Research

What is the cultural significance of vlogging community?

       Vlogging is one popular form well-known among the YouTube community. By combining the grassroots of blogging with richness of expression, these video blogs are known as vlogs. This widespread popularity of video clips has evolved into something called ‘clip culture’. Many vloggers get paid for recording these vlogs and posting it on YouTube. With this research I will try to find out the impact of vlogging on popular culture.

       The research methodology I am going to use for this is Virtual ethnography. I will try to connect and engage in these communities to find out its impact on popular culture. As it is a growing community it has become a ‘way of life’ for many as mentioned by Raymond Williams. The focus groups here are the certain vloggers and the viewers. I will also find out the behavior and attitude of people posting videos and the impact of these on the audience.

       The main theory I am going to utilize in this is with a post-modern approach, ‘Hyper-realism’ suggested by theorists like Baulliard, where these YouTubers create vlogs talking to their audience and with a daily dosage of this, they portray a sense of Utopia even to the viewers by making them feel everything is perfect and entertaining them. It is also an edited version of a person’s life which makes it a hyper-real concept. These videos are updated frequently so that they retain their subscribers. The other theory I would relate to this vlogging community is by Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer who describe it with the term ‘Culture Industry’ where popular culture is completely related to standardized cultural goods. They tend to manipulate the society and also put them in passivity. The people are all kept under the mirage that they are being offered what they want, but then we generally don't quite feel that we are influenced by the power in some or the other way. This can be explained as how YouTuber’s vlogs are all the same and in a while, they get command over us and influence us in some or the other way.

      This can also be argued with the support of the theory by Mathew Arnold that says how people of different classes have different interests and thoughts.

      Charlie McDonnell owns a channel named charlieissocoollike, one of the most subscribed in United Kingdom, with about 1.9 million subscribers as of now. By investigating and using all these in my research I will find out in what way this has an impact on popular culture.

Bibliographies:

-Arnold, Mathew (1869) Culture and Anarchy in Storey (2007) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. A Reader. London. Pearson

-Williams, Raymond (1961) ‘The Analysis of Culture’ in Storey (2007) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture: a Reader. London: Pearson.

-Virtual Ethnography (2000) by Dr Christine M. Hine, Sage

-Young People, Ethics, and the New Digital Media, Carrie James

-Storey, John (2007) Cultural Theory and Popular Culture; London; Pearson

-YouTube For Dummies By Sahlin, Chris Botello

-Youth Culture and Net Culture: Online Social Practices edited by Elza Dunkels, Gun-Marie

(pitch for my research project)