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Making sense of YouTubers : how Swedish children construct and negotiate the YouTuber Misslisibell as a girl celebrity

Martínez, Carolina LU and Olsson, Tobias LU (2019) In Journal of Children and Media 13(1). p.36-52
Abstract

When children use the Internet, they commonly choose to watch their favorite YouTubers. In this article, we aim to deepen the understanding of how children make sense of YouTubers as a phenomenon, and the role of microcelebrities in children’s everyday life. The study is based on group interviews with 9- and 12-year-old Swedish children, and pays specific attention to how they make sense of the video “♥Pin up tutorial (JFR.SE)♥,” produced by the YouTuber Misslisibell. In the analysis, we explore how the children construct and negotiate Misslisibell as celebrity, celebrity endorser, and young girl. Particularly salient were children’s negotiations around the YouTuber’s celebrity status, children’s normative discussions around... (More)

When children use the Internet, they commonly choose to watch their favorite YouTubers. In this article, we aim to deepen the understanding of how children make sense of YouTubers as a phenomenon, and the role of microcelebrities in children’s everyday life. The study is based on group interviews with 9- and 12-year-old Swedish children, and pays specific attention to how they make sense of the video “♥Pin up tutorial (JFR.SE)♥,” produced by the YouTuber Misslisibell. In the analysis, we explore how the children construct and negotiate Misslisibell as celebrity, celebrity endorser, and young girl. Particularly salient were children’s negotiations around the YouTuber’s celebrity status, children’s normative discussions around Misslisibell’s YouTube practices related to her young age, and children’s various interpretations of the video as advertising, “tips,” and as a space for learning. These multifaceted and sometimes contradictive ways of making sense show the multiplicity of meanings YouTubers have for children.

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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
advertising, celebrity, celebrity endorsement, meaning making, microcelebrity, social media, sponsoring, YouTube, YouTubers
in
Journal of Children and Media
volume
13
issue
1
pages
36 - 52
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85053374445
ISSN
1748-2798
DOI
10.1080/17482798.2018.1517656
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
dc0c95b8-6bc2-49b4-a1cf-614b4540d90b
date added to LUP
2018-10-19 14:50:17
date last changed
2022-04-25 17:48:29
@article{dc0c95b8-6bc2-49b4-a1cf-614b4540d90b,
  abstract     = {{<p>When children use the Internet, they commonly choose to watch their favorite YouTubers. In this article, we aim to deepen the understanding of how children make sense of YouTubers as a phenomenon, and the role of microcelebrities in children’s everyday life. The study is based on group interviews with 9- and 12-year-old Swedish children, and pays specific attention to how they make sense of the video “♥Pin up tutorial (JFR.SE)♥,” produced by the YouTuber Misslisibell. In the analysis, we explore how the children construct and negotiate Misslisibell as celebrity, celebrity endorser, and young girl. Particularly salient were children’s negotiations around the YouTuber’s celebrity status, children’s normative discussions around Misslisibell’s YouTube practices related to her young age, and children’s various interpretations of the video as advertising, “tips,” and as a space for learning. These multifaceted and sometimes contradictive ways of making sense show the multiplicity of meanings YouTubers have for children.</p>}},
  author       = {{Martínez, Carolina and Olsson, Tobias}},
  issn         = {{1748-2798}},
  keywords     = {{advertising; celebrity; celebrity endorsement; meaning making; microcelebrity; social media; sponsoring; YouTube; YouTubers}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{36--52}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Journal of Children and Media}},
  title        = {{Making sense of YouTubers : how Swedish children construct and negotiate the YouTuber Misslisibell as a girl celebrity}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17482798.2018.1517656}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/17482798.2018.1517656}},
  volume       = {{13}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}