Authentic Subcultural Identities and Social Media: American Skateboarders and Instagram

This article explores how "core" members within skateboarding develop, maintain, and perform their "authentic" skate identities through interactions with the social media application Instagram. Supplementing skaters' use of traditional niche media such as zines, magazines, and videos, Instagram acts as a key outlet for skaters to develop and maintain their authentic subcultural identity. Skateboarders' view, discuss, and share media to refine and display their understanding of the subculture. Moreover, social media practices act as identity claims, which are confirmed or denied by other skaters through online and offline behaviors and discussions, (re)demarcating the boundaries of "authenticity" within the skateboard scene.