Oprah’s format spawned a named cultural shift toward public emotional confession

Evidence

In fact, Oprah inspired a series of tabloid talk shows that would produce the noun “oprahization,” which is the “increased tendency for people to publicly describe their feelings and emotions and confess their past indiscretion.” — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1479

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the coined noun ‘oprahization’ as the increased public tendency toward emotional confession.
• CANDY: A fun, tweetable linguistic tidbit: Oprah gave rise to a word named after her, ‘oprahization’.
• XREF: connects to: Winfrey’s empathy-based confession format made her talk show a group therapy session — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 787; Emotionally charged religious content gets remembered and retold more — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 358; TV confession formats marked a demotic turn attaching fame to ordinary lived experience — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 67

Broader Connections

• Emotionally charged religious content gets remembered and retold more #expands (0.75) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 358