YouTube Creators: The Role of Play, Labor, and Creative Voice in Building a Digital Media Powerhouse

• In Event: Creativity and Creative Behaviors in Media Industries

Abstract

This paper examines YouTube’s ongoing investment in building an online/offline infrastructure for its content creators to be able to produce high-quality videos. The paper first dissects the current debate between political economy and creative industry/cultural studies about the question of digital labor seen as a form of exploitation or an instance of participatory cultural democracy. The paper explores the different ways in which YouTube invests in its content creators worldwide. Examining the resources and materials that YouTube offers its creators, the paper analyzes YouTube’s investment in developing high-value content creators by looking at three areas: pedagogical support, financial support and logistical support. Finally, The paper showcases Kharabeesh, a YouTube Multi-Channel Network as a creative community that empowers local forms of artistic/cultural expression and dissent.

Author

• Mohamed El Marzouki, The Media School / Indiana U Bloomington