Authenticity on social media : English language teachers' perceptions and experiences

Abstract

This study examines teachers' perceptions of authenticity in social media self-branding. Data were gathered using narrative frames and semi-structured interviews with 12 Iranian teachers involved in Instagram self-branding. Analysis revealed three levels of teacher authenticity (TA): personal, professional/pedagogical, and relational. Personal authenticity refers to the individual traits that define how Instagram teachers present themselves, emphasizing aspects like honesty, adherence to personal beliefs, and brand optimization through uniqueness. Professional/pedagogical authenticity involves content creation awareness and practices that align with educational goals and platform affordances, being creative in their content, and having proficiency in terms of pedagogy and linguistics, as well as being flexible to adapt their pedagogical knowledge to the platform complexities. Finally, relational authenticity encompasses teachers' sense of responsibility, care, and professionalism toward their audiences. Across the three levels, teachers employed strategies such as reflective practice, brand uniqueness, needs-based content design, and care-driven engagement to maintain authenticity in their self-branding on Instagram. Our findings indicate that the unregulated and entrepreneurial nature of Instagram allows teachers to express their professional identity differently than in traditional classroom settings. The article concludes with a discussion of the three levels concerning existing literature on TA, mainly in offline settings, and highlights the implications for teacher education.