community through the remaining tournaments of the season (Districts, CEDA, and the NDT) in addition to the remainder of the footprints on YouTube in hopes to understand the role that impression management has played on the culture and character of the community as a direct result of the existence of digital video sharing sites. By doing so, there should be a sense of clarity in the role/effect of these sites on individual communities/cultures.