Indigenous content creation and co-cultural communication amid platformization

Abstract

Drawing from co-cultural theory, this qualitative study explores how three Igorot content creators assert their Indigenous identity through content creation. Using pakikipagkwentuhan (storytelling) and critical discourse analysis as methods, the study outlines how the colonization of the Philippines shaped negative perceptions about and marginalization of Igorots. It also shows the dominant themes in the contents of the creators and their communication orientation. Based on these, I argue that content creation empowers co-cultural and postcolonial Indigenous groups like Igorots to assert their Indigenous identity and foster collaboration with other members of a diverse society. The study has two main contributions. First, it enriches and de-Westernizes research on cultural production by focusing on Indigenous content creators in the Global South. Second, by identifying communicative practices tied to platforms, namely, deleting negative comments, encouraging online engagement, and acknowledging platform affordances, the study adds new communicative practices to co-cultural theory, extending it amid platformization.