Exploring language teachers’ emotional vulnerability in the era of self-branding on social media

While teachers’ use of Instagram to create, commodify, and possibly profit from online presence is increasingly popular, research on teachers’ social media use is scarce (Curran & Jenks, 2022; Davis & Yi, 2022). Even scarcer is research on teachers’ emotional experiences using social media (Chao, 2022). Accordingly, this study aimed to explore 15 Iranian teachers’ emotional vulnerability and identity negotiation in relation to self-branding on social media. It employed narrative frames and semi-structured interviews to understand their views of and experiences in self-branding on Instagram, the most popular social media platform in Iran. Our data analysis revealed that these teachers experienced emotional vulnerability to a new (gig) economy that operates on increasing
visibility by creating and sharing attractive and entertaining content. Their constant emotional struggles in competing against those who seemingly possess superior skills and resources for self-branding and their resistance to the “rules of the game” for gaining quick popularity led to their identity negotiation. These teachers distanced themselves from those who enjoyed popularity through “fake pages”, considering them unethical and unqualified teachers. By doing so, they
constructed their identity as authentic and true teachers obliged to protect their students from bogus online content and teachers. These findings highlight how the shifting teaching context, particularly gig economy and self-branding of language teachers in social media, has led to new identity negotiation and construction with theoretical and pedagogical implications.