“I’m only half Korean but I can relate to a lot of what you said”: YouTube comments as second stories in response to “lunchbox moment” narrative videos

Abstract

Analyzing 20 comments posted in response to YouTube videos wherein two Asian American young women share their “lunchbox moment” stories, or first-person past-oriented accounts of how their (white) classmates at school reacted negatively to food that they brought from home for lunch, we demonstrate how posters collaboratively transform individual offline experiences of marginalization and difference into online moments of inclusion, solidarity, and shared identity. Integrating research on “second stories” (Sacks 1992), “story rounds” (Tannen 2005), online storytelling (Page 2011, 2018), and online-offline interconnections (e.g., Bolander and Locher 2020), we show how commenters of diverse backgrounds accomplish “adequation” (Bucholtz and Hall 2005) between their different minority identities in how they convey their own lunchbox moment stories. By using metadiscursive terms (e.g., “story”), “constructed dialogue” (Tannen 2007), ethnic category mentions, heritage languages, familiar address terms (e.g., first name), and emojis, YouTube posters create inclusion online and across cultural, ethnic, and spaciotemporal lines.