John Timothy Sherrill
ABSTRACT
This paper presents findings from a qualitative and quantitative analysis of 100 Etsy shop descriptions. Etsy.com is situated as a site of sellers documenting technical expertise and also marketing handmade goods through storytelling and narratives. Shop “About” sections were analyzed for their narrative structure in an attempt to map common narrative features on the site, as narrative and storytelling function as a hyper-differentiation strategy in post-industrial markets where customization and bespoke products are commonplace. The study found that “About” sections consistently followed the narrative structures suggested by the Etsy seller handbook. It suggests that technical communication researchers must be particularly aware of the scope of analysis, sampling methods, and rhetorical complexity of variables when analyzing hyper-differentiation strategies in order for relatively subtle differences to be identifiable.
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Digital Library
- Julie Schneider. 2016. How to Craft a Killer About Section. Etsy. Retrieved July 20, 2021 from http://www.etsy.com/seller-handbook/article/how-to-craft-a-killer-about-section/22636178725Google Scholar
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- Nancy Small. 2017. (Re)Kindle: On the Value of Storytelling to Technical Communication. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication 47, 2: 234–253. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047281617692069Google ScholarCross Ref
- Edward A. Malone. 2019. “Don't Be a Dilbert”: Transmedia Storytelling as Technical Communication during and after World War II. Technical Communication 66, 3: 209–229.Google Scholar
- Erin Kathleen Bahl, Sergio Figueiredo, and Rich Shivener. 2020. Comics and Graphic Storytelling in Technical Communication. Technical Communication Quarterly 29, 3: 219–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2020.1768297Google ScholarCross Ref
- Derek Van Ittersum. 2014. Craft and Narrative in DIY Instructions. Technical Communication Quarterly 23, 3: 227–246. https://doi.org/10.1080/10572252.2013.798466Google ScholarCross Ref
- John T. Sherrill and Tehmina Pirzada. 2021. Narrating Personal Health Experiences on Etsy.com. Presented at Association for Computers and the Humanities (ACH), July 22, 2021, Online due to pandemic.Google Scholar
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- John T. Sherrill. 2017. Gender, technology, and narratives in DIY instructions. In Proceedings of the 35th ACM International Conference on the Design of Communication (SIGDOC ’17), 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1145/3121113.3121214Google ScholarDigital Library
- Ali Gheitasy, José Abdelnour-Nocera, and Bonnie Nardi. 2015. Socio-technical gaps in online collaborative consumption (OCC): an example of the etsy community. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual International Conference on the Design of Communication (SIGDOC ’15), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1145/2775441.2775458Google ScholarDigital Library
- Donato Cutolo, Simone Ferriani, and Gino Cattani. 2020. Tell Me Your Story and I Will Tell Your Sales: A Topic Model Analysis of Narrative Style and Firm Performance on Etsy. In Aesthetics and Style in Strategy, Gino Cattani, Simone Ferriani, Frédéric Godart and Stoyan V. Sgourev (eds.). Emerald Publishing Limited, 119–138. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0742-332220200000042005Google ScholarCross Ref
- Liz Henry. 2014. The Rise of Feminist Hackerspaces and How to Make Your Own. Model View Culture. Retrieved November 29, 2018 from https://modelviewculture.com/pieces/the-rise-of-feminist-hackerspaces-and-how-to-make-your-ownGoogle Scholar
- Christoph Fuchs, Martin Schreier, and Stijn M.J. Van Osselaer. 2015. The Handmade Effect: What's Love Got to Do with It? Journal of Marketing 79, 2: 98–110. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.14.0018Google ScholarCross Ref
Index Terms
- Mapping Storytelling on Etsy.com as Hyper-differentiation Strategy, and Considerations of Scope
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