Exposing Childhoods Online
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Exposing Childhoods Online A qualitative content analysis to explore how digital footprints can be created for children Amber de Zeeuw M.A. New Media and Digital Culture 29 June 2018 Word count 21.210 Supervisor: Alberto Cossu Second reader: Sabine Niederer Abstract Digital footprints are often understood as the traces one can leave behind while being on the Web. Frequently, scholars put a clear emphasis on the agency of the person creating his or her own digital footprints. This thesis, however shows how this is not always the case as one’s digital footprints can also be established by other individuals. Through analyzing the consequences of sharenting by applying a qualitative content analysis, I argue how digital footprints can be created for children. Arguments will be made based on a specific case study, namely the most visible parts of the digital footprints of five children whose childhoods are exposed via the popular vlogging YouTube channel ‘SHAYTARDS’. This thesis will provide insights in the ways how not only the parents of these children hold power over the establishment of these digital footprints as the public holds great power in this as well. By appropriating the data concerning children shared by their parents, the public is able to create new types of content that can contain extensive amounts of personal information. With this thesis I aim to obtain an understanding of the different ways in which digital footprints can be established for others and ultimately, the ownership of online data. Keywords: Digital footprint, sharenting, online identity, networked publics, YouTube, Micro- celebrity 2 Table of Contents Abstract.......................................................................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................. 4 2. Theoretical Framework ......................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 The history of sharing ..................................................................................................................... 10 2.2 The rise of YouTube....................................................................................................................... 12 2.3 The micro-celebrity identity ........................................................................................................... 14 2.4 Creation of a digital footprint ........................................................................................................ 17 3. Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 21 3.1 Data collection ................................................................................................................................. 21 3.2 Analytic method .............................................................................................................................. 23 4. Analysis .................................................................................................................................................... 25 4.1 Relevance of Data ........................................................................................................................... 25 4.2 Primary pre-made digital footprints ............................................................................................. 27 4.2.1 SHAYTARDS vlogs................................................................................................................ 27 4.2.2 SHAYTARDS singing videos ................................................................................................ 31 4.3 Secondary pre-made digital footprints ......................................................................................... 32 4.3.1 Compilation videos.................................................................................................................. 33 4.3.2 Snippets of vlogs ...................................................................................................................... 36 4.3.3 Personal wiki’s .......................................................................................................................... 36 4.3.4 Roleplaying on Twitter............................................................................................................ 38 4.3.5 Urban Dictionary ..................................................................................................................... 40 4.3.6 GIFs ........................................................................................................................................... 42 4.3.7 Hashtag explore pages ............................................................................................................ 42 4.4 Active footprints.............................................................................................................................. 43 5. Discussion ............................................................................................................................................... 45 6. Conclusion .............................................................................................................................................. 48 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 50 Primary sources .......................................................................................................................................... 60 Appendix – Screenshots of all Google Search result pages ................................................................. 65 3 1. Introduction In 1999, the reality television series Big Brother was introduced by the Dutch television network Veronica. The show is famously characterized by the continuous and close surveillance of its contestants who all live together in a house that is completely isolated from the outside world. The viewers of the show, therefore are offered the opportunity to closely observe the way how these contestants live and behave as friendships are made, romances happen and dramas occur. Since its release, the show gained massive worldwide popularity as the format has been sold to over fifty countries (ET Canada n.pag.). Big Brother is however far from the only reality show as Idols (2001-present), Survivor (1997–present) and The X Factor (2004–present) are different examples among many others worth mentioning as well. Although these well-known examples of the reality genre are to be considered rather divergent, it can be said they all do emphasize a sense of daily life, authenticity and reality as ‘ordinary people’ take their place in the spotlight (Biltereyst, van Bauwel and Meers 41). It can be argued that, due to the rise of online platforms that allow users to publish own content, the reality genre today is not exclusive to the medium of television anymore. Ordinary people can use such online platforms to share their personal lives with a community of people. The sharing of video content regarding one’s personal life is mostly being referred to as vlogging and regularly associated with the platform YouTube. Vlogs in general do not exist in one fixed format as they can revolve around a variety of topics. The vlogs published by the French- Canadian Laurie Dion for example mainly revolve around fashion and the treatments she received after she was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor years ago (Soucie n.pag.). On the contrary, Dutch television personality and singer Patty Brard commits to vlogging in order to document her weight loss journey (Boudrie n.pag.). Vlogs can also be used in order to speak from a religious perspective, as is the case for Becca Eller who tackles Christian topics with “openness, honesty and, […] levity” (Coughlin n.pag). These three out of many other examples of vlogging are to be considered quite divergent in nature. What they however have in common is that the publishers often share a great amount of information online concerning their health issues, daily struggles, interests and personal lives. All these Web traces one can leave behind are woven together in a virtual personal data base. This database is often referred to as a personal ‘digital footprint’ (Weaver and Gahegan 329). Stephen Weaver and Mark Gahegan defined this concept as “the digital traces each one of us leaves behind as we conduct our lives” (324). Often, scholars make a distinction between two categories of digital footprints, namely between an ‘active’ and a ‘passive’ one (Madden et al.; Gill et al.; Zezulka; Lowenthal, Dunlap and 4 Stitson). This distinction was originally made by Mary Madden et al. who describe active digital footprints as the personal information deliberately shared by an individual, and passive digital footprints as the personal data gathered with no deliberate intervention from the individual (Madden et al.). Examples of active digital footprints are sent e-mails, status updates on Facebook and posting pictures on Instagram. Your IP address a web server gathered after visiting a website and a by search engines saved search histories can be considered examples of passive digital footprints. By understanding the creation of a digital footprint through the