YouTube the Mighty, YouTube the Great?

The statistics show that YouTube is a rapidly evolving institution. With the rise of YouTube content creators (aka Youtubers) becoming celebrities in their own right, discussion around how much power there is within the community has only been minimal. 

While revealing almost everything about oneself has began to be the norm on the Internet, doing so on YouTube can aid in fostering a parasocial relationship between an audience member and the creator themselves.

This has the potential to both empower and disempower. By using associational power, Youtubers have been able to use a collective medium to… facilitate some common aim (Allen, 2003). Tyler Oakley, for example, was able to rally his audience base to fundraise for his favourite charity.

On the other hand, by creating a relationship that is based on friendship and trust, many viewers don’t see a divide between content creator and content vi

Privacy invasion has become more common amongst the YouTube community as fans are tracking down Youtubers’ addresses in order meet them in person.

Most recently, Alfie Deyes who runs the YouTube channel PointlessBlog tweeted his frustration at the lack of privacy he has.

Image: Screenshots of tweets detailing the issue of privacy, in particular with YouTuber Alfie Deyes surrounding recent circumstances.

Although aware that online spaces are also public spaces (Kuttanein, 2016), many Youtubers advocate that not all of their space is for public consumption. Space means they have the freedom of movement (Tuan, 1977) and such invasive acts by ‘fans’ deny Youtubers this space.

However this does not mean that Youtubers have not used their power to manipulate audiences. There have been numerous cases between 2012 and 2014 where victims revealed that they had been sexually abused by popular YouTube personalities. I could go on, in detail, about how power works but with so many Youtubers speaking out against sexual abuse within the community, I think I’ll let them do the talking.


(Clark, 2014)


(Howard, 2014)

References

Allen, J. (2003). ‘Introduction: Lost Geographies’. In Lost Geographies of Power.

Ballantine, P. W., & Martin, B. A. S. (2005). Forming Parasocial Relationships in Online Communities.  NA - Advances in Consumer Research, 32, 197-201.

Clark, D. [doddlevloggle]. 2014 September 30. Sexual abuse on YouTube – Dear Jason [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly8CRUsPup0

Deyes, A. [PointlessBlog]. (2016, August 9). Posts [Twitter page]. Retrieved August 12, 2016, from twitter.com/PointlessBlog

Howard, J. [Jack Howard]. 2014 October 4. Sexual Abuse Tag [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8OKJaCyF1g

Kuttainen, V. (2016). BA1002: Space and Identity: Genre and Transformation, week 3 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_2412529_1&course_id=_76323_1&framesetWrapped=true

Kuttainen, V. (2016). BA1002: Power, week 2 notes [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://learnjcu.jcu.edu.au/webapps/blackboard/execute/content/file?cmd=view&content_id=_2406819_1&course_id=_76323_1&framesetWrapped=true

Romano, A., Jaworski, M., & Votta, R. (2014). A guide to YouTube's biggest sex abuse scandals. Retrieved from http://www.dailydot.com/upstream/youtube-sex-abuse-scandals-guide/

The Trevor Project. (2013). Tyler Oakley’s fundraising page for the Trevor Project. Retrieved from https://give.thetrevorproject.org/fundraise?fcid=238251

Tuan, Y-F. (1977). ‘Introduction’. In Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience.

YouTube. (n.d.). Statisitics. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html