YouTube’s Algorithms and the Cartography of Controversy: Unboxing the algorithmic framing of the Middle East on YouTube Layal Boulos Student ID: 12156183 MA New Media and Digital Culture 28 June 2019 Supervisor: Dr. Tim Highfield Second Reader: Dr. Bernhard Rieder 1 Table of Contents Acknowledgments Abstract Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1: Setting the scene with YouTube 5 1.2: The Middle East and the Cartography of Controversy 6 1.3: Framing political and/or social issue spaces 8 1.4: Research Question and Relevance 10 Chapter 2: Literature Review and Theoretical Framework 2.1: YouTube as a Platform 2.1.2: Algorithms 12 2.1.3: YouTube’s Radicalization 15 2.1.4: Mapping ‘Algorithmic Associations’ 16 2.2: YouTube’s Affordances 18 2.2.2: The Comment Space 19 2.3: YouTube’s Culture 2.3.1: Creator Culture 20 2.3.2: YouTube and Fake News 21 Chapter 3: Methodology 3.1: Data Collection 23 3.2: Query Assemblage 23 3.3: Video List Module Procedure 25 2 3.3.2: Video Network Module Procedure 26 3.3.3: Gephi Visualizations 26 3.4: Video and Channel Content Analysis 27 3.5: Studying the Comment Space 34 Chapter 4: Results 4.1.2: Islam - Algorithmic Associations 36 4.1.3: Islam – Comment Space 40 4.2: Jamal Khashoggi - Algorithmic Associations 42 4.2.2: Jamal Khashoggi – Comment Space 45 4.3: Syria - Algorithmic Associations 47 4.3.2: Syria – Comment Space 51 4.4: Kuwait – Algorithmic Associations 53 4.4.2: Kuwait – Comment Space 57 4.5: To Sum Up 59 Chapter 5: Discussion 5.1: An Algorithmic Reflection of Reality 60 5.2: An Informative Algorithmic Engine 62 5.3: A News Algorithmic Engine 63 5.4: A Loop of Misinformation and Radicalization 65 5.5: The Ripple Effect of the Algorithms’ Inner Workings 68 Chapter 6: Conclusion and Further Research 70 References 73 Appendix 87 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my thesis supervisor, Dr. Tim Highfield, for constantly being there to answer my flood of questions and for pointing me in the direction I wanted to go but could not seem to grasp. My immense gratitude goes to my parents for their continuous encouragement and support. I would not be here without them. I am equally thankful for my sister, Laura, who has constantly believed in me and pushed me to be the best version of myself. I thank my other half for being my rock throughout this past year, for his graciousness and support. For being my source of joy and comfort. To Victoria Andelsman, thank you for being my partner throughout this journey. For teaching me so much about the world of academia and research and for having faith in my abilities. Most importantly, thank you and Ketaki Chand for being wonderful friends that I will hold dear to my heart no matter the distance. 4 Abstract This thesis examines how YouTube frames controversial social and/or political topics by mapping related videos and examining the comment space. More specifically, by looking into queries pertaining to the Middle East, an understudied issue space on YouTube, this study pursues the cartography of controversy by observing and describing social topics online. The analysis of four queries [Islam], [Jamal Khashoggi], [Syria] and [Kuwait] has led to the conclusion that YouTube frames topics as a reflection of ‘reality’ by presenting itself as an informative, news algorithmic engine. This thesis further adds to studies about YouTube’s misinformation claims and radicalizing potential, arguing that different queries induce diverse associations. Additionally, those that expressed a highly polarized space encouraged user-engagement, sparked political sentiment or comments of hostile nature. This study draws on these findings to reflect on the importance of examining ‘algorithmic associations’ within their social and political contexts, in order to put data into forms of meaning. Key Words: YouTube, Algorithms, Cartography of Controversy, Affordances, Platforms, Digital Methods 5 Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Setting the scene with YouTube “Broadcast yourself”, the original slogan and purpose of YouTube as a platform when it launched in 2005. It was the initial stepping-stone that encouraged users to become more that just merely consumers of content but rather sparked user-generated content turning “video consumers into video producers” (Ding et al. 361). YouTube is one of the many web 2.0 technologies that replaced passive consumers with active, discerning, and vocal ones (Langlois 92). This has stimulated user- engagement and public involvement in social and political matters. Thus, the platform may have started as a medium that encouraged users to express themselves to the public, which we still see essence of with microcelebrities and vloggers; it has now become a platform where people share more than just content regarding their personal lives. Due to the various topic categories and ideological heterogeneity that it affords its users, as well as its involvement in amplifying public affairs, YouTube has become the second most visited website in the world making it a worthy platform of analysis (Alexa). Statistics show that the majority of people turn to YouTube for entertainment and comedic purposes, either “to relax” or “to feel entertained”, thus the top most watched videos fall into the categories of comedy, music, entertainment/pop culture, and “how to” (“The Latest YouTube Stats”). Due to the aforementioned facts, users do not see YouTube as a platform that affords political and/or social debate or content. In fact, scholars have stated that due to YouTube’s commercial aspect of paying creators dividends from advertising videos, it encourages the creation of content that appeals to the majority of audiences, therefore orienting video content towards entertainment for the benefit of viewer-attraction; and consequently advertisers (Guo and Harlow; Guo and Lee; Burgess and Green; van Dijck, “Users like you?”). As a result, common perceptions of YouTube’s early years saw it as space for fun rather than political dialogues (Hess 427). However, as the platform has grown and as its position has changed overtime this has become more complicated. Scholars have highlighted certain types of controversial-oriented videos that spark user- engagement and debate such as those that perpetuate stereotypes (Nakamura). Even though this could be interpreted negatively, scholars have found that it sparks racial discussions by allowing 6 YouTube to be a space to voice opinions on different ideologies (Guo and Harlow; Kopacz and Lawton). In fact, the number of adult users who consume news on YouTube in the United States alone has doubled between 2013 and 2018 (Smith et al.), further emphasizing on the shift of turning to YouTube for more than just entertainment. Others have pointed to YouTube’s “political potential” by referencing its live video streaming feature that allows users to be part of certain events (Arthurs et al. 6). Nonetheless, they have also pointed to the other side of the coin by referencing ISIS propaganda videos that have led the platform to pledge to identifying and removing such extremist content (Arthurs et al. 6; Gibbs). Moreover, one cannot fail to mention the fake news circulation and crisis that has infiltrated YouTube, embodying the essence of a political space (Arthurs et al. 6). With YouTube as the platform of study, it is imperative to define the term engagement. Scholars have defined it as users “producing, consuming, or disseminating information” (Ksiazek 504; Deuze; Hargittai and Walejko; Jenkins; Napoli, Audience Evolution; Oh et al.). This paper acknowledges all three definitions because YouTube offers its users the capability of engaging in all of the stated forms, but also because my goal is to identify how YouTube frames controversial political and/or social topics via its algorithmic curation of related videos and its encouraged affordances. However, unlike previous common stances on algorithms, this paper aims to examine how these topics are framed by the ‘algorithmic associations’, which are made up of elements that drive YouTube’s narrative. Thus, without user’s engagement on the platform, whether via producing content, consuming it or sharing it, associations would not exist to begin with. 1.2 The Middle East and the Cartography of Controversy Controversial topics range from political narratives like war photography to what some may say softer social issues like paparazzi and the end of privacy in the 1970’s. These stated controversies might stem from different issues; however, they have one thing in common which is that they are “situations where actors disagree”, as defined by Tommaso Venturini (261). Hence, when actors disagree, sides are taken forming clusters of associations based on a combination of actors’ interactions and the networks they form (Venturini 264). This stems from Latour’s work on tracing associations of the social within a controversy (23). 7 One of the biggest global controversial topics, which this thesis uses as a case study, is the Middle East. Even though several tensions and opinions occurred along the history of the Middle East, one can say that further controversy was sparked post 9/11. The staged terrorist attacks increased a fluctuation of attitudes towards Islam – a religion that stems from Middle Eastern heritage - one of discrimination and racism (Oswald). These types of historical events and political relations generates situations where people disagree, setting the context for a controversy. When people are being exposed to certain perceptions by the media – ethnicities in this case -, it primes them into thinking in a specific way (Gerbner and Gross; Shrum). It has been emphasized that much of what occurs in our lives and our beliefs are related to the fluctuating nature of our environment and the groups that belong in it (Tajfel). Thus, when people are being shown and reported specific images of a group in a certain light, categorization serves to “introduce simplicity and order where there is complexity” (Tajfel 82); and complexities are where tensions arise (Law and Hassard 12).