youtube and collective identity

8/9/2019 Youtube and Collective Identity

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The You in YouTube:The Emergence of Collective

Identity Formation Through Online

Video Sharing

Debora Lui

With help from Huma Yusuf

Media in Transition 5, MIT, 2007


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C3 and YouTube

Looking at YouTube from anindustry perspective

What are user activities onthe site? What are thevideos on the site?

Looked at 100 MostDiscussed/Favorited/Rated/Popular videos

Around 40% of the MostDiscussed videos were videologs (vlogs)


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Press Rhetoricsurrounding YouTube

Time called YouTube thepublic video diary of ageneration of teens and

twentysomethings. "You have people from all

walks of life wanting toshare a piece of their lifewith you," Leila (a video

blogger) says. "Thefeeling of togetherness isunbeatable. It's abeautiful thing."


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Real People Reaching Out


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YouTube is full of unique personalities, all ofwhom are expressing themselvesauthentically

YouTube is capable of establishing trueconnections between real people

HOWEVER, does the real life use of

YouTube exemplify this ideal presentedin surrounding rhetoric?

Real People Reaching Out?


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Arguments that YouTube isan authentic space

Furor over seeming lack of authenticity of lonelygirl15 and others Person or content not real; corporate marketing?

Users seem to treat the other individuals on the site as real

people (through their comments and videos) Giving advice, having a dialogue, supporting/detracting

Trust that YouTube is a democratic platform where everyone canbe heard in an unregulated space Unhindered by mass media protocols, freedom of expression


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Furor over seeming lack of authenticity oflonelygirl15 and others

Content and/or persona is not real (lg15)

Corporate marketing vs. being on your own(i.e. miarose vs. esmeedenters)



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Users seem to treat the other individuals on the site asreal people (through their comments and videos) SOo.oO much FUN!!!!! I wish you could come to our house for a weekend!

(ysabellabrave)

beautiful girl. use your loneliness and boredom as fuel to live anextraordinary life. visit 100 countries and learn to speak 5 languages beforeyou turn 30. be exceptional - you have the power! (lonelygirl15)

oh you jersey folk are the funniest :P we need some more of you over herethese days... brighten up our days hahahahah :P -take care man (nalts)



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Trust that YouTube is a democratic platformwhere everyone can be heard in an unregulatedspace

Unfiltered content, not confined by marketing/advertising needs, targetdemographics, broadcast protocols

More than ever, Internet video provided a platform for new voices andperspectives, giving even amateur filmmakers entree to mass audiencestraditionally garnered by established media outlets. And in 2006 people

took advantage of it, using Internet video to influence everything fromopinion about the war to notions about what constitutes entertainment.(from Long Live the Net Video Revolution Business Weekly)



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Online activity that doesntsupport this authenticity

Theories about identity construction in cyberspace Constructing avatars in MMOGs and Second Life

Constructing online profile with list of favorites as shortcuts

Constructing network of friends in social networking sites

But how does identity construction occur onYouTube?


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Ysabellabrave: A CaseStudy

Young woman who sings karaoke, usually old jazz standards and blues.

#26 - Most Subscribed (All Time)

Her nomenclature exemplifies the tension between authenticity and construct

MaryAnne/ysabellabrave

Clip: Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered 00:34

d d i
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooigvlGHe8Ihttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooigvlGHe8I


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Constructed Identityon YouTube

By the Individual

By the Collective

C d d i


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Constructed Identityby the Individual

Through production/style of the video itself

Through paratexts surrounding video

Within the framework of YouTube genres

C d Id i


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C d Id i


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Through paratexts surroundingvideo Her youtube profile

Comments accompanying video Very late at night, one more for my friends.

For those who need some blues, from my heartto yours tonight.

Rate me 5 little stars! Hooray! This is for all myfellow David Lynch fans out there. Please enjoy!Love MaryAnne

Talk vlog videos Blah blah part II 03:46

C t t d Id tit
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ysabellabravehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw8dw5MBl1ohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw8dw5MBl1ohttp://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ysabellabrave


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Within the framework ofdifferent YouTube personagenresThe Karaoke singer; the

undiscovered talent

C t t d Id tit


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Within the framework ofdifferent YouTube personagenres

The Karaoke singer; theundiscovered talent

The teenage girl confessional

C t t d Id tit


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Within the framework of differentYouTube persona genres

The Karaoke singer; the undiscoveredtalent

The teenage girl confessional

The angry young man commentary

The living room comedian

C t t d Id tit


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Constructed Identityby the Collective

Through YouTube activities like subscribing,favoriting, rating, etc. (marketing and hype)

Through YouTube direct feedback (usercomments and video response)

Through rejection of behaviors that do notcomply with the identity as constructed bythe collective

C t t d Id tit


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Through YouTube direct feedback (usercomments and video response) youre such a classy lady, youre bringing old hollywood glam back!

I JUST LOVE YOUR VOICE! When you talk... it's like Ingrid Bergmanand Audrey Hepburn and Faye Dunaway all mixed together! You havethe intonation down and everything. And your choice of words isfabulous!!

i friggin' LOVE YOU! I see so much Marilyn Monroe in you....you haveno idea. And the cabaret thing....oh deary lord, Sally Bowles! ha. ---Marilyn was a construct...this gal is the real thing...cannot comparethe two...thank you maryann for being who you are!

I wish you were my life coach....or my girlfriend.

C t t d Id tit


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Through YouTube direct feedback (usercomments and video response) She started singing -> People start subscribing and commenting:

response and expectations -> She reconstructs herself ysabellabrave - as character only existing in expectations of her

viewers, the negotiation between the individual and the collective

Clips: Blue Heaven, AWord or Two 02:36, Everyday Bravery

C t t d Id tit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkd-prtmiUchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGEsRXlMT0shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGEsRXlMT0shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_dppH8kaeohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_dppH8kaeohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGEsRXlMT0shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGEsRXlMT0shttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkd-prtmiUc


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Through rejection of behaviors that do notcomply with the identity as constructed bythe collective Unusual Music/Song Choice

I know you like modern music in your personal life, but youDO sing this old stuff so darn well.

Everything else you do is trulygreat but rock like this just does

not sound right for your prettyjazzy voice.

C t t d Id tit


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Through rejection of behaviors that do notcomply with the identity as constructed bythe collective Art videos - Videos provoked furious debate

This is no good. I mean you should stick to just singing only.This is way out of there. bizzare to say the least.

A picture tells a thousand words: Twenty-four(!) pictures ofyourself was simply way over the top for meI am truly a fan

of yours and watch your videos everyday. Would you pleaseexplain - so that I will find this less disturbing?

C t t d Id tit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37mZQnx5YgMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37mZQnx5YgM


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The "truthiness" problem Truthiness is the very definition of truth,

2006-style: the quality of preferring

concepts or facts one wishes to be true,rather than concepts or facts known to betrue.

(excerpted from Commentary: The Year in Pop Culture:2006 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)


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Concluding Remarks

YouTube is a testament to the participatory value of newmedia, folk cultures of digital age.

Further inquries: What are implications of this fact that there is no authenticity? (peer-to-peer

implies friendship and connectivity)

What do we lose when we acknowledge collectively constructed identities?

Is celebrating democracy enough?

Are other spaces more appropriate for interactions between individuals?

What happens when truthiness prevails over truth?


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Identities in Flux?

Ysabellabrave/MaryAnne existsbeyond YouTube

Contestant in the Ms. Horrorfest PageantChristian livejournal - SisterMaryAnne,

Church of the Holy Cross

Yahoo employee - Fraud and BusinessAnalyst

youtube and collective identity

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