Identity and Representation on the Neoliberal Platform of Youtube
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Identity and Representation on the Neoliberal Platform of YouTube Andra Teodora Pacuraru Student Number: 11693436 30/08/2018 Supervisor: Alberto Cossu Second Reader: Bernhard Rieder MA New Media and Digital Culture University of Amsterdam Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework ........................................................................................................ 4 Neoliberalism & Personal Branding ............................................................................................ 4 Mass Self-Communication & Identity ......................................................................................... 8 YouTube & Micro-Celebrities .................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 2: Case Studies ........................................................................................................................ 21 Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 21 Who They Are ........................................................................................................................... 21 Video Evolution ......................................................................................................................... 22 Audience Statistics .................................................................................................................... 41 Collaborations ........................................................................................................................... 49 Sponsorships & Off-YouTube Endeavours ................................................................................ 51 Chapter 3: Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 57 Neoliberalism ............................................................................................................................ 57 Identity and the Importance of Representation ....................................................................... 57 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................ 65 Bibliography.......................................................................................................................................... 67 Videos ................................................................................................................................................... 77 1 Introduction YouTube is a great example of neoliberalism with each person responsible for their own capital, and introducing the notion of personal branding. This all leads to each individual’s own identity, which they build for themselves and heavily depend on. This plays a crucial role in their quest towards becoming micro celebrities. Advertising and monetization eventually became the heart of YouTube’s capital, all of which are highly dependent on the aforementioned. The goal of this paper is to show how all of these factors come into play, by analysing three cases of YouTube celebrities who all have minority identities of different sorts; how they have applied themselves, how it was received, what kind of social impact they aim to make and why YouTube is their chosen platform. Through all of this, we can begin to answer the question of, can people with underrepresented identities stand out and showcase their unique voices in the neoliberal world of YouTube? The first chapter of this research paper will consist of the theoretical framework. It will discuss relevant aspects of neoliberalism, such as homo economicus and human capital, the emergence of personal branding and micro-celebrities, as well as the concept of identity and how that is constructed, and how the emergence of the Internet and mass self- communication have made an impact on how people construct their identities. The chapter will also introduce YouTube, from its inception to how it has changed in order to best monetize its content, the way it positions itself as a platform, and how it can affect its users’ visibility and marketability. Lastly, it will take a general look at how YouTube micro-celebrities can turn their presence on the website into a money maker. The second chapter analyses the three chosen case studies: Lilly Singh, Hannah Witton and Alex Bertie. This will be done through a mix of data analysis of various aspects of their YouTube channels (such as monthly subscribers gained, monthly views, total subscribers and views growth) from the website Social Blade and content analysis of their channels which tracks the evolution of the users in terms of video quality, topics and so on. Other relevant topics included in this analysis are the users’ collaborations, their sponsorships and endeavours outside of YouTube. 2 The third chapter will focus on discussion, tying together theoretical aspects introduced in the first chapter with findings from the case studies’ analysis. It looks at the way the chosen users construct their identities and use them for different reasons, from building their brand to simply building a community, and what effect their visibility potentially has. 3 Chapter 1: Theoretical Framework Neoliberalism & Personal Branding For Foucault, the difference between classical liberalism and neoliberalism is based on how each mode of governmentality focuses on economic activity. In classical liberalism, that is based on exchange: in the marketplace, that means an exchange of goods and services for money or other goods, but also socially and for the state, an exchange of some freedoms for rights and liberties. Neoliberalism, however, changes the focus of economic activity from that of exchange to that of competition. This change is important: exchange was considered natural, while competition is seen by neo-liberals as an artificial relation which requires the constant intervention from the state on the conditions of the market (Read 28). Both types of liberalism have the notion of homo economicus, which is “the way in which they place a particular “anthropology” of man as an economic subject at the basis of politics” (Read 28), but once again, this changes from exchange to competition. In classical liberalism, homo economicus is “the man of exchange, one of the two partners in the process of exchange” (Foucault 225). In neoliberalism, homo economicus is an entrepreneur of himself, who is his own capital, producer, and source of his own income (Foucault 226). In neoliberalism, every person has their own human capital, which includes innate elements and acquired elements. Innate elements are biological and hereditary, such as race, class, or hereditary medical conditions. There is nothing anyone can do to change some of these elements, and they can be viewed as advantages or disadvantages from the perspective of employers. From this point of view, people coming from minorities or from a lower class background may have an automatic disadvantage in many situations where they are looking for employment or other opportunities. Some of these innate elements can also affect acquired elements such as someone’s education, training, and other additions to their knowledge. While human capital analysts assume that a person decides on these things by weighing the pros and cons of them for their future, some people may not even have the means to reach their full potential in these areas because of other circumstances. 4 Human capital also includes the individual’s body of work, their habits, even harmful ones like smoking and other addictions. Some of these aspects can be changed if someone chooses to actively invest in their human capital by giving up something harmful or changing their lifestyle (Becker, Foucault). “The theory of human capital investment relates inequality in earnings to differences in talents, family background, and bequests and other assets” (Becker 12). Van Doorn sees human capital as “a machine that advances a rationality in which a plethora of different qualities, capacities, attributes, and values are integrated into one common measure – or a set of interrelated measures – thus rendering them comparable and measurable in terms of their market value” (360). In this view of the world, the worker becomes human capital and their salary is a revenue earned in the worker’s investment in their skills and abilities. Activities that increase their human capital and their potential revenue are also investments in oneself. Neoliberalism operates on “interests, desires and aspirations rather than through rights and obligations” (Read 29). One way in which labour has changed under this world of competition is the trend of moving away from long term contracts, towards temporary, part-time or freelance labour. This strategy can be seen as more beneficial to companies, who do not have to commit to long-term contracts and expensive health care plans for their employees. By making workers consider themselves as their own companies or entrepreneurs, this way of thinking also makes it less likely for them to come together and organise themselves as a group against their employer, because they are all in competition with each other (Read 28; van Doorn 359). Read sees neoliberalism as a “restoration