Cover not available
Article published In:
Pragmatics
Vol. 34:1 (2024) ► pp.134–159

Millennial identity work in BlablaCar online reviews

ORCID logo | Pablo de Olavide University
In the age of Internet communication, car sharing as well as other types of sharing (accommodation, offices, etc.) has led to the emergence of the so-called sharing economy platforms, such as BlaBlaCar. Previous studies have demonstrated that millennials (i.e., those born between 1981 and 1999) are the most representative generational cohort regarding their interests in activities organized around BlaBlaCar and similar sites (Činjarević, Kožo and Berberović 2019). One direct consequence of this fact is that the way in which millennials communicate in this particular affinity space (Gee 2005; Jenkins 2006) may be highly informative of their discursive identities (Bucholtz and Hall 2005).
Against this backdrop, this study examines 1,000 online reviews taken from www​.BlablaCar​.es, in order to, first, understand how millennials conceptualize their experiences in BlaBlaCar; second, examine how identity emerges through labels and implicatures (Bucholtz and Hall 2005); and third, discuss and understand the relationship between the discourse identity shaped in BlaBlaCar reviews and millennials’ social identity. The findings reveal that BlaBlaCar reviews are highly informative of users’ identities and their relational needs. Also, these reviews no longer comply with traditional definitions of ‘consumer reviews’, and a re-conceptualization is needed.
Keywords: discursive identity, millennials, BlaBlaCar, sharing economy, identities-in-interaction, implicatures
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Users’ conceptualization of reviews
  • 3.Identity as a discursive construct
  • 4.Millennial identity and their virtual self
  • 5.Data and method
    • 5.1Data
    • 5.2Method
  • 6.Results
    • 6.1Thematic analysis
    • 6.2Identity construction (RQ2)
      • 6.2.1Labelling as a process of individual identity formation
      • 6.2.2Hints as processes of invoked identities-in-interaction
  • 7.Discussion: Millennial identity and their discursive self in reviews
  • 8.Conclusions
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 25 April 2023
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.21066.her
References (50)
References
Black, Alison. 2010. “Gen Y: Who They Are and How They Learn”. Educational Horizons 88 (2): 92–101.Google Scholar
Botsman, Rachel, and Roo Rogers. 2011. What’s Mine Is Yours: How Collaborative Consumption Is Changing the Way We Live. Collins.Google Scholar
Brewer, Marilyn B., and Wendy Gardner. 1996. “Who Is This ‘‘We’’? Levels of Collective Identity and Self Representations”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 71 (1): 83–93. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bridges, Judith, and Camilla Vásquez. 2018. “If Nearly All Airbnb Reviews Are Positive, Does That Make Them Meaningless?” Current Issues in Tourism 21 (18): 2057–2075. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brubaker, Rogers, and Frederick Cooper. 2000. “Beyond ‘Identity’”. Theory and Society 29 (1): 1–47. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bucholtz, Mary, and Kira Hall. 2005. “Identity and Interaction: A Sociocultural Linguistic Approach”. Discourse Studies 7 (4–5): 585–614. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Cenni, Irene, and Camilla Vásquez. 2020. “Airbnb’s Food-Related ‘Online Experiences’: A Recipe for Connection and Escape”. Food and Foodways, Explorations in the History and Culture of Human Nourishment 29 (1): 97–107.Google Scholar
Činjarević, Merima, Amra Kožo, and Denis Berberović. 2019. “Sharing Is Caring, and Millenials Do Care: Collaborative Consumptions Through the Eyes of the Internet Generation”. South East European Journal of Economics and Business 14 (1): 49–60. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Dubé, Line, Anne Bourhis, and Réal Jacob. 2005. “The Impact of Structuring Characteristics on the Launching of Virtual Communities of Practice”. Journal of Organizational Change Management 18 (2): 145–166. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Du Bois, John W. 2002. “Stance and Consequence”. In The Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, New Orleans.Google Scholar
Ert, Eyal, Aliza Fleischer, and Nathan Magen. 2016. “Trust and Reputation in the Sharing Economy: The Role of Personal Photos in Airbnb”. Tourism Management 551: 62–73. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Farajallah, Mehdi, Robert G. Hammond, and Thierry Pénard. 2019. “What Drives Pricing Behavior in Peer-to-Peer Markets? Evidence from the Carsharing Platform BlaBlaCar”. Information Economics and Policy 48 (C): 15–31. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Fairclough, Norman. 1992. Discourse and Social Change. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, Pilar, and Patricia Bou-Franch. 2019. “Introduction to Analyzing Digital Discourse: New Insights and Future Directions”. In Analyzing Digital Discourse: New Insights and Future Directions, ed. by Patricia Bou Franch, and Pilar Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, 3–22. Switzerland: Palgrave. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, Pilar, and Alex Georgakopoulou. 2021. “Analyzing Identity”. In Handbook of Sociopragmatics, ed. by Michael Haugh, Daniel Kádár, and Marina Terkourafi, 293–314. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gee, James Paul. 2004. Situated Language and Learning: A Critique of Traditional Schooling. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
. 2005. “Semiotic Social Spaces and Affinity Spaces: From the Age of Mythology to Today’s Schools”. In Beyond Communities of Practice: Language, Power and Social Context, ed. by David Barton, and Karin Tusting, 214–232. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Godelnik, Raz. 2017. “Millennials and the Sharing Economy: Lessons from a ‘Buy Nothing New, Share Everything Month’ Project”. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 231: 40–52. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Guyader, Hugo. 2018. “No One Rides for Free! Three Styles in Collaborative Consumption”. Journal of Services Marketing 32 (6): 692–714. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hardy, Anne, Sara Dolnicar, and Oscar Vorobjovas-Pinta. 2021. “The Formation and Functioning of the Airbnb Neo-Tribe. Exploring Peer-to-Peer Accommodation Host Groups”. Tourism Management Perspectives 371: 100760. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Head, Lee Ann. 2013. “Will Millennials Drive the Shift from a Consumption-based to a Values-based Economy?” [URL] (accessed September 3, 2018).
Hennig-Thurau, Thorsten, Kevin Gwinner, Gianfranco Walsh, and Dwayne Gremler. 2004. “Electronic Word-of-Mouth via Consumer Opinion Platforms: What Motivates Consumers to Articulate Themselves on the Internet?” Journal of Interactive Marketing 18 (1): 38–52. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hernández-López, María de la O. 2019. “What Makes a Positive Experience? Offline/online Communication and Rapport Enhancement in Airbnb Positive Reviews”. Pragmatics and Society 10 (2): 179–206. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
2022. “When Travellers’ Expectations Are Not Met. Rapport Management in Airbnb Online Consumer Reviews with Negative Valence”. Journal of Language Aggression and Conflict 10 (2): 241–268. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Herring, Susan. 2004. “Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis: An Approach to Researching Online Behavior”. In Designing for Virtual Communities in the Service Learning, ed. by Sasha Barab, Rob Kling, and James Hay, 338–376. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Herring, Susan C. (2019). “The Coevolution of Computer-mediated Communication and Computer-mediated Discourse Analysis”. In Analyzing Digital Discourse: New Insights and Future Directions, ed. by Patrica Bou Franch, and Pilar Garcés-Conejos Blitvich, 25–68. Switzerland: Palgrave. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hwang, Jiyoung, and Merlyn Griffiths. 2017. “Share More, Drive Less: Millennials Value Perception and Behavioral Intent in Using Collaborative Consumption Services”. Journal of Consumer Marketing 34 (2): 132–146. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Jenkins, Henry. 2006. Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York, NY: NYU Press.Google Scholar
Kruger, Martinette, and Melville Saayman. 2015. “Music Preferences of Generation Y: Evidence from Live Music Performances in South Africa”. Journal of Vacation Marketing 21 (4): 1–17. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marwick, Alice and dana boyd. 2011. “I Tweet Honestly, I Tweet Passionately: Twitter Users, Context Collapse, and the Imagined Audience”. New Media & Society 13 (1): 114–133. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Mazella, Frédéric, and Arun Sundaranjan. 2016. “Entering the Trust Age”. Retrieved from: [URL]
Morton, Lee. 2002. “Targeting Generation Y”. Public Relations Quarterly 47 (2): 46–48.Google Scholar
Mudambi, Susan, and David Schuff. 2010. “What Makes a Helpful Online Review? A Study of Consumer Reviews on Amazon.com”. MIS Quarterly 34 (1): 185–200. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Page, Ruth. 2012. Stories and Social Media: Identities and Interaction. Oxford: Routledge.Google Scholar
Patton, Michael. 2014. Qualitative Research & Evaluation Methods: Integrating Theory and Practice, 4th ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Prensky, Marc. 2001. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”. On the Horizon 9 (5): 1–6. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rainer, Tom, and Jess Rainer. 2011. The Millennials: Connecting to America’s Largest Generation. New York: Lifeway Research.Google Scholar
Sherblom, John. 2010. “The Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) Classroom: A Challenge of Medium, Presence, Interaction, Identity, and Relationship”. Communication Education 59 (4): 497–523. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Schroer, William. 2008. “Generations X, Y, Z and the Others”. The Portal 40 (9). Retrieved from [URL] (accessed September 1, 2018).
Vásquez, Camilla. 2011. “Complaints Online: The Case of Tripadvisor”. Journal of Pragmatics 43(6): 1707–1717. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
. 2014. The Discourse of Online Consumer Reviews. Bloomsbury Discourse Series. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Venter, Elza. 2017. “Bridging the Communication Gap between Generation Y and the Baby Boomer Generation”. International Journal of Adolescence and Youth 22 (4): 497–507. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Virtanen, Tuija. 2017. “Adaptability in Online Consumer Reviews: Exploring Genre Dynamics and Interactional Choices”. Journal of Pragmatics 1111: 77–90. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wong, Melissa, Elliroma Gardiner, Whitney Lang, and Leah Coulon. 2008. “Generational Differences in Personality and Motivation: Do They Exist and What Are the Implications for the Workplace?” Journal of Managerial Psychology 23 (8): 878–890. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wortham, Stanton. 2010. Learning Identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Xie, Chaoqun, and Francisco Yus. 2017. “An Internet Dialogue on Internet Pragmatics”. Foreign Language and Literature Studies 34 (2): 75–92.Google Scholar
Yus, Francisco. 2014. “El discurso de las identidades en línea: el caso de Facebook”. Discurso y Sociedad 8 (3): 398–426.Google Scholar
. 2016. Humour and Relevance. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yus, Franscisco. 2022. Smartphone Communication. Interactions in the App Ecosystem. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Zervas, Georgios, Davide Proserpio, and John Byers. 2014. “The Rise of the Sharing Economy: Estimating the Impact of Airbnb on the Hotel Industry”. Working Paper. Boston: Boston University. Retrieved from [URL]
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Hernández-López, María de la O
2024. The Discursive Construction of Identity Through Metapragmatic Comments in BlaBlaCar Online Reviews. In Evaluating Identities Online, ► pp. 219 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 september 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.