Web 2.0 enthusiasts engage in both immaterial and emotional labor to boost their popularity. This work requires revealing personal information, sometimes to the point of extreme discomfort or vulnerability; feigning and successfully performing interpersonal interactions; and creating a self that is simultaneously authentic and carefully edited. This self is immaterial in that it is digital, and emotional in that it involves using real emotional affect when presenting oneself and interacting with others. Self-branding, for instance, necessitates the careful construction of an edited yet authentic self, which demands ongoing self-monitoring, a thick skin, and an ongoing awareness and evaluation of the audience.

Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, loc. 507