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Writer's picturePui Yi Peri Chiu

YouTubers as the new career living in this modern era

The Peer Networks and YouTubers

Along with neoliberalism and globalisation in cyber culture, participation

and collaboration within communities have brought a huge success to

YouTube. The emergence of YouTube and its community allows unrestricted

access for users to actively create, explore or use social networks in global

exchange. (Denzau. Roy. 2005) This interactive approach delivers substance

diffusional effects on YouTube, with higher action and responsiveness rates.

Participation in YouTube mainly taken in Seven forms. This includes

YouTubers, Creators, Critics, Collectors, Joiners, Spectators, and In-actives.

The user base and the consumer base are dynamic and ever changing.

Suggested that social media site like YouTube have taken into account that

users can act with several personas in multiple online identities within the

communities. (Miller. 2007) For instance, the YouTuber and creators could

also take part in the role of critics, collectors or in other forms. On the other

hand, it is also possible if the joiners and spectators would like to participate

in the role of production. However, there are certain rules and requirement

for the general users to achieve in order to become a standard YouTuber,

according to the YouTube academy. (Rich. 2013)


To be clear, “YouTuber” is neither a YouTube employee nor a specific career.

(Calabrese. 2017) Nonetheless, YouTuber is different from what a normal

creator will do. They do not just upload videos and interact with other users.

Standard YouTubers who are seeking to make profit of their video must

reach 4,000 hours of viewed within a year and have at least 1,000 subscribers

in order to join the YouTube Partner Programme (YPP). All YouTube

channels are required to connect with an AdSense account in order to earn

money and get paid for their videos. (Ferguson. 2018) Once the YouTube

account has been accepted by the YPP, the user will be able to earn money of

its content after selecting the video that they desire to monetise. YouTuber

will not be able to make money unless their YouTube account is approved by

the YPP and they will need to select the “monetise with ads” option for their

video. All videos and content must adhere to the guidelines applicable to

advertisers, copyright and the community when used for commercial

purposes. The rules mainly concerned inappropriate, offensive or illegal

content online, Copyright and Privacy issue. This is in order to keep

YouTube a great community for users and advertisers. Whereas, a creator

might consist of uploading videos on their own channel. However, they will

not be able to make money from their work in production. Creators are

required to complete the mission of gaining reputation and at least secure

with 1000 subscribers in order to monetise their channel. (Portis. 2014)

With an aim to thoroughly explore the idea of identities that existed on

YouTube and its communities. This section will mainly investigate the

relationship between YouTubes and users in general. In my research, I have

identified the roles of YouTube users in certain network of social class. It is

necessary to identify how private users interact and behave on a regular

basis. This is in order to provide a comprehensive user perspective to clarify

how this new anthropological space function within online communities.

(A.Buzzetto-More. 2013) To make this clear, the following table combines

YouTube Audience Demographics Data with the accumulated information

referred to the Social Technographics Ladder demonstrated by Forrester

Research - a US-based market research company that provides data on the

current impact of technology in the global market. This research quantify the

categories of online identities based on the global Technographics consumer

surveys. (Forrester. 2017)



YouTubers (Influencers) Subscribers 1m +


This is the top class of YouTube network society. They frequently upload videos on their channel

and actively interact with their spectators. In recent year, a group of them would even play live

stream with other users. The spectators have the option to donate money to raise their channel.

Top YouTubers could also arrange their own personal community and get paid by other users to

join in memberships. (Ferguson. 2018) Moreover, the influential YouTubers actively work across

with advertisers interconnectivity. The more money they would earn when the more adverts they

linked into their videos, or the more products and brands they advertise in their video. Along

with the monetisation, the top players on YouTube have reported that they have earned up to $

15 million in a year by product reviews and gamings. In general, YouTubers follow a regular

upload schedule with updates and playlists to the audience. Top YouTubers have built a large

group of loyal following of engaged users. They get paid by being watched.

YouTubers (Standard) Subscribers 10k +

Similar to the YouTube influential level. This group of users have normally built a certain number

of loyal followers. Most of the function are equal as the top class of YouTubers, including making

profits from adverts and getting paid per views. In comparison to top YouTubers, they demand

to spend a much longer time to build connection with other communities on the site. They would

have to keep in track to promote their channel. In order to secure potential subscribers, they

would be expected to actively engage with their subscribers. Which consist of the reviews, likes

and replies to their comments. Their identity could be seen as a group of “middle-class” digital

labours. In terms of “time consuming” that would be their investment of boosting the number of

subscribers and get to the top level and become part of the YouTube influencer.



YouTubers (Beginners) Subscribers 1k +

This group are the active users who frequently upload videos on their own channel. They

likewise have the option to monetise their videos with commercial companies and digital agency.

Their profits mainly made by monetisation. They aim to maintain their online business to flow

busy and get as many new subscribers as possible. This group of YouTuber would aim to not to

fell below 1,000 subscribers. It is necessary for them to maintain channels by interacting with

other users. (Ferguson. 2018) This will help YouTubers to increase their reputation and

popularity through self-promotion via multiple social media.


Creators are the user who create content and upload videos on YouTube and optional to enable

public access. They can add descriptive details which can help people to find their video. Anyone

could be in the position of creator. However, their video and content will not get paid only if the

creator or the video meet the basic requirement and eligibility regarding the specific roles

developed by YouTube and the YouTube Partner Programme. (Boyd. 2014)


Critics are users who mainly comment, rate, and reviews on other user's video content. Similar

to creators, this type of user will interact or engage with other users on YouTube. They will like,

dislike, ask question, give feedbacks or judge the other’s video through the comment section.

Their contributions help to keep the creators honest and help ensure the accuracy of the web.

However, they do not have the experience of uploading any video on YouTube.


Collectors are those who aggregate information to make decisions, such as product and film re

views. They are the user who investigate for the specific content and to examine the quality of

the specific products which has consumed or reviewed by the other users. Except for the

business purposes, this also credits to the educational and tutorial type of videos. The collectors

can search for a specific subject or skill-set to learn, and to get inspiration from the specific video

content produced by other users. Collectors can find these type of videos simply by searching for

keywords such as “How-to” in the search toolbar of the main site.


Joiners are the user who maintain a presence on social networking sites and visit additional

sites, such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter. They engage with certain interesting piece of contents.

However, the majority of joiners mainly take a passive approach to YouTube or the other social

media. In short, they consume designated information via multiple social media sites, but are not

particularly interested in interactions with other communities.


Spectators are users who explore, watch and listen to the content of other participant. They

possibly make good percentage of the public and can be influenced by what we see online.

Similar to the Joiners, they do not have any intention of being part of the creating sectors. They

are not willing to engage with other users through the site. They play the role acting as audience

who prefer not to register with the site. This may due to a lot of reason. Especially for people

who are willing to defend of oversharing personal information to the site.


In-actives are users who do not create or consume online content of any kind. This likely include

the older generation or any people who are not comfortable with the new emerging technology.

However, this number is shrinking fast in the last decade.


In the YouTube network society, every user possesses the capacity to initiate

and sustain the realisation of value through informational capitalism. In

here, we will apply the concept of YouTube communities to the ideology of

social class and labours from the mentioned table above. It is interesting to

see that YouTube and its communities is actually operated in the system of

digital capitalism. (Beers Fägersten. 2017) In which, YouTubers and all

creators are classified as digital labours working in the cyber network

society. Regardless of the role of YouTuber, it really depends on the

categories and style of video that they create, and based on their audience

targets. YouTube videos mainly categorised in eight sectors. This includes

self-promotion, educational purposes, leisure purposes, TV and Film

reproduction, business strategy, marketing, enterprising and creativity in

general presence. In general, the role of YouTubers mainly consist of video

production including video streaming, editing, equipment set up, lighting,

visual effects, content creation, idea planning and development, script

writing (if applicable), acting, searching for models (optional). For the

promotion part, their work also comprise self-promotion, interaction with

audience, reply and review feedbacks and comments, build connection with

other users, co-creation, interpersonal communication, also work across with

advertisers and interconnectivity. (León. 2018) Furthermore, digital

marketing and creative brand presence which are also considered as part of

the job for YouTubers who aimed to reach a higher class working towards

the network economy system.


In consequence, working as a YouTuber is not only a role that demanded a

high amount of workloads. They almost work as the similar role at an entry

level of videographer, promoters or market strategist in this overloaded

capitalist business. Essentially working as a “YouTuber” is possible to make

a living in real life. Being the top class of YouTuber which will be able to earn

a really high amount of money and reputation. (Beers Fägersten. 2017) The

more video they produce, the more money and profits that could be made.

However, this whole idea of YouTubers and digital capitalism could be seen

as a risky investment. Especially for the start-up builders, they are not

guaranteed to get paid as much as if they work in the tradition career field.

(Youtube. 2018) Not every beginner users are promised to reach higher

standard working as a creator on YouTube. No one could insured that their

efforts would get paid off. It could be dependent on work force, or

interpersonal relationship, or pure lucks. The more subscribers and

followers that the users have acquired, the better position that the YouTuber

will achieve. The identities on YouTube determined by the number of

subscribers, views, or likes. (Portis. 2014)


The new economics of value co-creation

Working at the digital world, wealth is no longer only based on money or

the value of materiality. Instead of wealth, the popularity and self-reputation

have become the new measurement of the standard of wealth and

investment. In which, a standard YouTuber could earn up to USD 10,000 per

100,000 views on each video, according to the Digital Marketing Research

Institute 2018. (YouTube. 2018) Eventually, “Views”,“Subscribes”, “Likes”

became the crucial values which could define the user standard of their

video channel. The action of “viewing” has transformed to an immaterial

consumer behaviour on the YouTube platform. Besides, “likes” or

“subscribes” could be viewed as a consumer behaviour made by clicking the

buttons without the need of remuneration. (Khan. 2017) The reason is that

the YouTuber get paid under the system of monetisation. Given an example,

imagine if “views” is a type of currency. Thus, the term “Monetised” which

could refer to the calculation of the amount of money based on the number

of “views” on every video on YouTube. For a brief information, a standard

YouTuber would get paid between $2 – $5 per 1,000 monetised “views” after

YouTube takes its cut. (Welch. 2018) Enabled by monetisation, YouTube has become one of the most recognisable

communication channel throughout the rapidly growth of online business.

YouTube announced to promote collaboration with the third parties in

commercial businesses since 2009. (Ming-Yu. 2012) YouTube conjures visual

contents for individuals and commercial utilisation. YouTube and its

emerging participatory culture have come to the point where consumer

culture is now widely involved in the production and distribution of

multimedia content. Especially in recent years, the cultural value of YouTube

has transformed into a hybrid media space where commerce has taken the

lead. Whether the video is classified for amateur, educational, political, or

entertaining content. YouTube and the idea that provide free access to

YouTube's distribution in which have allowed every users with sufficient

idea and talent to succeed by this system. (Calabrese. 2017).

Co-value and its influence to user’s behaviour

Along with the system of monetisation, YouTube platform have transformed

to become an “utopia” of the commodity market where commercial

organisation and authorities has become the leading sphere of YouTube

network. Reported by YouTube 2018 statistics, video of gaming and product

reviews have become two of the most watched and subscribed type of

videos on YouTube. (Ferguson. 2018) The table demonstrates most viewed

YouTube channel owners of all time as of September 2018 in billions per

views, according to (Statista. Gullen. Plungis. 2013) It is interesting to see

that video gaming and product reviews have become two of the most

popular type of videos on YouTube. (Rich. 2013). “Gaming culture” has

been long existed on YouTube. Producing a gaming type of video demands a

lot more time, preparation and various skill-sets with effective project

management. (Karaganis. 2007) The YouTubers are expected to play the

games with excellent control, as well as the editing part, which includes

visual management, sound and audio editing, screenwriting, clear

explanation, or even managing the copyright issue for the soundtracks if

applicable. (Beers Fägersten. 2017) Whereas a sharp increasing number of

video makers are being able to earn money simply from product reviews,

unboxing or responding to other user’s video. (Portis. 2014) This is perhaps

due to the fact that product reviews type of video only require low level of

skills. In most cases, Video editing, Thumbs design, and Copyright issue are

the main concerns when creating and uploading product reviewing type of

videos on YouTube - reported by average responses by the majority of

YouTubers who have focused on creating certain type of videos. (Grzesiak.

2017)

The reason behind this is suggested to be the influence of monetisation and

co-creation working within communities. Enabled by monetisation,

YouTubers take participation and collaboration with the third parties and

advertisers. They work as the position of influencer with the aim to help

promote commodities and presence brands in their video channel.

(Cunningham. 2013) YouTubers could make profits from increasing “views”

on each video while earning new commodities from creative brands. The

more they cooperate in co-creation and advertisment, the more they could

take advantages from YouTube. This types of video could help them to save

labour time in terms of “time consuming”. It is necessary to note that the

commodification of labour time and the economic organisation of time is the

acceleration of the economic power - “Time is money.” (Kelly. Bielby.

Capurro. 2016)

The logic of speed in the economic resulted in the most efficient way to

quickly produced commodities. This have shaped an outspread and

intensification of commodity in consumer culture. Since capitalist companies

advocated in commodifying human experiences and increase offering

commodities for promotion in low cost strategies. The increased offer of

commodities in which have facilitated to new individual’s consumer

behaviour, and that will speed up human experiences in commodity

production in everyday life. (Turow. McAllister. 2009) ‘The buying and

selling of time, as labour time, is surely one of the most distinctive features

of modern capitalism […] The commodification of time, geared to the

mechanisms of industrial production, breaks down the differentiation of city

and countryside characteristic of class-divided societies.’ (Giddens, 1984)

The role of YouTubers and digital influencers have become the social core

and intermediaries who create content in representation of products and

services. There are many brands and digital agencies engage YouTubers and

digital influencers in product development, brand co-creation, market

research and early tasting. That will help to increase the brand’s visibility

and credibility on digital market globalisation. (Jarboe. 2011) Focus on this

new phenomenons of product reviews and video sharing related to the

commodity market. More and more YouTube users have begun to entitle

themselves “YouTubers” as a career working in this capitalist network

society. The scale of YouTube’s distribution platform, which allows amateur

producers to play an active role in the production, dissemination and

interpretation of the cultural assets of the media industry. (Leopold.

Leopold. 2014)


Digital labours

Digital-Prosumer culture has become a new trend of active participation in content creation

available in the public domain. It enables the entrenchment of the status as people who were once

manual labourers are now in charge of their own business decisions. Specifically on YouTube and

social media site, there are more and more users embarking on entrepreneurial endeavours as

content creators, bloggers, videographers, photographers working in freelance. They create content

in leisure time and to promote time spent production in their labour time. (Jepsen. Drahokoupil.

2017) They increase reputation by “liking”, “following”, ”comment” and “subscribes” to other

user’s channel to seek for more likes and follows in return. The more supporters that they have

received that will help them to reach a higher level working in the social network society. The idea

of digital prosumers in production and consumption are no longer only defined by the outward

income or expenditure. Internet action and online social behaviour such as “posting”, “liking”,

“commenting” and “reacting” have become a type of time spent production. On the other side,

“viewing”, “following”, “subscribing” and “browsing” has been categorised into time spent

consumption following the studies of Culture and economy in the age of social media developed

by Christian Fuchs. (Fuchs. 2015) In which, Fuchs examines the role of time in relation to the

blurring of leisure and labour time have shaped in the capitalist society. He explained “The

capitalist economy is driven by the need to accumulate ever more capital. Methods for achieving

this are the increase of productivity, that is, the production of more in less time, and the

lengthening of the working day” However, the rise of new prosumers undertaken as digital

labours in labour time and leisure time. (Fuchs. 2014)

In order to make a profits, YouTubers are expected to produce a high standard of productivities

and effective time management. It will also be necessary for them to search for new partnerships to

sustain their new business in peer networks. (Jenkins. 2009) The acceleration of prosumption

targeted online advertising and the creation of speculative, future-oriented forms of fictitious

capital. (Betancourt. 2016) The overwhelming majority of “the new prosumer” have been given a

new skill to produce their own imagery drawn from their consumption of popular mass media.

Nevertheless, the rise of digital prosumerism which have shaped a competitive overcrowded free

market. (Frayssé. O’Neil. 2013) This overloaded prosumer behaviour in which have brought up an

extraction of low paid, unpaid, coerced, and alienated labourer in commodity production. In

which, there are a highly progressing number of new digital labours who are facing precarious

working condition. This includes high insecurity, uncertainty and unsafely working as a digital

labourer. The deregulation of prosumerism and digital labours which have dedifferentiated long

working hours and minimised the boundary of leisure time. The crowdsourcing of new prosumers

have not been aware of their exploitation in the labor market and economy globalisation. (Frayssé.

O’Neil. 2013)




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