Virtual Micronesia
Performance and Participation in a Pacific Facebook Community
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.v17i1.28841Keywords:
Performance, participation, Micronesia, Social Media, FacebookAbstract
This article examines the 'Stars of Micronesia' Facebook community and popular performance contest that ran continuously from August to November 2013. Examining its music and the participatory culture made available through social media, this study explores the role of online performances in negotiating conventional Pacific boundaries and in forging cultural networks in online musical environments. The case of the SOM demonstrates that participants have drawn largely on global musical practices as a means of creating an inclusive community that crosses cultural and national boundaries. Examining online performances and musical engagement on the site I contend that Islanders from Micronesia may be forging identities through music and social media that challenge conventional representations of this Pacific region and its people.
References
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Diettrich, Brian, Jane Freeman Moulin and Michael Webb. 2011. Music in Pacific Island Cultures: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
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—1995. Strangers in their Own Land: A Century of Colonial Rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
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Lincoln, Siân, and Brady Robarts. 2014. ‘10 Years of Facebook’. New Media & Society 16/7: 1047–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444814543994
Marshall, Mac. 2004. Namoluk beyond the Reef: The Transformation of a Micronesian Community. Cambridge, MA: Westview Press Books.
Miller, Daniel. 2011. Tales from Facebook. London: Polity Press.
Mjøs Ole, J. 2012. Music, Social Media and Global Mobility: MySpace, Facebook, YouTube. New York: Routledge.
Oceania TV News. 2013. ‘Dozens Sings their Hearts out for the First Micronesia’s Got Talent’. http://www.oceaniatv.net/2013/08/22/dozens-sings-their-hearts-out-for-the-first-micronesias-got-talent-video/ (accessed February 1, 2015).
Peter, Joakim. 2000. ‘Chuukese Travelers in Our Postcolonial Horizon’. Asia Pacific Viewpoint 41/3: 253–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8373.00121
Petersen, Glenn. 2009. Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, and Political Organization. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
Radio Australia. 2013. ‘Great Response to Facebook Talent Quest for Micronesians’. http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/great-response-to-facebook-talent-quest-for-micronesians/1182273 (accessed February 1, 2015).
Rainbird, Paul. 2003. ‘Taking the Tapu: Defining Micronesia by Absence’. Journal of Pacific History 38/2: 237–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0022334032000120558
Ruetinag, Janiz. 2013. ‘Micronesia’s Got Talent Hits Facebook’. Palau Wave Radio. http://palauwaveradio.com/?p=1650 (accessed February 1, 2015).
Stars of Micronesia. 2013. https://www.facebook.com/micronesiagottalent (accessed February 1, 2014).
Taylor, Astra. 2014. The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age. New York: Metropolitan Books.
Webb, Michael, and Camellia Webb-Gannon. 2016. ‘Musical Melanesianism: Imagining and Expressing Regional Identity and Solidarity in Popular Song and Video’. The Contemporary Pacific 28/1: 59–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/cp.2016.0015
Wilson, Robert E., Samuel D. Gosling and Lindsay T. Graham. 2012. ‘A Review of Facebook Research in the Social Sciences’. Perspectives on Psychological Science 7/3: 203–220. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1745691612442904
Zwaan, Koos, and Joost de Bruin. 2012. Adapting Idols: Authenticity, Identity and Performance in a Global Television Format. Surrey: Ashgate.
Asang, Isebong. 2000. ‘Remaking Footprints: Palauan Migrants in Hawaii’. The Contemporary Pacific 11/2: 371–84. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/cp.2000.0040
Bautista, Lola Q. 2010. Steadfast Movement around Micronesia: Satowan Enlargements beyond Migration. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
Blair, Chad. 2015. ‘Micronesian Immigration, an “Important Civil Rights Issue” Facing Hawaii’. Honolulu Civil Beat. http://www.civilbeat.com/2015/08/micronesian-immigration-an-important-civil-rights-issue-facing-hawaii/ (accessed September 1, 2015).
Bosch, Tanja E. 2009. ‘Using Online Social Networking for Teaching and Learning: Facebook Use at the University of Cape Town’. Communication: South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research 35/2: 185–200. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02500160903250648
Caers, Ralf, Tim De Feyter, Marijke De Couck, Talia Stough, Claudia Vigna and Cind Du Bois. 2013. ‘Facebook: A Literature Review’. New Media & Society 15/6: 982–1002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444813488061
Diettrich, Brian. 2007. ‘Across All Micronesia and Beyond: Innovation and Connections in Chuukese Popular Music and Contemporary Recordings’. The World of Music 49/1: 65–81.
Diettrich, Brian, Jane Freeman Moulin and Michael Webb. 2011. Music in Pacific Island Cultures: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
Forte, Maximilian C., ed. 2010. Indigenous Cosmopolitans: Transnational and Transcultural Indigeneity in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Peter Lang.
Hanlon, David. 1989. ‘Micronesia: Writing and Rewriting the Histories of a Nonentity’. Pacific Studies 12/2: 1–21.
—2009. ‘The “Sea of Little Islands”: Examining Micronesia’s Place in “Our Sea of Islands”’. The Contemporary Pacific 21/1: 91–110. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/cp.0.0042
Hess, Jim, Karen L. Nero and Michael L. Burton. 2001. ‘Creating Options: Forming a Marshallese Community in Orange County, California’. The Contemporary Pacific 13/1: 89–121. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/cp.2001.0012
Hezel, Francis X. 1983. The First Taint of Civilization: A History of the Caroline and Marshall Islands in Pre-Colonial Days, 1521–1885. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
—1995. Strangers in their Own Land: A Century of Colonial Rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
—2013. Micronesians on the Move: Eastward and Upward Bound. Honolulu: East-West Center.
Jaynes, Bill. 2013. ‘Simple but Brilliant Idea Showcases Micronesian Musical Talent’. Kaselehlie Press, 26 August. http://lists.spc.int/pipermail/culturetalk/2013-August/003422.html (accessed February 1, 2015).
Jenkins, Henry. 2009. Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st Century. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Jenkins, Henry, Sam Ford and Joshua Green. 2013. Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture. New York: New York University Press.
Kabutaulaka, Tarcisius. 2015. ‘Re-Presenting Melanesia: Ignoble Savages and Melanesian Alter-Natives’. The Contemporary Pacific 27/1: 110–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/cp.2015.0027
Kihleng, Emelihter. 2005. ‘The Micronesian Question’. Bamboo Ridge: Journal of Hawai‘i Literature and Arts 87: 149–54.
Kiste, Robert C., and Mac Marshall, eds. 1999. American Anthropology in Micronesia: An Assessment. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
Kobayashi, Tomoki. 2015. ‘Discrimination in the “Aloha” State’. Ka Leo (The Voice). http://www.kaleo.org/opinion/discrimination-in-the-aloha-state/article_6d5a6c24-5a8e-11e5-8ee5-67a20157036c.html (accessed September 16, 2015).
Komito, Lee. 2011. ‘Social Media and Migration: Virtual Community 2.0’. Journal of the Association for Information Society and Culture 62: 1075–1086. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/asi.21517
Komito, Lee, and Jessica Bates. 2009. ‘Virtually Local: Social Media and Community among Polish Nationals in Dublin’. Aslib Proceedings 61/3: 232–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/00012530910959790
Kumar, Neha. 2014. ‘Facebook for Self-Empowerment? A Study of Facebook Adoption in Urban India’. New Media & Society 16/7: 1122–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444814543999
Lee, Newton. 2013. Facebook Nation: Total Information Awareness. Dordrecht: Springer. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5308-6
Leila, Karimi, and Rouhollah Khodabandelou. 2013. ‘Perspectives of Iranian University Students about Academic Use of Social Networking Sites: A Study of Facebook’. International Journal of Academic Research in Progressive Education and Development 2/3: 113–23.
Letman, Jon. 2013. ‘Micronesians in Hawaii Face Uncertain Future’. Aljazeera News. http://www.aljazeera.com/humanrights/2013/10/micronesians-hawaii-face-uncertain-future-201310191535637288.html (accessed February 1, 2015).
Lincoln, Siân, and Brady Robarts. 2014. ‘10 Years of Facebook’. New Media & Society 16/7: 1047–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444814543994
Marshall, Mac. 2004. Namoluk beyond the Reef: The Transformation of a Micronesian Community. Cambridge, MA: Westview Press Books.
Miller, Daniel. 2011. Tales from Facebook. London: Polity Press.
Mjøs Ole, J. 2012. Music, Social Media and Global Mobility: MySpace, Facebook, YouTube. New York: Routledge.
Oceania TV News. 2013. ‘Dozens Sings their Hearts out for the First Micronesia’s Got Talent’. http://www.oceaniatv.net/2013/08/22/dozens-sings-their-hearts-out-for-the-first-micronesias-got-talent-video/ (accessed February 1, 2015).
Peter, Joakim. 2000. ‘Chuukese Travelers in Our Postcolonial Horizon’. Asia Pacific Viewpoint 41/3: 253–67. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1467-8373.00121
Petersen, Glenn. 2009. Traditional Micronesian Societies: Adaptation, Integration, and Political Organization. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press.
Radio Australia. 2013. ‘Great Response to Facebook Talent Quest for Micronesians’. http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/program/pacific-beat/great-response-to-facebook-talent-quest-for-micronesians/1182273 (accessed February 1, 2015).
Rainbird, Paul. 2003. ‘Taking the Tapu: Defining Micronesia by Absence’. Journal of Pacific History 38/2: 237–50. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0022334032000120558
Ruetinag, Janiz. 2013. ‘Micronesia’s Got Talent Hits Facebook’. Palau Wave Radio. http://palauwaveradio.com/?p=1650 (accessed February 1, 2015).
Stars of Micronesia. 2013. https://www.facebook.com/micronesiagottalent (accessed February 1, 2014).
Taylor, Astra. 2014. The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age. New York: Metropolitan Books.
Webb, Michael, and Camellia Webb-Gannon. 2016. ‘Musical Melanesianism: Imagining and Expressing Regional Identity and Solidarity in Popular Song and Video’. The Contemporary Pacific 28/1: 59–95. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/cp.2016.0015
Wilson, Robert E., Samuel D. Gosling and Lindsay T. Graham. 2012. ‘A Review of Facebook Research in the Social Sciences’. Perspectives on Psychological Science 7/3: 203–220. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1745691612442904
Zwaan, Koos, and Joost de Bruin. 2012. Adapting Idols: Authenticity, Identity and Performance in a Global Television Format. Surrey: Ashgate.
Published
2016-06-06
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Diettrich, B. (2016). Virtual Micronesia: Performance and Participation in a Pacific Facebook Community. Perfect Beat, 17(1), 52-70. https://doi.org/10.1558/prbt.v17i1.28841
