Get Ready With Me: Gendered Interactions on YouTube

Date of Award

Spring 2019

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Rebecca Overmyer-Velázquez

Abstract

Literature on new media suggests that YouTube serves as a platform that offers much versatility for users. Through YouTube’s interactive style with creator and subscriber this research started with the premise that this media in particular which is unique with its make up of video user-generated content would be the best when looking at female viewer-producer interactions in beauty channels. This qualitative research project looked at the impact of YouTube as a unique platform that carries characteristics of a participatory community on the female culture feminist framework for women to “define and identify themselves as a meaningful unit in society” (Berit, 1975). It is known through previous research on the YouTube platforms to be uniquely influential across generations, backgrounds and interests being the most used application in 2018. This research can provide additional insight on the potential of media as an avenue for gendered group cohesiveness as an unconstrained space for political and social activity critical to the female culture feminist framework. Does this virtual platform where women create and share content create a recipe for a gendered group consciousness in YouTube? I argue that through the daily consumption, usage and popularity of these YouTube videos it creates an environment that encourages participation and support as a public space for a celebration of female practices where anyone has the potential to create and share their own production of image with less restrictions and filters. This research consisted of collecting data from three female lead YouTube channels with a total of 6 Get Ready With Me videos analyzed. The three YouTube vloggers or video bloggers selected were Jaclyn Hill, Nyma Tang and Nikkietutorials. This research applied content analysis on the amount of subscribers, comments and view quantities per video from selected vloggers to examine potential patterns in word usage and communication styles. Initial findings reveal that the quality and type of content of responses through comments vary between vloggers. Prevalent themes across all 150 comments contain subjects related to individual adversity, compliments on creative personality and style, and affinity with vlogger thus providing evidence that supports a joint narrative needed in female culture. Though this preliminary research has found that YouTube is a space that promotes the practice of a female culture and fosters participation, further research surrounding the appeal of vloggers and the marketability of personality need to be explored in order to capture what interests the youth generation into following the lives of popular culture figures.

Comments

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