Once only visible in virtual reality, Youtubers are now becoming so famous they are making appearances on television talk shows such as Ellen, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and its sister show, The Late Late Show with James Corden.
Although Jimmy Fallon has also featured Lilly Singh and Jimmy Kimmel shows more non-white content creators in his Mean Tweets segment, the majority of content creators seem to be white and native English speakers.
It begs the question of how inclusive YouTube really is. As Wood et al (2006) articulates in Chapter One: The Multiple Truths of the Mappable World, each map is subjective to the desired purpose of each maker and the way audiences interpret that map is subjective - even as time passes and viewership moves.
An example is when 21st century audience view the Mercator map. Many assume that the Mercator map is an indication of imperialistic hierarchy when informed that the proportions are inaccurate - leaving Africa considerably smaller. When in actuality, the map was designed for seafaring and navigational purposes not to depict land masses (Kuttainen, 2016).
Image: The Mercator Map. Note how Africa is considerable smaller than North America when in actuality Africa is way larger.
Image: The Gall-Peters Map. Considered an 'equal area' map of the world. To highlight how Africa is larger than North America but not depicted in the Mercator Map.
Now how does mapping relate to diversity? As said in the beginning, what we see in media depicts a way at looking at society. Currently society is becoming increasingly multicultural and right now, YouTube is pretty white. If our purpose is to depict reality in the virtual then we need to shine a light on non-white creators. At least for now they are discussions within the YouTube community on how to make these worlds more inclusive.
References
Jimmy Kimmel Live. (2016, June 23). Mean Tweets - Creator Edition [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t5tzDxgwQY
Ku, C. (2016, August 15). Ethnicity and Diversity Online Panel at Summer In The City 2016. Ten Eighty Magazine. Retrieved from http://teneightymagazine.com/2016/08/15/ethnicity-and-diversity-online-panel-at-summer-in-the-city-2016/
Kuttainen, V. (2016). BA1002: Maps, week 4 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_2417221_1&course_id=_76323_1&framesetWrapped=true
Physical World Map Wall Mural - Mercator Projection -up to 166’ x 112’ [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.worldmapsonline.com/physical_world_map_wall_mural_mercator.htm
Ralph. J Bunche Centre of African American Studies at UCLA. (2016). 2016 Hollywood Diversity Report: Bu$ine$$ As Usual? Retrieved from http://www.bunchecenter.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2016-Hollywood-Diversity-Report-2-25-16.pdf
The Ellen Show. (2015, May 21). Tyler Oakley is Here! [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAzZSH5QZ1Q
The Gall-Peters projection of the world map [Image]. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gall%E2%80%93Peters_projection#/media/File:Gall%E2%80%93Peters_projection_SW.jpg
The Late Late Show with James Corden. (2015, August 21). What do Tyler Oakley and Jenna Marbles Love Online? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqZaq2wJdQM
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (2015, October 2). PewDiePie Teaches Stephen Some Swedish Curse Words [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM21uQR6G_Q
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. (2014, December 1). Pictionary with Martin Short, Jerry Seinfeld and Miranda Sings [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjMUfoKATys
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. (2016, January 22). Fast Family Feud with Lilly Singh [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbXQm7vKy4A
Wood, D. (2006). et al. ‘The Multiple Truths of the Mappable World’. In Seeing Through Maps.
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