The You in YouTube:

The Emergence of Collective

Identity Formation Through Online
Video Sharing

Debora Lui
With help from Huma Yusuf
Media in Transition 5, MIT, 2007
C3 and YouTube

• Looking at YouTube from an

industry perspective
• What are user activities on
the site? What are the
videos on the site?
• Looked at 100 Most
Discussed/Favorited/
Rated/Popular videos
• Around 40% of the Most
Discussed videos were video
logs (vlogs)
 Press Rhetoric
surrounding YouTube

• Time called YouTube “the

public video diary of a
generation of teens and
twentysomethings.”
• "You have people from all
walks of life wanting to
share a piece of their life
with you," Leila (a video
blogger) says. "The
feeling of togetherness is
unbeatable. It's a
beautiful thing."
Real People Reaching Out
Real People Reaching Out?

• YouTube is full of unique personalities, all of

whom are expressing themselves
authentically
• YouTube is capable of establishing true
connections between “real” people

• HOWEVER, does the real life use of

YouTube exemplify this ideal presented
in surrounding rhetoric?
Arguments that YouTube is
an “authentic” space
• Furor over seeming lack of authenticity of lonelygirl15 and others
 Person or content not real; corporate marketing?

• Users seem to treat the other individuals on the site as “real”

people (through their comments and videos)
 Giving advice, having a dialogue, supporting/detracting

• Trust that YouTube is a democratic platform where everyone can

be heard in an unregulated space
 Unhindered by mass media protocols, freedom of expression
Arguments that YouTube is
an “authentic” space
• Furor over seeming lack of authenticity of
lonelygirl15 and others
 Content and/or persona is not real (lg15)
 Corporate marketing vs. being on your own
(i.e. miarose vs. esmeedenters)
Arguments that YouTube is
an “authentic” space
• Users seem to treat the other individuals on the site as
“real” people (through their comments and videos)
 “SOo.oO much FUN!!!!! I wish you could come to our house for a weekend!”
(ysabellabrave)

 “beautiful girl. use your loneliness and boredom as fuel to live an

extraordinary life. visit 100 countries and learn to speak 5 languages before
you turn 30. be exceptional - you have the power!” (lonelygirl15)

 “oh you jersey folk are the funniest :P we need some more of you over here
these days... brighten up our days hahahahah :P -take care man” (nalts)
Arguments that YouTube is
an “authentic” space
• Trust that YouTube is a democratic platform
where everyone can be heard in an unregulated
space
 Unfiltered content, not confined by marketing/advertising needs, target
demographics, broadcast protocols

 “More than ever, Internet video provided a platform for new voices and
perspectives, giving even amateur filmmakers entree to mass audiences
traditionally garnered by established media outlets. And in 2006 people
took advantage of it, using Internet video to influence everything from
opinion about the war to notions about what constitutes entertainment.”
(from “Long Live the Net Video Revolution” Business Weekly)
Online activity that doesn’t
support this “authenticity”
• Theories about identity construction in cyberspace
 Constructing avatars in MMOGs and Second Life
 Constructing online profile with list of favorites as ‘shortcuts’
 Constructing network of friends in social networking sites

• But how does identity construction occur on

YouTube?
 Ysabellabrave: A Case
Study
Young woman who sings karaoke, usually old jazz standards and blues.
•

#26 - Most Subscribed (All Time)

•

Her nomenclature exemplifies the tension between authenticity and construct

•
 MaryAnne/ysabellabrave

Clip: Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered 00:34

•
 Constructed Identity
on YouTube

• By the Individual

• By the Collective
 Constructed Identity
by the Individual
• Through production/style of the video itself

• Through “paratexts” surrounding video

• Within the framework of YouTube genres

Constructed Identity
by the Individual
Constructed Identity
by the Individual
• Through “paratexts” surrounding
video
 Her youtube profile
 Comments accompanying video
 “Very late at night, one more for my friends.”
 “For those who need some blues, from my heart
to yours tonight.”
 “Rate me 5 little stars! Hooray! This is for all my
fellow David Lynch fans out there. Please enjoy!
Love MaryAnne”
 Talk vlog videos
 Blah blah part II 03:46
Constructed Identity
by the Individual
• Within the framework of
different YouTube persona
genres
 The Karaoke singer; the
undiscovered talent
Constructed Identity
by the Individual

• Within the framework of

different YouTube persona
genres
 The Karaoke singer; the
undiscovered talent
 The teenage girl confessional
Constructed Identity
by the Individual
• Within the framework of different
YouTube persona genres
 The Karaoke singer; the undiscovered
talent
 The teenage girl confessional
 The angry young man commentary
 The living room comedian
 Constructed Identity
by the Collective
• Through YouTube activities like subscribing,
‘favoriting,’ rating, etc. (marketing and hype)

• Through YouTube direct feedback (user

comments and video response)

• Through rejection of behaviors that do not

comply with the identity as constructed by
the collective
 Constructed Identity
by the Collective
• Through YouTube direct feedback (user
comments and video response)
 “you’re such a classy lady, you’re bringing old hollywood glam back!”
 “I JUST LOVE YOUR VOICE! When you talk... it's like Ingrid Bergman
and Audrey Hepburn and Faye Dunaway all mixed together! You have
the intonation down and everything. And your choice of words is
fabulous!!”
 “i friggin' LOVE YOU! I see so much Marilyn Monroe in you....you have
no idea. And the cabaret thing....oh deary lord, Sally Bowles! ha.” ---
“Marilyn was a construct...this gal is the real thing...cannot compare
the two...thank you maryann for being who you are!”
 “I wish you were my life coach....or my girlfriend.…”
 Constructed Identity
by the Collective
• Through YouTube direct feedback (user
comments and video response)
 She started singing -> People start subscribing and commenting:
response and expectations -> She reconstructs herself
 ysabellabrave - as character only existing in expectations of her
viewers, the negotiation between the individual and the collective

 Clips: Blue Heaven, A Word or Two 02:36, Everyday Bravery

 Constructed Identity
by the Collective
• Through rejection of behaviors that do not
comply with the identity as constructed by
the collective
 Unusual Music/Song Choice
 “I know you like modern music in your personal life, but you
DO sing this old stuff so darn well.”
 “Everything else you do is truly
great but rock like this just does
not sound right for your pretty
jazzy voice.”
 Constructed Identity
by the Collective
• Through rejection of behaviors that do not
comply with the identity as constructed by
the collective
 Art videos - Videos provoked furious debate
 “This is no good. I mean you should stick to just singing only.
This is way out of there. bizzare to say the least.”
 “A picture tells a thousand words: Twenty-four(!) pictures of
yourself was simply way over the top for me…I am truly a fan
of yours and watch your videos everyday. Would you please
explain - so that I will find this less disturbing?”
 Constructed Identity
by the Collective
• The "truthiness" problem
 “Truthiness is the very definition of truth,
2006-style: ‘the quality of preferring
concepts or facts one wishes to be true,
rather than concepts or facts known to be
true.’”

 (excerpted from “Commentary: The Year in Pop Culture:

2006” in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
 Concluding Remarks

• YouTube is a testament to the participatory value of new

media, folk cultures of digital age.
• Further inquries:
 What are implications of this fact that there is no authenticity? (peer-to-peer
implies friendship and connectivity)
 What do we lose when we acknowledge collectively constructed identities?
 Is celebrating democracy enough?
 Are other spaces more appropriate for interactions between individuals?
 What happens when “truthiness” prevails over truth?
 Identities in Flux?

• Ysabellabrave/MaryAnne exists
beyond YouTube
 Contestant in the Ms. Horrorfest Pageant
 Christian livejournal - SisterMaryAnne,
Church of the Holy Cross
 Yahoo employee - Fraud and Business
Analyst