tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/pewdiepie-12793/articlesPewDiePie – The Conversation2019-04-03T13:32:14Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1147862019-04-03T13:32:14Z2019-04-03T13:32:14ZMrs Hinch and Zoella: how internet influencers shot to literary stardom – with a very outdated view of women<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267303/original/file-20190403-177167-6t7uwq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mrs Hinch, domestic wunderkind. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BvYsDeIHSEA/">Mrshinchhome</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>She has a cockerspaniel called Henry <a href="https://www.hellomagazine.com/homes/2019032071098/mrs-hinch-facts-about-the-instagram-cleaning-star/">and would</a> rather sew than go out clubbing. Barely a year ago, she was an unknown hairdresser from Essex in the south-east of England. Now Mrs Hinch – aka Sophie Hinchliffe – is an internet sensation, famous for her super bubbly cleaning tips and her regular updates about her husband and imminent first child. </p>
<p>Whether Mrs Hinch is a major part of your life or you’ve never heard of her before, the 29-year-old has certainly made her mark. The interior design and cleaning enthusiast, who rarely even appears in her posts, has built more than two million Instagram followers. Her debut book, <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/313939/hinch-yourself-happy/9780241399750/">Hinch Yourself Happy</a>, published on April 4, <a href="https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/worklife/a26387793/buy-mrs-hinchs-book/">has become</a> a bestseller on the strength of pre-orders alone. She’s one of numerous social media stars to convert a big online audience into mammoth book sales. So where does this publishing phenomenon go from here?</p>
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<h2>The new heavyweights</h2>
<p>YouTube stars such as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCF5UrKfIq5ap9skGOgm4W7w">Alfie Deyes</a>, Felix Kjellberg (aka <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-lHJZR3Gqxm24_Vd_AJ5Yw">PewDiePie</a>) and Zoe Sugg (aka <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWRV5AVOlKJR1Flvgt310Cw">Zoella</a>) have all achieved something similar over the past half decade. Deyes’ first book, <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/the-pointless-book/alfie-deyes/9781905825905">The Pointless Book</a>, sold over 100,000 copies in the two months following its release in 2014 and has since grown to three volumes. </p>
<p>Sugg’s debut novel Girl Online, aimed at young adults, was published by Penguin the same year. <a href="https://www.thebookseller.com/news/zoella-smashes-first-week-d-record">It beat</a> first week sales records for a debut novel, surpassing writers such as JK Rowling, Dan Brown and EL James. Sugg, who is in a relationship with Deyes, has since followed up with two sequels and a non-fiction book on lifestyle self-improvement called <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/cordially-invited/zoe-sugg/9781473687776">Cordially Invited</a>, which came out last autumn. </p>
<p>Interestingly, Sugg and Hinchliffe share the same management agency, <a href="https://www.gleamfutures.com">Gleam Futures</a>. Clearly recognising the power of social media celebrity in publishing, the agency founded literary division <a href="https://www.gleamtitles.com">Gleam Titles</a> in 2017. Here are Sugg and Deyes appearing at the same time, talking about their future together:</p>
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<p>Felix Kjellberg, who vlogs on gaming, has a connection with Hinchliffe as well – in 2015 he signed a one-book deal with Penguin’s Michael Joseph imprint, which is publishing Hinch Yourself Happy. Kjellberg’s book is called <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/this-book-loves-you/felix-kjellberg/pewdiepie/9781405924382">This Book Loves You</a>, a self-help parody, which reached <a href="https://www.tubefilter.com/2015/11/03/pewdiepie-this-book-loves-you-new-york-times-best-seller/">number one</a> of the New York Times bestseller list. He has also launched computer games and clothing brands, while becoming increasingly controversial for his alt-right views. Most notoriously, his PewDiePie vlog was endorsed by the gunman in the Christchurch mosque attack (Kjellberg <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/15/technology/pewdiepie-new-zealand-shooting.html">hastily</a> distanced himself from the murderer afterwards). </p>
<h2>Publishing and celebrity</h2>
<p>The jury is out on where PewDiePie goes from here, but these social media stars’ audience numbers are manna to a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2009/nov/03/al-kennedy-fiction-writing">risk-averse</a> industry such as publishing. Hinchliffe’s Instagram page has grown by 500,000 followers in the first three months of 2019 alone. Her book was only announced in early December following an <a href="https://www.thebookseller.com/news/mrs-hinch-signs-mj-after-11-way-auction-917271">11-way auction</a>. </p>
<p>This is just an extension of the same game publishers have been playing with celebrity appeal for decades. Witness, for instance, the way in which children’s publishing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/22/celebrity-deals-childrens-authors-publishing">has been invaded</a> by the likes of comedians David Walliams and Russell Brand, football manager <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/author/frank-lampard/50452">Frank Lampard</a> and former pop star <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/127066/tom-fletcher.html">Tom Fletcher</a> – often to <a href="http://joannechocolat.tumblr.com/post/165930544401/on-childrens-fiction-and-the-happy-meal-of">objections</a> from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/oct/02/childrens-authors-slam-celebrity-heavy-world-book-day-lineup">authors</a> who have built up their names the hard way. </p>
<p>Social media celebrities can easily fall prey to the same kinds of criticisms. Sugg’s literary prowess was questioned, for example, when it was revealed that children’s author Siobhan Curham helped write her debut novel. The problem, according to <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/zoella-theres-nothing-wrong-with-hiring-a-ghost-writer-as-long-as-you-admit-it-9910453.html">one commentator</a>, when her whole brand had been “built on being authentic”. Sugg ended up <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/08/zoella-bestselling-girl-online-written-siobhan-curham-zoe-sugg">taking time away</a> from social media to recover. </p>
<p>Yet Sugg has had another bumpy ride with highly anticipated lifestyle and home tips book <a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/cordially-invited/zoe-sugg/9781473687776">Cordially Invited</a>. <a href="https://www.thebookseller.com/news/zoella-moves-hodder-first-non-fiction-737401">Pitched as</a> a “blueprint for making an event and a memory out of each day”, the lavishly illustrated hardback received mixed reviews from <a href="https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a24787775/fans-slamming-zoellas-new-book-cordially-invited/">readers</a> and <a href="https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/books/2018/12/zoella-s-cordially-invited-reviewed-woman-she-blocked-twitter">reviewers</a>. Many saw it as little more than a marketing ploy designed to extract more money from fans. </p>
<p>There’s also something uncomfortable in 2019 about women like Sugg and Hinchliffe building businesses in this lifestyle territory. When Hinchliffe <a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/139599/mrs-hinch.html">promises</a> to offer readers: “All the best cleaning tips to shine your sink and soothe your soul”, it could be a time machine to the 1950s. It’s similar to TV personality Anthea Turner’s foray into publishing a few years ago – then host of BBC show <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006t7rt/episodes/guide">The Perfect Housewife</a>, Turner released a series of how-to books, such as How to Be the Perfect Housewife – Entertain in Style, and How to Be the Perfect Housewife – Lessons in the Art of Modern Household Management. </p>
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<p>It all perpetuates a very old-fashioned and highly problematic view of femininity and domestic labour. It is particularly jarring to see such books emerge via new media, when these platforms have the potential to overturn old norms and ideas. It’s not out of step with the <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-349-24962-6_6">conduct literature</a> of the 18th century, which was dedicated to educating the reader – usually young women – on the social standards of the time. It’s funny how you can join platforms such as Instagram in search of the future and find yourself catapulted back to the past. </p>
<p>Publishing remains as susceptible to the celebrity spin-off as it always was. Some imprints will presumably get burned when this influencer-cum-author bubble inevitably bursts. In the meantime, I won’t be enlisting for the <a href="https://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/wellbeing/mrs-hinch-best-cleaning-tips-products-444587">Hinch Army</a> any time soon.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114786/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stevie Marsden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Hinch Army of domestic goddesses seems more Women’s Institute than the future of media.Stevie Marsden, Research Associate, CAMEo Research Institute for Cultural and Media Economies, University of LeicesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1010372018-10-04T20:04:27Z2018-10-04T20:04:27ZSocial media entertainment could be the future of the screen industry, so let’s not strangle it with regulation<p>Until 2010, the pathway to success in the screen industry depended on convincing broadcasters and film producers to give to you airtime or production resources. These days, all you need is an internet connection and a laptop or smartphone.</p>
<p>A new creative industry has been born in the last decade called “social media entertainment”. It’s peopled by young entertainers and activists who you may never have heard of: Hank Green, Casey Neistadt, PewDiePie and Tyler Oakley.</p>
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<span class="caption">PewDiePie on a panel with fellow creators at a gaming culture festival in 2015.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/camknows/20447150413">camknows/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>These creators started out as amateurs, but have evolved into media professionals who make money from content they publish on social media platforms. They are incubating their own media brands, building global fan communities, and enhancing Australia’s profile among young people around the world.</p>
<p>The Australian government is currently conducting separate inquiries into the <a href="https://www.communications.gov.au/australian-childrens-screen-content-review">future of film and television content</a> in this country, and the <a href="https://www.accc.gov.au/focus-areas/inquiries/digital-platforms-inquiry">market effects of digital platforms</a>. Any decisions we make in these domains could affect social media entertainment, so it’s critically important we understand the industry lest we inadvertently strangle it as it’s just getting started.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-social-media-stars-are-fighting-for-the-left-71691">How social media stars are fighting for the Left</a>
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<h2>The Australian market is growing</h2>
<p><a href="https://nyupress.org/books/9781479846894/">Social media entertainment</a> emerged soon after Google acquired YouTube in 2006 – around the same time as the launch of Twitter, and their counterparts in China, Youku and Weibo.</p>
<p>It can be a lucrative profession. More than three million YouTube creators globally make money from the content they upload. Then there’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Twitch, among others. The larger the audiences, the more money to be made. In 2016, content creators earned more than <a href="http://www.recreatecoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ReCreate-Creative-Economy-Study-Report.pdf">US$5.9 billion across nine digital and social media platforms</a> in the United States alone. </p>
<p>The majority of the highest paid creators are based in the US, but popular Australian creators include the Van Vuuren brothers, Wengie, and the SketchShe group. <a href="https://www.alphabeta.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Google_Bigger-Picture-Report_Dec2016.pdf">Estimates suggest</a> the number of content creators in Australia has more than doubled in the last 15 years. That increase is almost entirely driven by an extra 230,000 creators of online video content entering the industry. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">SketchShe’s ‘Mime Through Time Video’ has been viewed more than 42 million times.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>A new kind of revenue model</h2>
<p>Social media entertainment is certainly part of the gig economy. It’s inherently unstable, with huge growth over a ten year period. But the business models of social media entertainment have undergone fundamental changes during that time.</p>
<p>Creators have learned how to manage risk by diversifying their offerings in response to platform competition. For example, instead of making money from a single source – such as advertising income from YouTube – creators now earn revenue from multiple sources, including merchandising, licensing, crowdfunding and live appearances. </p>
<p>One of the biggest changes has been the rise of the “influencer” making money from brand integration. For example, when an Instagram star is paid to post pictures of themselves using a company’s product.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-copyright-law-is-holding-back-australian-creators-91390">How copyright law is holding back Australian creators</a>
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<p>Successful creators of social media entertainment engage in a model of entrepreneurial practice that pays as much, if not more, attention to building and maintaining a subscriber community as they do to actually creating content. These fan communities are passionate enough to follow creators through thick and thin. And feedback is in real time, constant, fulsome and often confronting. This includes negatives, such as trolling.</p>
<p>Every kind of revenue model in this practice depends on activated community support. Mainstream arts, culture and screen industries, with all their talk of audience building, have a lot to learn about this from creators. </p>
<p>Of course, this takes a lot of work. Creators often upload content several times weekly, build and maintain their communities, deal with the vagaries of algorithms, and risk-manage their authenticity with demanding brands, and even more demanding communities. But still they enter the industry, in their thousands.</p>
<h2>A new kind of engagement</h2>
<p>It’s premature to bracket social media entertainment in the same category as traditional entertainment formats, such as film, television, print and radio – all of which are subject to Australian content regulation or receive public subsidy. Nevertheless, there’s still a lot for industry, policymakers and regulators to get their heads around.</p>
<p>One difficulty is where to draw the line between amateur creators and professionals, which isn’t always clear. Taste and quality are firmly in the eye of the beholder when it comes to screen content. But to be useful for policy makers, debates about quality need a much stronger dose of demand-side thinking. It’s not only about the quality of the content, but also the quality and diversity of engagement.</p>
<p>The younger generation has largely switched off from linear television. But these young people, from eight to 22 years of age, constitute a huge video market – around 20% of the Australian population.</p>
<p>Social media entertainment engages this demographic. It also provides production and career building opportunity for new voices. That includes young, culturally, racially and ethnically diverse creators and audiences – most of whom have never been near a screen production course or a funding agency.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/rude-comments-online-are-a-reality-we-cant-get-away-from-34560">Rude comments online are a reality we can’t get away from</a>
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<p>And there is a lot of social innovation practice going on. For example, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerdfighteria">Nerdfighters</a> is a global online community of young people that sprung up around a YouTube video series. Several thousand Australians are Nerdfighters, who often get together in real life to support each other.</p>
<p>Social media entertainers have arguably achieved levels of entrepreneurial professionalisation greater than many mainstream screen businesses. So it’s a mistake to perpetuate the “us professionals” versus “them amateurs” line, even if, for regulatory purposes, you have to draw the line somewhere.</p>
<h2>Supporting content creators</h2>
<p>There has been a great deal of movement globally around screen, broadcasting and arts agency support for social media entertainment. And support and enablement programs in this arena can afford to be more immediately responsive and experimental due to much lower production costs. </p>
<p>In 2016, RackaRacka, run out of Adelaide by brothers Danny and Michael Philippou, were <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2016/11-11-skip-ahead-2016">beneficiaries</a> of the <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/funding-and-support/television-and-online/production/special-initiatives/skip-ahead">Skip Ahead program</a>. By then, their work making action-packed videos full of choreographed fight scenes, comic violence, and pop culture references was already reaching a wide audience. Their <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNlLAp2OGi8">Marvel VS DC video</a> alone boasted some 37 million views (it now has nearly 60 million). </p>
<p>Graeme Mason, the CEO of Screen Australia, has described RackaRacka as Australia’s most <a href="https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/screen-news/2016/11-16-the-good-the-bad-the-possible">successful content creators</a>, and they were <a href="https://www.afr.com/brand/afr-magazine/the-10-most-influential-people-in-australian-culture-in-2017-20170814-gxvlzn">rated</a> 5th on Australia’s Cultural Power Index in 2017, ahead of screen icon, Nicole Kidman.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">RackaRacka’s Marvel VS DC video has had almost 60 million views on YouTube.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>How social media regulation could hurt</h2>
<p>The big digital platforms that host these creators have been a provocative influence in the Australian communications and cultural policy space, to say the least. We have now entered a new era of potential regulatory oversight of the platforms.</p>
<p>While it’s not at all clear what benefits regulation might bestow on social media entertainment, it is abundantly clear how it could harm it.</p>
<p>Let’s not forget the “<a href="http://adage.com/article/digital/pewdiepie-declares-adpocalypse-youtube-makes-rules/308591/">adpocalypse</a>” and its unintended, but very unfortunate, consequences. In 2017, the revenue streams of numerous creators were lost when Google and Facebook changed the rules around the kinds of videos that could be monetised. It was done in response to some major brands withdrawing their advertising from the platforms after their ads were sometimes placed by algorithms beside extremist content.</p>
<p>RackaRacka’s content was caught up in the adpocalypse and the brothers lost hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue. They are now in Los Angeles pursuing international opportunities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/art-activism-and-our-creative-future-46185">Art, activism and our creative future</a>
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<h2>Policymakers should tread carefully</h2>
<p>The rapid response of the platforms was necessary to protect their major advertisers, but the consequences demonstrate how seemingly minor policy decisions can have widespread detrimental effects on this nascent industry, and the people driving it.</p>
<p>In media policy, we need better demand-side understanding of what young people have substituted for linear television. In screen support policy, we need greater attention to business model innovation, some of which must be modelled on social media entertainment. </p>
<p>We must take these creators seriously. With better recognition and support, the new voices found in social media entertainment will help to secure the generational future of Australian screen</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/101037/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stuart Cunningham receives funding from the Australian Research Council (DP160100086) to conduct research on which this article is based.</span></em></p>Social media entertainers are creative, entrepreneurial and masters at building the communities that support them. But regulations currently under review could strangle this nascent industry.Stuart Cunningham, Distinguished Professor, Media and Communication, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/907152018-02-07T10:36:05Z2018-02-07T10:36:05ZWhy it’s harder than ever to make money on YouTube<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205077/original/file-20180206-14083-yt2fh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">YouTuber Logan Paul and his Mum. He gave her US$10,000 cash for Christmas.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcs75MLhzsU&t=1s">Logan Paul Vlogs/YouTube</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Following several <a href="https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/the-biggest-youtube-scandals-of-all-time.html/?a=viewall">high profile scandals</a>, YouTube is tightening the rules around its partner programme – raising the requirements vloggers have to meet to be able to monetise their videos.</p>
<p>This means that for creators to make money from YouTube – and have ads attached to videos – they must have clocked up over 4,000 hours of watch time on their channel within the past 12 months. </p>
<p>Channels must also have at least 1,000 subscribers. Channels that don’t have these numbers will simply no longer be able to make income from ads. This change will effectively make it harder for new, smaller channels and hobbyists to be able to make money on YouTube. </p>
<p>It’s not surprising then that these tighter ad rules have been met with <a href="http://teneightymagazine.com/2018/02/04/youtube-partnership-program-changes-how-will-smaller-youtubers-survive/">dismay by many YouTubers</a> – who feel the changes are an unfair reaction to a small number of high profile events.</p>
<h2>Bad actors</h2>
<p>The main reasons for the changes are the widespread concerns about YouTube’s ability to regulate its content. And more specifically, monitor what content is inappropriate for adverts to appear on. </p>
<p>Brands such as <a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2017/11/26/mars-adidas-and-lidl-among-brands-have-pulled-ads-youtube-light-paedophilia-fears">Lidl and Mars</a> left the platform in 2017, due to their ads appearing next to videos with predatory comments. Earlier in the year, <a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/wal-mart-pepsi-and-dish-pull-youtube-ads-over-hateful-videos-google-alphabet-antisemitism/">Pepsi and Walmart</a> left because of concerns about hate speech. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205065/original/file-20180206-14096-kruedo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205065/original/file-20180206-14096-kruedo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205065/original/file-20180206-14096-kruedo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205065/original/file-20180206-14096-kruedo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205065/original/file-20180206-14096-kruedo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205065/original/file-20180206-14096-kruedo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205065/original/file-20180206-14096-kruedo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Smaller YouTubers are concerned about how the changes will affect their channels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=b9vfkJbA4Ml3CWnOuQV6Vw-1-9">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Take the popular gaming vlogger PewDiePie, for example, who sparked outrage after he was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/11/pewdiepie-racism-youtube-games-industry">caught</a> uttering racist slurs back in 2017. Then there was prank vlogger Logan Paul’s video showing the body of a suicide victim in Aokigahara, Japan’s “suicide forest”, while he laughed uncomfortably. The video has since been removed. </p>
<h2>Content creators</h2>
<p>A lot of the outrage around these types of videos is the fact that they court a young viewership. This has led <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/jan/09/how-childrens-tv-went-from-blue-peter-to-youtube-wild-west">commentators</a> to question what types of media are acceptable and where the boundaries of this acceptability lie.</p>
<p>The content made by vloggers like the Paul brothers works very successfully alongside YouTube’s algorithms, so they are promoted widely by the platform. They post daily, their content is meme-saturated and self-referential, and they constantly “beef” with each other and other vloggers.</p>
<p>YouTube <a href="https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/6299733?hl=en-GB">rewards</a> these kinds of videos, as they keep viewers on the platform for longer. Logan Paul and his brother (who is also a vlogger) also receive tangible support from YouTube and were the centrepiece of 2017’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlsCjmMhFmw">YouTube Rewind</a> – an annual star-studded music video. </p>
<h2>Everything in moderation</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2018/01/logan-paul-youtube-apology">Vanity Fair</a> paints YouTube as a kind of Matryoshka doll of vlogging nightmares, threatening content creators will worsen, until they are “all there is” left in culture. Similarly, <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/4/16850798/logan-paul-youtube-social-media-twitch-moderation">The Verge</a> claimed these videos would “never pass muster at a traditional outlet”. </p>
<p>But from where I’m sitting, these videos are a lot like the TV show Jackass – which was on MTV between 2000 and 2002. The <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/lists/jackass-gang-on-their-12-most-outrageous-stunts-20151001">show</a> featured self-injuring stunts including inserting a toy car into one cast member’s anus, snorting wasabi, and tattooing in a moving off-road vehicle. The show was broadcast before 10pm, prior to a <a href="http://ew.com/article/2001/01/31/senator-joe-lieberman-wants-mtv-cancel-jackass/">campaign</a> led by US Senator Joe Lieberman to remove it. </p>
<p>Jackass then moved from broadcast to a movie franchise, which allowed more outrageous stunts to be released – under an 18 rating in the UK. </p>
<p>For the Jackass crew, the question of suitability appeared to be solved by age restriction. Presumably, though, another factor in moving towards film were protests from advertisers – Jackass had become too hot for broadcast commercial viability. </p>
<h2>Money talks</h2>
<p>YouTube says it will be talking to high profile creators on the platform to hear their ideas and prevent future scandals. But YouTube also <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-42768180">maintains</a> it should not be regulated in the same way as broadcasters, saying it’s a platform that distributes content. </p>
<p>In blogs published by YouTube’s CEO Susan Wojcicki on the topic of the new regulations, it is advertisers and loss of revenue that are foregrounded. And in this way, it seems it is <a href="https://youtube.googleblog.com/2017/12/expanding-our-work-against-abuse-of-our.html">consistently</a> <a href="https://youtube-creators.googleblog.com/2018/01/additional-changes-to-youtube-partner.html">advertisers’</a> reactions that are invoked as the yard stick for measuring acceptability.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205066/original/file-20180206-14083-zj3wj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/205066/original/file-20180206-14083-zj3wj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205066/original/file-20180206-14083-zj3wj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205066/original/file-20180206-14083-zj3wj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205066/original/file-20180206-14083-zj3wj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205066/original/file-20180206-14083-zj3wj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/205066/original/file-20180206-14083-zj3wj8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">YouTube Space, in Kings Cross, London, which provides collaboration and production facilities for YouTubers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=b9vfkJbA4Ml3CWnOuQV6Vw-2-51">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>YouTube already offers advertisers the opportunity to withdraw from advertising on some videos – such as LGBTQ content or discussions of mental health – if it doesn’t sit well alongside a brand’s message. It was revealed last year that this can sometimes then lead to content being <a href="https://www.autostraddle.com/why-is-youtube-demonetizing-lgbtqia-videos-395058/">demonetised</a>. In other words, the creator does not receive a share of ad revenue for that video. </p>
<h2>Drawing the line</h2>
<p>Of course, YouTube is funded by advertisers. So it makes sense to pay attention to their wants and desires. But under the current model, brands’ reactions are often a placeholder for third party regulation. And at the moment – as content creators are sketching the line for appropriate content – it is often advertisers who have the final say about acceptability.</p>
<p>So while viewers might want LGBT wedding vow videos, discussions about sexual health, and documentaries about suicide prevention, the reality is that some brands don’t want to be associated with these subjects. </p>
<p>This goes against what has drawn many audiences to the platform in the first place. YouTube has a history of LGBT acceptance – being the home of the “<a href="https://itgetsbetter.org/">it gets better</a>” videos, in which celebrities and public figures tell their coming out stories. Many people have also spoken about how YouTube’s videos on <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-c1-trans-video-diaries-20140122-m-story.html">transitioning</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/dec/17/youtube-celebrities-zoella-beat-depression">mental health</a> helped them greatly. So given this, it is hoped that going forward, YouTube also remembers to pay attention to their communities and audiences as well as the big brands and content creators.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90715/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophie Bishop does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Will YouTube’s new ad rules close down niche vlogs?Sophie Bishop, PhD Candidate, Arts Technology and Innovation, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/839272017-10-04T10:03:41Z2017-10-04T10:03:41ZBeauty for girls, pranks for boys – it’s the same old gender stereotypes for YouTube stars<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/188633/original/file-20171003-4693-16ejqc5.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">YouTube stars Zoella and PewDiePie. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">YouTube</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>We are living in an age where becoming a full-time YouTuber is now a credible career option. So much so that a recent survey found that <a href="http://www.tubefilter.com/2017/05/24/most-desired-career-young-people-youtube/">34% of young people</a> consider it a dream job. </p>
<p>Famous YouTube stars include Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg – better known by his online pseudonym <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/PewDiePie?gl=GB&hl=en-GB">PewDiePie</a> – a Swedish web-based comedian and video producer. </p>
<p>PewDiePie has been in the headlines recently because despite having 57m subscribers, he has faced <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/sep/11/pewdiepie-youtube-racist-developer-campo-santo-backlash-felix-kjellberg">a backlash</a> against his <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/15/youtube-pewdiepie-thinks-death-to-all-jews-joke-laughing-yet">use</a> of racist slurs. </p>
<p>Then there is the sweetness that is Zoella – real name Zoe Suggs – a beauty vlogging sensation. Her perky “Hi guys” greeting, pug dog, make-up tips and rose-gold aesthetics have made her a household name with teenagers across the world. And this popularity has seen her publish three books, sell a <a href="https://www.superdrug.com/microsite/zoella-beauty-range">line of make-up in Superdrug</a>, and have her name featured as the punchline on TV sitcoms such as Peep Show and Gilmore Girls. She is, as they say, à la mode. </p>
<p>These two YouTubers are united by their rags to riches origin stories – they both created their own success from their bedrooms. Pewdiepie grew his gaming channel after dropping out of university in 2011 – the story goes that he initially funded himself by selling hot dogs. Zoella, meanwhile, started her beauty blog during a boring internship. </p>
<p>Both these stars are often held up as examples of how platforms like YouTube have shaken up pathways to media entrepreneurship. And with the next generation poised at the keyboard, a crop of vlogging schools, such as <a href="https://tubers.uk/">Tubers Academy in Exeter</a>, have recently sprung up to help young people achieve their <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/youtubegoals">#YouTubeGoals</a>. </p>
<p>But despite these new age entrepreneurs making huge waves in the video world, it seems this new media wonderland has the same old glass ceiling and pay gap of yore. </p>
<h2>Women on top?</h2>
<p>In this way, most YouTube vlogs in the UK replicate stereotypical gender roles and themes that have long existed in the rest of the media. Zoella is a woman, and a beauty vlogger – she is sweetness and light with no hint of any controversy or scandal. PewDiePie, on the other hand, is a man who has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons, while making videos about gaming and comedy. </p>
<p>Similarly, the most popular male vloggers, also make a diverse range of content covering science, comedy, animation and “prank” vlogs. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BWseOEEAS-g/?taken-by=zoella","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>To analyse these trends more fully, I used <a href="https://socialblade.com/youtube/top/country/gb">SocialBlade</a> to identify the 30 most subscribed to YouTube vlogging channels in the UK. PewDiePie doesn’t count, because despite living in Brighton, he has listed his channel as based in the US. </p>
<p>I found that only six of these 30 channels are run by people identified as female, and four of these female identified vloggers are babies and children. So, of the 30 most subscribed to vlogs in the UK, only two are run by adult women. In fact, they are run by the same adult woman, they are Zoella’s first and second YouTube channels. </p>
<p>Zoella has recognised this solitary positioning in the most visible ranks of YouTube, telling Blogosphere magazine in 2016:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When it comes to a YouTube UK female, the spotlight is on me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The second most popular woman below Zoella is another beauty vlogger with the same management, <a href="https://www.tanyaburr.co.uk/">Tanya Burr</a>, who has 3.7m subscribers – a third of Zoella’s 12m followers. </p>
<h2>Gender pay gap</h2>
<p>Of course, being a YouTuber can mean big money for some stars – and <a href="http://www.instyle.co.uk/celebrity/news/zoella-net-worth">recent reports</a> estimate that Zoella earns on average £50,000 a month. But despite these high numbers, in her new book studying influencer employment, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300218176/not-getting-paid-do-what-you-love">Brooke Erin Duffy suggests</a> that only eight per cent of fashion, beauty and lifestyle bloggers make enough money to actually live on. This means that most beauty vloggers are probably supplementing their income, or working part time to make ends meet. </p>
<p>On the other hand, the most famous male YouTubers are much more likely to helm channels that bring in millions of views. Gaming videos can be turned around quickly, so these channels can amass a huge volume of content, which YouTube’s algorithm treats favourably. They can also land lucrative sponsorships – British gaming vlogger <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KSI_(entertainer)">Olajide William Olatunji</a>, otherwise known as KSI, has partnered with Kellogs and Puma. Minecraft vlogger <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DanTDM">Dan Middleton</a> (Dan TDM) has a range of action figures entitled <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Heroes-Diamond-Dimension-Figure-Multi-Colour/dp/B01M12T6ML">Tube Heroes</a>. </p>
<p>On YouTube specifically, Google purposefully maintains an air of mystery around the income of creators in the “Partner Program” – these are the YouTubers able to monetise their videos. But estimates show it isn’t much – coming in at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2014/jul/20/beauty-bloggers-changing-makeup-industry">£1 to £4 per 1,000 views</a>. So although this inequality is affecting top vloggers, they are the limited few that are doing this professionally. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/BNfE4eBDFkn/?taken-by=pewdiepie","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>For female vloggers, the ability to grow channels which aren’t about beauty doesn’t seem to be as easy. And when they do, it’s often considered niche. One example is <a href="https://www.thebookpeople.co.uk/blog/index.php/tag/book-tube/">Book Tube</a>, a genre of (mostly female) vloggers discussing all things literature. But even the most popular book tubers have full time jobs, meaning a lot of labour is undertaken for free. </p>
<p>What all this shows is that despite the apparent democratic potential of new media platforms like YouTube, the stubbornness of gender stereotypes and inequality persist. Not a lot has changed, then, from the traditional magazine racks – where women’s magazines are about beauty and fashion and men’s magazine’s focus on technology, gaming and music.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/83927/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sophie Bishop does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Old-fashioned gender stereotypes are rife on YouTube.Sophie Bishop, PhD Candidate, Arts Technology and Innovation, University of East LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/732632017-02-20T19:14:53Z2017-02-20T19:14:53ZPewDiePie, new media stars and the court of public opinion<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157455/original/image-20170220-15917-vdc97e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">PewDiePie apologises in a video blog last week.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">You Tube</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>PewDiePie is the username of the world’s most famous YouTube video blogger, 27-year-old Swede, Felix Kjellberg. PewDiePie’s vlogs, centred on his comedic video game commentaries, attract more than 53 million (mostly young) subscribers – more than any other YouTube channel. He was ranked by Forbes in December as the world’s <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/pewdiepie-youtube-highest-paid-2016-forbes-list-roman-atwood-tyler-oakley-lilly-singh-a7458191.html">highest paid YouTuber</a>, with an income of US$15m in 2016.</p>
<p>But on January 11, a PewDiePie vlog showed two South Asian men holding up a placard proclaiming, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/02/14/pewdiepie-youtubes-most-popular-star-dropped-by-disney-over-anti-semitic-jokes/?utm_term=.7b9b5421693e">“DEATH TO ALL JEWS”</a>. The pair danced and laughed while on a separate screen, Kjellberg, who had reportedly paid the men to hold up the sign via the freelance employment site Fiverr, feigned disbelief. “I’m not anti-Semitic or whatever it’s called,” he said as he watched. “It was a funny meme, and I didn’t think it would work.”</p>
<p>After the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-severs-ties-with-youtube-star-pewdiepie-after-anti-semitic-posts-1487034533">Wall Street Journal reported on the video</a> - a month later - there was an outcry on social media. Soon after, Disney and YouTube severed their business ties with PewDiePie. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2017/02/16/an-attack-by-the-media-pewdiepie-apologizes-for-nazi-jokes-but-says-the-press-is-out-to-get-him/?utm_term=.496f52a8f4af">In a mea culpa</a> last week, he suggested it had been a piece of ironic performance art aimed at demonstrating the kinds of absurd things you could pay people to do online. “I know I offended people and I admit that the joke went too far,” he said. He also distanced himself from hate speech and acknowledged that he was a rookie comedian.</p>
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<p>Not intending to offend does not mean “jokes” are without <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/15/youtube-pewdiepie-thinks-death-to-all-jews-joke-laughing-yet">consequences</a>, but it’s important to draw this distinction: PewDiePie’s stunt was clearly a dubious attempt at provocative humour rather than a call to violence against a historically-persecuted cultural group.</p>
<p>Still, amid mounting criticism of PewDiePie, the “alt right” has now heralded him a martyr to free speech and praised him for covertly pushing “<a href="http://www.salon.com/2017/02/16/is-youtube-sensation-pewdiepie-really-a-nazi-his-intentions-matter-less-than-his-effects/">Hitlerist magic</a>”. <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/disney-severs-ties-with-youtube-star-pewdiepie-after-anti-semitic-posts-1487034533">The Wall Street Journal</a> also identified eight other videos claiming to contain “wacky” anti-Semitic rhetoric across PewDiePie’s enormous body of work. These examples, however, are far from cut and dry - one is merely his describing oppressive YouTube policies as being Nazi-like.</p>
<p>Then in <a href="https://www.wired.com/2017/02/pewdiepie-racism-alt-right/">Wired</a> last week, Emma Grey Ellis expanded the indictment by citing instances of PewDiePie’s “playful” sexist and homophobic insults. Ellis argues that PewDiePie has “mastered” the art of concealing his bigotry behind the hazy distinctions in online discourse between sincerity and ironic humour. “He uses ‘gay’, ‘retard,’ and ‘autistic’ as playful insults,” she wrote. “He makes plenty of rape jokes. And he spews out all kinds of racist stuff, too.” But some nuance is needed amid this demonisation in the court of public opinion.</p>
<p>We have recently completed a study of YouTube gaming vloggers and their attitudes towards gender/sexuality. PewDiePie featured as one of three case studies. We selected the ten most popular videos from each vlogger in 2015-2016 and counted and analysed each instance of discussion about gender and sexuality. We chose the top ten videos for that year (out of a total of around 3,000 over PewDiePie’s career) as the most influential ones.</p>
<p>On questions of gender and sexuality, PewDiePie was the most inclusive. (The other two, VanossGaming and Sky Does Minecraft, were in no way particularly marginalising figures.) None expressed anything resembling racist views across the 30 videos studied. In terms of gender and sexuality, the overall picture was more complex, but not in PewDiePie’s case.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157445/original/image-20170220-15879-1wj2f4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157445/original/image-20170220-15879-1wj2f4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/157445/original/image-20170220-15879-1wj2f4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157445/original/image-20170220-15879-1wj2f4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157445/original/image-20170220-15879-1wj2f4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157445/original/image-20170220-15879-1wj2f4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157445/original/image-20170220-15879-1wj2f4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/157445/original/image-20170220-15879-1wj2f4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">PewDiePie at the Inaugural Social Star Awards in Singapore, 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Stephen Morrison/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Sexuality was certainly a focus of his humour - homosexuality, specifically - but the attitudes he expressed were of solidarity. To give an example, in one video he sampled a text-based “indie” game that simulates online chat between the user and an offensive 12-year-old boy. The game represented a wry interactive commentary on misogyny and homophobia online. PewDiePie used his typed retorts to highlight the anxieties that can often underpin homophobic statements.</p>
<p>In PewDiePie’s most popular videos we found no instances of sexism, nor of the feminising discourse men have traditionally used to dominate other men. The only gendered figure of fun in the videos of all three vloggers was the archetype of hypermasculinity exemplified by contact sporting heroes and action film stars. These vloggers seemed mainly interested in lampooning the tired expectations of their own heteromasculinity.</p>
<p>How do we square our picture with the media’s more recent take on PewDiePie? The answer is we probably can’t. The difficult truth here is that masculinities are in a state of transition, a phenomenon that is being increasingly identified in a range of contexts – such as in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-4446.12055/full">schools</a>, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1468-4446.12237/full">sporting clubs</a> and <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0743558415607059">online</a>. </p>
<p>This transition involves the emergence of distinctly inclusive attitudes in larger numbers of hetero boys and young men, along with freer modes of homosocial affection, and easy friendships between gay and straight males. However, these exist alongside traditional and marginalising forms of masculinity. </p>
<p>Of course online behaviour may elicit heightened forms of expression that one might later come to regret - especially for young people, who are often experimenting with identity at least into <a href="http://jyd.pitt.edu/ojs/jyd/article/view/359">their late 20s</a>.</p>
<p>And growing up online is a particular kind of context – the process is often recorded, and then judged by peers and older “moral superiors”. PewDiePie might be a privileged celebrity, but he’s also one of a crop of young “new amateurs” experiencing a form of fame as unprecedented as rock stardom was to Elvis or The Beatles.</p>
<p>We don’t want to diminish the impact of PewDiePie’s actions, and we absolutely don’t want to play apologists. And it is possible to be progressive in relation to gender or sexuality but still be racist or anti-Semitic. However, in the interests of social change, it’s better that we try to understand and educate, rather than simply and quickly demonise.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73263/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Roberts has previously received several funding grants from the UK's Economic and Social Research Council, as well as research funds from both Boroondara City Council and the Committee for Echuca Moama.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcus Maloney does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The world’s most famous YouTube vlogger has been at the centre of a media storm over perceived anti-Semitism. But amid the demonisation, some nuance is needed.Steven Roberts, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Monash UniversityMarcus Maloney, Teaching Associate in Sociology, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/326812014-10-10T03:49:59Z2014-10-10T03:49:59ZYouTube games star PewDiePie is playing for global dominance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61223/original/rn7g8pky-1412824085.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kjellberg argues his low-budget method is a 'winning concept'.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">YouTube.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Does the name Felix Kjellberg sound familiar? How about PewDiePie? … Still nothing? Clearly you’re not one of the 31 million subscribers to YouTube’s most successful channel, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/PewDiePie">PewDiePie</a>, starring 24-year-old Swedish videogame commentator Felix Kjellberg.</p>
<p>In an interview with <a href="http://iconmagazine.se/artiklar/stories-in-english/powerful-swede-world-2/">Icon Magazine</a> for its November edition, only months after American multi-channel network (MCN) <a href="http://www.makerstudios.com">Maker Studios</a> released the official <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id900721552?mt=8">PewDiePie app</a>, Kjellberg hinted at the idea of not renewing his contract with the MCN at the end of the year. <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/06/youtube-pewdiepie-multi-channel-network">Rumours have since spread</a> that Kjellberg will establish his own MCN and potentially sign other like-minded YouTubers.</p>
<h2>Why all the fuss?</h2>
<p>Icon Magazine says Kjellberg is “<a href="http://iconmagazine.se/artiklar/stories-in-english/powerful-swede-world-2/">the most powerful Swede in the world</a>”, reportedly earning <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/youtube-star-plays-videogames-earns-4-million-a-year-1402939896">US$4 million dollars</a> a year from advertising revenue. In August this year the channel topped the <a href="http://www.tubefilter.com/2014/09/30/top-100-most-viewed-youtube-channels-worldwide-august-2014/">100 Most Popular Viewed YouTube Channels</a> for the sixth month in a row, with more views than pop stars Katy Perry and Nicki Minaj.</p>
<p>Kjellberg takes a different approach to the often bland videogame walkthroughs, with the addition of a comedic flair. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MkXVM6ad9nI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Funny montage #2 on channel PewDiePie.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Arguably the videos are standalone entertainment, regardless of whether you are interested in the games. They aren’t the most popular video games – Kjellberg focuses on “<a href="http://iconmagazine.se/artiklar/stories-in-english/powerful-swede-world-2/">the really terrible games</a>”, arguing that the more popular games “<a href="http://iconmagazine.se/artiklar/stories-in-english/powerful-swede-world-2/">result in boring videos</a>”.</p>
<p>Kjellberg’s videos do have an effect on game sales with Slender, Goat Simulator and Flappy Birds all reporting increased sales after appearing on the PewDiePie channel. Kjellberg explains: “<a href="http://iconmagazine.se/artiklar/stories-in-english/powerful-swede-world-2/">I just want to play the games, not influence sales</a>”.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.makerstudios.com">Maker Studios</a>, the MCN Kjellberg’s currently signed with, manages 55,000 YouTube channels, <a href="http://www.makerstudios.com/makers">offering assistance</a> in “development, production, promotion, distribution, sales, marketing, access to royalty free music for content creation, and custom merchandise solutions”. </p>
<p>The studio has been extremely successful. In March it was sold to Disney for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/business/media/disney-buys-maker-studios-video-supplier-for-youtube.html?_r=1">US$950 million</a>. This was followed by the launch of <a href="http://www.maker.tv">Maker.tv</a>, which changed the focus of the company by adding <a href="http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/maker-studios-launches-maker-tv-tees-up-original-series-from-morgan-spurlock-and-youtube-stars-1201173296/">original premium content</a>, separate to YouTube. This will include content from documentary filmmaker <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1041597/">Morgan Spurlock</a>, most well know for <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0390521/">SuperSize Me</a> (2004), along with PewDiePie videos.</p>
<h2>Low production values and a niche audience</h2>
<p>Maker Studio’s success highlights an interesting comparison between traditional television and the new online MCNs. </p>
<p>How does Kjellberg’s PewDiePie channel compare to traditional television?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61229/original/vdv92q9t-1412825493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61229/original/vdv92q9t-1412825493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61229/original/vdv92q9t-1412825493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61229/original/vdv92q9t-1412825493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61229/original/vdv92q9t-1412825493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61229/original/vdv92q9t-1412825493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61229/original/vdv92q9t-1412825493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/61229/original/vdv92q9t-1412825493.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=552&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg poses on the red carpet in Singapore last year at the inaugural Social Star Awards, billed as the Oscars for social media.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/ Stephen Morrison</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>PewDiePie’s 31 million subscribers outweighs <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/1647509ef7e25faaca2568a900154b63?opendocument">Australia’s population</a> by more than 7 million. Australia’s highest rating program for this year, the AFL Grand Final, had <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/media/grand-final-most-watched-show-of-2014/story-e6frg996-1227072950169">4 million viewers</a>. </p>
<p>In the United States the popular series The Big Bang Theory averages <a href="http://www.tvguide.com/news/most-watched-shows-2013-2014-1082628.aspx">23 million viewers per episode</a>. The most popular video on the PewDiePie channel, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRyPjRrjS34&list=UU-lHJZR3Gqxm24_Vd_AJ5Yw">A Funny Montage</a> (best not to view at work), currently has more the 57 million views. That’s more than 14-times that of the AFL Grand Final and double that of The Big Bang Theory. </p>
<p>While we must place this in context – TV ratings are associated with a single broadcast time period in comparison to the accumulative views of a YouTube video – the PewDiePie channel clearly demonstrates that low production values and niche programming can gain an audience, and in this case an audience far greater than commercial television. </p>
<p>Kjellberg argues his low budget method is a “<a href="http://iconmagazine.se/artiklar/stories-in-english/powerful-swede-world-2/">winning concept</a>”, adding that on YouTube “you can relate to the people you’re watching to a much higher degree than to the people you see on TV”.</p>
<h2>Impact on traditional television</h2>
<p>While some argue this shift in both the production and audience engagement of video media will lead to the <a href="http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2012/08/01/the-death-of-tv-5-reasons-people-are-fleeing-traditional-tv/">death of television</a>, this type of video content is yet to truly impact traditional forms of television. </p>
<p>In Australia, monthly viewing of television is more than <a href="http://www.oztam.com.au/documents/Other/Australian%20Multi-Screen%20Report%20Q1%202014_FINAL_2.pdf">93 hours</a>, in comparison to online video viewing on other devices (PC/Laptop, Mobile and Tablet), which is <a href="http://www.oztam.com.au/documents/Other/Australian%20Multi-Screen%20Report%20Q1%202014_FINAL_2.pdf">under 12 hours</a>. </p>
<p>Consider also that <a href="http://www.thinktv.com.au/media/Stats_&_Graphs/Penetration_of_Technology/TECHNOLOGY_IN_THE_HOME.pdf">99.7% of Australians</a> have a television at home, and almost two-thirds have two or more. In comparison, Australian homes with other platforms include: tablets (42%), smartphones (69%), internet access (80%).</p>
<p>To assist with the foreseen impact of online media, it’s unclear whether the recent approach by Australian commercial broadcasters to establish catch-up television services such as <a href="http://tenplay.com.au/">Ten Play</a> and the Nine Network’s <a href="http://www.jump-in.com.au/watch-now/">Jumpin</a> was the right one. This approach only repurposes broadcasted media, rather than producing specific online content. </p>
<p>As evidenced by the videos on channels such as PewDiePie, there are clearly no attempts to imitate time restrictions or frameworks of traditional television. </p>
<p>In Australia, about <a href="http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/455952/more_aussies_internet-ready_tvs_than_tablets/">33% of homes have internet-ready TVs</a>. As sales of smart televisions continue, the <a href="http://www.thevideoink.com/features/can-you-name-the-international-mcns/#.VDUNrkvI_d4">growing number</a> of MCNs will begin to gain access to a greater global audience. </p>
<p>Audiences will be able to access limitless content on a large screen in their lounge room, which raises the question: what are we going to do with it all?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32681/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc C-Scott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Does the name Felix Kjellberg sound familiar? How about PewDiePie? … Still nothing? Clearly you’re not one of the 31 million subscribers to YouTube’s most successful channel, PewDiePie, starring 24-year-old…Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Digital Media, Victoria UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.