University of Southern Denmark

Meeting change with creativity

Interview with Kirsten Drotner
Drotner, Kirsten; Eleá, Ilana; Mikos, Lothar

Published in:
Young & creative

Publication date:
2018

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Final published version

Citation for pulished version (APA):

Drotner, K., Eleá, I., & Mikos, L. (2018). Meeting change with creativity: Interview with Kirsten Drotner. In I. Eleá,
& L. Mikos (Eds.), Young & creative: Digital technologies empowering children in everyday life (pp. 221-225).
Nordicom.

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YOUNG &
The Creative YouTubers

Somewhere around 300-400 hours of video is uploaded

CREATIVE
every minute on the immensely popular platform of You-
Tube. In this section, authors present examples of video­
blogging, otherwise known as vlogging, a common feature
among viewers. Some vloggers have become world famous
through their presence on the screen, some of them are still
mostly known among their friends and family.

Digital Technologies
Empowering Children in Everyday Life

Ilana Eleá &

Lothar Mikos (eds.)
 The International
Clearinghouse on Children,
Youth and Media, at
A UNESCO INItIAtIvE 1997
Nordicom
University of Gothenburg
Box 713
In 1997, the Nordic Information Centre for Media and SE 405 30 GÖTEBORG, Sweden
Communication Research (Nordicom), University of Gothenburg, Web site:
Sweden, began establishment of the International Clearinghouse www.nordicom.gu.se/clearinghouse
on Children, Youth and Media. The overall point of departure for Director: Ingela Wadbring
the Clearinghouse’s efforts with respect to children, youth and
information co-orDinator:
media is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Catharina Bucht
The aim of the Clearinghouse is to increase awareness and Tel: +46 31 786 49 53
knowledge about children, youth and media, thereby providing Fax: +46 31 786 46 55

The Creative YouTubers

a basis for relevant policy-making, contributing to a constructive
public debate, and enhancing children’s and young people’s media
[email protected]

literacy and media competence. Moreover, it is hoped that the

Clearinghouse’s work will stimulate further research on children, The Clearinghouse
is loCaTed aT nordiCom
youth and media.
Nordicom is an organ of
Somewhere
The around
International 300-400
Clearinghouse hours ofYouth
on Children, video
andisMedia
uploadedco-operation between the Nordic
informs various groups of users – researchers, policy-makers,
every minute on the immensely popular platform of You-countries – Denmark, Finland, Iceland,
media professionals, voluntary organisations, teachers, students Norway and Sweden. The overriding goal
and Tube. In individuals
interested this section, authors present examples of video­and purpose is to make the media and
– about
blogging, otherwise known as vlogging, a common featurecommunication efforts undertaken in the
Nordic countries known, both throughout
• research on children, young people and media, with
among viewers. Some vloggers have become world famousand far beyond our part of the world.
special attention to media violence, Nordicom uses a variety of chan-nels
through their presence on the screen, some of them are still– newsletters, journals, books, databases
•mostly known amongregarding
their friends
mediaand family. – to reach researchers, students, decision-
research and practices education and
makers, media practitioners, journalists,
children’s/young people’s participation in the media, teachers and interested members of the
and general public.
Nordicom works to establish and
strengthen links between the Nordic
• measures, activities and research concerning children’s research community and colleagues in
and young people’s media environment. all parts of the world, both by means of
unilateral flows and by linking individ-
ual researchers, research groups and
Fundamental to the work of the Clearinghouse is the creation
institutions.
of a global network. The Clearinghouse publishes a yearbook Nordicom also documents media trends
and reports. Several bibliographies and a worldwide register in the Nordic countries. The joint Nordic
of organisations concerned with children and media have information addresses users in Europe

been compiled. This and other information is available on the and further afield. The production of
comparative media statistics forms the
Clearinghouse’s web site:
core of this service.
Nordicom is funded by the Nordic
www.nordicom.gu.se/clearinghouse Council of Ministers.
YOUNG & CREATIVE
YOUNG &
CREATIVE
Digital Technologies
Empowering Children in Everyday Life

Ilana Eleá and Lothar Mikos (Eds.)

Young & Creative
Digital Technologies Empowering Children in Everyday Life
Ilana Eleá and Lothar Mikos (Eds.)

© Editorial matters and selections, the editors; articles, individual

contributors; Nordicom 2017.

ISBN 978-91-87957-85-7 (print)

ISBN 978-91-87957-86-4 (pdf)

The publication is also available as open access at www.nordicom.gu.se

Published by:
The International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media

Nordicom
University of Gothenburg
Box 713
SE 405 30 GÖTEBORG
Sweden

Images reprinted with permission from copyrightholder

Cover photo: Johan Strindberg / Bildhuset / TT
Cover by: Per Nilsson 25
Printed by: Ale Tryckteam AB, Bohus, Sweden, 2017
CONTENT

Preface 7

Introduction
Young and Creative. Digital Technologies Empowering Children in Everyday Life 9

ON CREATIVITY
1 The Rhetorics of Creativity
Shakuntala Banaji 17

2 Creativity on YouTube. Considering New Media and the Impulses of the Learner
Danah Henriksen, Megan Hoelting 31

3 The Class: Living and Learning in the Digital Age: Interview with Sonia Livingstone 43

THE CREATIVE YOUTUBERS

4 How YouTube Developed into a Successful Platform for User-Generated Content
Margaret Holland 53

5 Top Girls on YouTube. Identity, Participation, and Consumption

Lidia Marôpo, Inês Vitorino Sampaio, Nut Pereira de Miranda 65

6 The YouTube Channel RAK TV. A Narrative Interview with Rachel Cócaro, 14 Years Old
Paulo Guimarães, Maria Inês de C. Delorme 77

EXPRESSIONS OF CREATIVITY AMONG CHILDREN AND YOUTH

7 “Exclusively for Keitai”. Literary Creativity of Japanese Media Youths
Kyounghwa Yonnie Kim 91

8 A Shared Literary Experience. Youth Reading, Creativity and Virtual Performances

Alejandra Ravettino Destefanis 103
9 Internet Mukbang (Foodcasting) in South Korea
Seok-Kyeong Hong, Sojeong Park 111

10 “Transmedia Storytelling as a Narrative Expansion”: Interview with Carlos Scolari 125

11 Conversations on Creativity and Communication

Carmilla Floyd 131

COLLECTING AND SHARING CREATIVITY

12 “My Portfolio Helps My Making”. Motivations and Mechanisms for Documenting Creative Projects
Anna Keune, Naomi Thompson, Kylie Peppler, Stephanie Chang 145

13 Pockets of Freedom, but Mostly Constraints. Emerging trends in children’s DIY media platforms
Deborah A. Fields, Sara M. Grimes 159

14 Peer Teaching and Learning. A Case of Two Five-year-olds as Minecraft Creators

Sara Sintonen, Maj-Britt Kentz, Lasse Lipponen 173

15 “Children Love to be Hilariously Silly and Dead-Serious Alike”: Interview with Margret Albers 185

TRAINING TEACHERS TO SPARK YOUNG PEOPLE’S CREATIVITY

16 AMORES. Discovering a Love for Literature through Digital Collaboration and Creativity
Geoff Walton, Mark Childs, Janet Hetherington, Gordana Jugo 193

17 Bringing Maker Literacies to Early Childhood Education

Jill Scott, Karen Wohlwend 209

18 Meeting Change with Creativity: Interview with Kirsten Drotner 221

Preface

T oday´s digital technology provides opportunities to create and reach

out to a wide range of users. Different platforms, in particular online
platforms, has enabled anyone with access to the tools not only to be a
consumer of media content, but also a producer. This opportunity is
something many young people have grasped in order to express them-
selves and to share their own creativity.
All books published by the International Clearinghouse on Children,
Youth and Media aim to shed light on different themes concerning
children, youth and media, hopefully raising knowledge and awareness
on current aspects of young people’s media use and consumption and
hopefully serve as inspiration to further research and exploration.
The point of departure for the Clearinghouse’s efforts is the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, among other stating the child’s
right to freedom of expression. Thus, a publication on creativity with
digital media where this freedom can be exercised is well within the
aim of the Clearinghouse. And considering the vast popularity among
young people to watch, share and find inspiration in peer produced
content we found it highly relevant to address this theme.
We are deeply grateful to the editors of this book, Ilana Eleá and
Lothar Mikos, who have managed to gather a diversity of examples
from scholars and practitioners in how young people’s creativity can
be expressed in different ways and in different parts of the world.

Göteborg, December 2017

Catharina Bucht Ingela Wadbring

Information co-ordinator Director, Nordicom

7
5
Top Girls on YouTube
Identity, Participation, and Consumption

Lidia Marôpo, Inês Vitorino Sampaio & Nut Pereira de Miranda

B el Cerer (8 years old), Juliana Baltar (9 years old), Manoela Antelo

(10 years old) and Júlia Silva (11 years old)1 are prominent repre-
sentatives of a phenomenon that has recently become widespread in the
Brazilian context as well as internationally: child YouTube stars. Besides
the fact that they author original content, these girls share characteristics
that distinguish them from millions of other “video author” children
(Yarosh et al., 2016) on YouTube – the second most visited website in
the world after Google (Alexa, 2016). The four girls have their own You-
Tube channels, are very popular among peers, challenge the boundaries
between amateurishness and professionalism, and make a profit from
the videos they star in.
In December 2016, Júlia and Manoela exceeded a million subscribers
to their YouTube channels, while Juliana had more than two million
and Bel nearly three million. They became popular by posting similar
content in which marketing communication is often present – toys
and children’s product reviews, unboxing, challenges among peers and
adults, and web series. Today, they are also the most popular among Marôpo, Lidia; Vitorino Sampaio, Inês &
hundreds of YouTuber girls who have attained public recognition. de Miranda, Nut Pereira (2017). Top Girls
on YouTube. Identity, Participation, and
The four of them are seen as celebrities in Brazil, attract thousands of Consumption in Ilana Eleá and Lothar
fans at meetings organized by sponsor companies, and appear on lists Mikos (Eds.) Young & Creative. Digital Tech-
nologies Empowering Children in Everyday
(disclosed by the media) of the most influential children in the nation. Life. Gothenburg: Nordicom

65
Lidia Marôpo, Inês Vitorino Sampaio & Nut Pereira de Miranda

What kinds of content do these children author and share on You-

Tube? What are the specific characteristics of their online performances?
What are their similarities and differences? What identities do they re-
produce and/or re-signify about what it means to be a child and a girl? In
what ways is marketing communication present in their YouTube videos?
Taking into account the fast expansion of the Internet as a “space”
for children to “learn, participate, play and socialise” (Livingstone &
Bulger, 2014), we will discuss these questions based on an exploratory
study. The corpus analyzed consists of the channels maintained by
the four YouTuber girls with higher numbers of subscribers in Brazil,
considering only those aged under 12, according to data available on
YouTube in 2016. Forty-eight videos posted in 2016 were selected,
chosen through the method of random sampling, in alternate weeks.
Observation of their formats and content was employed. Among these
videos, the four most viewed from each YouTuber in each trimester
– which totals 16 videos – was examined in more detail. The analysis
focused on the following aspects: formats, themes, performances,
communication strategies (types, forms of address, interactivity, etc.)
and modes of participation.

Children on YouTube: Uses and participation

In 2015, eight in ten children and adolescents (aged 9 to 17) were
Internet users in Brazil (CGI, 2016). On average, they were connected
4 hours and 59 minutes a day during the course of a week, an amount
that surpasses the time spent watching television (Secom, 2015). On
YouTube, specifically, the engagement of children and teenagers is
highly significant, as either authors or audiences. The results from a
survey conducted by the American investment bank Piper Jaffray in
2016 with more than ten thousand teenagers in the US indicate that
teens spend more time watching YouTube videos than cable television
(Ferreras, 2016). Another recent survey on YouTube’s young Brazilian
audience (aged 0 to 12) shows that, among the 230 channels analyzed in
the survey, the majority of views are of YouTube’s own videos – 44,266
billion versus 7.898 billion views of YouTube channels originating in
television programming (Silva, 2016).
These channels were classified into seven categories indicating the
types of content consumed (and authored) by children on YouTube: Mi-

66
 Top Girls on YouTube

necraft and others (games and vlogs of games); TV (from broadcast and
cable television); Non-TV (created for YouTube); Unboxing (children or
adults opening boxes or toys’ wrapping papers); Teen YouTubers (people
over 12 years of age); Child YouTubers (0-12 years old); and Educational.
Minecraft and others is the most popular category with 52 per cent of
total views, whereas Child YouTubers was the second most popular, but
had more audience growth between 2015 and 2016 (564 per cent) – the
first in this category being Unboxing, with 975 per cent growth.
In this context of intense connectivity (Mascheroni & Ólafsson,
2014), answering questions like “who am I?”, “what could I be?”, “who do
I want to be?” is strongly influenced by media pervasiveness (Woodward,
1997:14). The digital media, especially social networking sites, is seen as
a powerful tool for the youngest to express themselves, to interact, and
to negotiate collective and individual identities (Drotner, 1992; Bucking-
ham, 2008; Buckingham & Willett, 2006; Livingstone & Bulger, 2014).
From this perspective, the YouTuber girls’ channels may be seen as a
means of self-representation and dissemination of their points of view,
ideas and creativity in the public space. Conducting ethnographic re-
search on the uses of YouTube by children and teenagers (aged 10-18) in
America, Lange (2014:68) noted several ways that girls participate in the
production of videos for this platform. Video blogging, sketch comedy,
lip-synching, personal event videos, and hanging-out-at-home videos
are the most popular. The participants in the study discussed numerous
themes, such as reflections about their school, challenges they face, music,
pets, and so forth. For the author, video-blogs promote the expression of
girls’ voices, and often allow the disclosure of issues relevant for their lives.
On the other hand, Dantas and Godoy (2016:98) assert that in some
cases, children’s channels might be considered a (semi) professional
activity conditioned to the marketing interests of the brands that spon-
sor them. From this perspective, they raise problematic issues for the
young video authors, such as exploitation of child labor. The activity,
according to Dantas and Godoy (2016:98), “demands a schedule of
appointments, a duty to be regular with their video-posting, an obli-
gation to disclose the products received from the brands, among other
responsibilities”. Furthermore, it might expose the child audience to
improper marketing content and stimulate consumerism, among other
problems (Postman, 1994).

67
Lidia Marôpo, Inês Vitorino Sampaio & Nut Pereira de Miranda

Rebekah Willett (2008) asserts that children and teenagers are not be-
ing encouraged to exercise self-expression; rather, they are constructing
identities aligned with a consumer culture. Nonetheless, she recognizes
that children and teenagers play an active role in their engagement with
the Internet, even in such an intense commercial context. The author
then launches a challenge: to analyze the online content authored by
children, taking into account the power and influence of the market,
but without neglecting children’s agency. Willet (2008:53) brings in the
concept of “bricolage”, from Lévi-Strauss, to analyze how child YouTu-
bers use varied resources while transforming and re-contextualizing
different cultural products to create a new self-image or identity.
The child YouTubers have their own “channels” on YouTube, similar
to an online profile on other social networking sites, containing a list
of subscribers, information such as the number of “thumbs up” and
“thumbs down” they have received, and statistics on views. Some of
them reach significant popularity as video authors by broadcasting
information about their identities, crafting videos with appealing
content, and publicly and intensively promoting and disseminating
their videos (Lange, 2008).
According to Félix (2016: 02), “being a YouTuber is more than
simply sitting in front of a camera once a week to record a 15-minute
video with apparently improvised content”. This task, according to the
author, demands strategies such as finding a target audience, mastering
technological tools to monitor competitors, interpreting Google Trends
to identify keywords to describe the video and facilitate its delivery
to the target audience, and possessing skills in the production and
post-production of audiovisual language. Besides interacting with the
audience on YouTube and other social media, their investment also
includes participating in offline activities, such as book-launching
parties and advertising campaign events. The YouTubers’ strategies
also include knowing which mechanisms generate more advertising
revenue. The channels’ owners must join the YouTube Partner Program
and sign a contract that enables brand advertisement on their videos
and thus the monetization of their content.
Omar Ricón (as cited in Félix 2016:02) highlights six common You-
Tuber strategies for achieving popularity: Narrative – talking directly
to the camera, aiming to break the formality of television; Aesthetic –

68
 Top Girls on YouTube

using irony, cynicism, and irreverence to make people laugh; Language

– using slang, seeking grotesque and emotional appeal through swear
words; Youthfulness - taking youths’ attitudes and manners seriously,
which are also the basis for their comments on life; Pop savvy – their
references are rooted on pop music, best-sellers and fast food; and Adult
world – regarding it as corrupt and inept (politicians), incompetent
(parents), or outdated (teachers). The youths use their witty humor as
a tactic to express disappointment with adults.
In her ethnographic study, Lange (2014:16) defines YouTube as a
“personally expressive media”, i.e., “any mediated artifact or set of media
that enables a creator to communicate aspects of the self ”. According to
her, regular YouTube video authors perform technical affiliations while
showing through words or actions their beliefs, values or practices, which
connect them with particular technical-cultural groups. In this sense
they form communities of practice, which include routines, conventions,
and shared histories. The researcher also highlights the diverse inter-
ests between child YouTubers, who have different “mediated centers of
gravity” (Lange, 2014:41); i.e., their preferences manifest themselves in
visible inclinations to certain content, abilities and media tools.
Although she criticizes the lack of transparency in YouTube’s ad-
vertising policy, Lange (2014: 134) maintains that commercialization
is not incompatible with either genuine family affection – present
in many YouTube videos – or learning processes among those who
author content. In her research, children and young adults assert that
they have developed technical knowledge for making videos and have
improved their self-confidence and capability for self-presentation to
a wider audience. On the other hand, some of them reveal feelings of
social exclusion due to the time they dedicate to the activity, which
distances them from their peers.

Top girls on YouTube:

Identity negotiations in the network
We can look at the four girls under analysis as a “community of practice”
(Lange, 2014) that shares numerous common features. Bel, Juliana,
Manoela and Júlia maintain their YouTube channel pages on a regular
basis, posting videos daily (Bel), three times a week (Júlia) or once a
week (Manoela and Juliana). All of them are present on various social

69
Lidia Marôpo, Inês Vitorino Sampaio & Nut Pereira de Miranda

networking sites (Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and/or Twitter),

which they use intensively to promote not only their YouTube channels
but also their activities in many offline spaces such as meetings with
fans, book-launching events, and television programs.
The YouTubers’ performances on the Internet show a careful man-
agement of their public images. The opening logos in their YouTube
videos and the profile pictures on their social media sites indicate an
attentive production aimed at creating a visual identity. Júlia Silva’s page
on Facebook, for instance, is managed by an advertising agency, which
is also responsible for the social media sites of numerous Brazilian
television and Internet celebrities.
The popularity of these four YouTuber girls on the Internet also
means visibility in traditional media. All of them have been interviewed
on news programs and participated in other popular television pro-
grams. This legitimates their roles as opinion makers among their peers.
Their families receive revenue from the ads broadcasted on YouTube.
Moreover, the girls earn toys and other products merchandised in the
videos, not to mention the indirect gains through trips and hotel stays.
In this sense, we call attention to the considerable time the girls dedicate
to YouTuber activities and the demands related to the popularity they
have achieved and want to promote.
The analysis demonstrates a limited variety of formats in the videos
made by the four YouTubers, which include “vlogs”, “fiction”, “com-
mercial”, “challenges” and “tutorials”. Among these, the most common
and with the most views is “fiction”. This is comprised of “web series”,
in many cases revealing creativity in improvised scenarios and stories
(such videos are apparently elaborated by the YouTubers themselves,
except for Bel, who explicitly has her mother’s help). On the other
hand, some of the videos give rise to a questioning of gender or social
class stereotypes, as well as ways of dealing with environmental issues.
The “challenges” are another popular format among the YouTubers.
Manoela Antelo and her Uncle Bibi (Luan Novit, also a YouTuber), for
example, propose to each other mutual challenges which may include
dancing in the street, taking selfies with strangers, eating a garlic clove,
or performing kick-ups with a ball. The competition seems to be less
important than having fun. The games appear to reproduce television
formats without including any intellectual challenge.

70
 Top Girls on YouTube

Shopping, reviews or unboxing toys, included in the “commercial”

category, are also popular formats among the YouTubers. Here, the
marketing communication appears in explicit ways.
In “tutorial” videos, the YouTubers give instructions for building
toys or playing games, whereas in the “vlog” format they record dif-
ferent life experiences, either alone or with friends and family, such as
hanging out or taking trips. References to brands are also common in
the aforementioned two formats.
The concept of “community of practice” (Lange, 2014) is also useful
for describing the similarities between their online performances. All
four girls have a role model with whom they regularly perform – mother
(Bel), sister (Juliana), uncle (Manoela), and father (Júlia); they all use
particular forms of greetings (e.g. “hello everyone”) and farewells (e.g.
“strawberry/chocolate sweet little kisses”) to communicate with the
audience; they continuously ask for the public’s approval and attention
(by asking for “thumbs up” and subscriptions); and they use their own
home spaces as scenarios for most of their videos.
We can also identify the adaptation of some of the strategies men-
tioned earlier (Rincón cited in Félix, 2016:02) that the YouTubers use to
become popular. The four girls talk directly to the camera and, some-
times, make use of irony and irreverence to provoke laughter; in some
cases, they appeal to the grotesque (especially in fictional content or
challenges); they cultivate pop-culture savvy (with references to music
and celebrities); and they are attentive to peers’ attitudes and behaviors.
However, if we think of YouTube as a “personally expressive media”
(Lange, 2014), through a more careful analysis of the girls’ performances
we can identify different forms of communication that reveal diverse
“mediated centers of gravity” (Lange, 2014: 41).
Bel is the youngest and the one who shows the least autonomy, al-
most always appearing accompanied by her mother, Fran Cerer. Fran,
for the most part, assumes the protagonist role in the videos, perform-
ing, playing, and guiding her daughter in a cooperative manner, and
also, sometimes, in a professorial way toward the audience. Their most
popular videos have six million views. Most of these are web series with
the format of “cautionary tales” (on themes such as jealousy between
siblings, disliking bath time, loss of baby teeth, bullying, first day of
school, tantrums, etc.). Mother and daughter also propose challenges

71
Lidia Marôpo, Inês Vitorino Sampaio & Nut Pereira de Miranda

to each other and switch roles. The marketing communication appears

in some content, such as when Fran publicized the work of a tourism
agency that organizes trips to Disney.
Juliana Baltar is the protagonist of the two most viewed videos among
the four YouTubers, namely “Baby Alive has an accident in the Tyrolean
traverse” and “Baby Alive is admitted to the Hospital!” (translations from
Portuguese). The videos have 53 million and 48 million views, respectively
(February 2016), and both privilege fictional narratives in improvised
and creative scenarios, in which the doll is the protagonist. As a common
strategy among the child YouTube stars, the commercial names of the
dolls are identified in the titles of the videos, a tactic that seems to have
strongly contributed to this impressive popularity. Besides exploring
formats such as “challenges” and “life experiences”, Juliana uses the tag
#jujuresponde (#jujuanswers) to talk to the audience in a confessional
manner about varied aspects of her life (her relationship with her parents
and sister Rafaella Baltar, also a YouTuber, with whom she frequently
performs in the videos; her dream of being a YouTuber, etc.). The mar-
keting communication arises mainly in the videos tagged as “shopping”
and “received”, in which she shows objects she has bought or received.
Manoela Antelo often performs with her Uncle Bibi in videos in
which challenges, humor, and mockery are common. They have fun
and play together in equal positions while interacting with each other.
Manoela also makes regular videos about her daily life, in which fa-
milial relationships are exposed in apparently spontaneous contexts.
The marketing communication appears mainly in her videos about
hanging out and taking sponsored trips.
Júlia Silva has a more moderate style, and distinguishes herself
through refined scenarios; better quality of image, edition and audio-
visual effects; life experiences connected to a higher level of income
(such as international trips and expensive brands); and access to
celebrities from television, whom she interviews on her channel. She
mainly performs with her “Dad Silva” in challenges and games. She also
makes web series and tutorials about handicraft, makeup, recipes, and
fashion tips. The marketing communication is present in toy reviews,
games and apps, as well as in sponsored trips and hanging out. It also
appears in her vlogs, such as in the video “Getting braces put on! Does
it hurt??? Julia Silva” (translated from Portuguese), in which she dis-

72
 Top Girls on YouTube

closes the name of the dental clinic she attended. Besides this channel
she also maintains another, “Júlia Silva TV”, dedicated exclusively to
the “commercial” format.

Discussion and conclusion

Considering the set of elements presented up to this point, we can say
that the identities created by the four YouTubers, as a “narrative of the
self ” (Giddens, 2002), become immediately singular in relation to other
numerous anonymous children. Their identities are not only being
redefined in their spontaneous relationships with their relatives and
friends, but are managed with the aim of achieving public recognition
measured by the number of views, comments, and “thumbs up”.
We are facing a game of forces, in which the YouTubers’ participa-
tion, creativity and spontaneity are juxtaposed with the pressures of a
planned professional management of their public images, in which the
goal is obtaining popularity and financial profit.
On the one hand the channels are a potential space for the expression
of children’s identities and cultures, in which the girls play and talk
about subjects of common interest among their peers (toys, hanging out,
relationship with family and friends, school, and relevant experiences
in the child universe, such as the first day of school, loss of baby teeth,
arrival of a new sibling, etc.). Through this content, they achieve great
visibility for their points of view.
From this perspective, it is important to highlight the children’s
creative potential, which manifests itself in narratives, improvisation
of scenarios, re-signification of objects, etc. The protagonist role they
play in the videos and the more egalitarian position they assume in
relation to the adults with whom they perform might be understood
as possibilities of empowerment, which distance them from the role of
fragile and helpless children. In addition, their participation in videos
and other numerous online and offline activities may be seen as an
opportunity to improve their skills of self-presentation and help them
develop technical capabilities for audiovisual production. Their public
activities also provide them with life experience and access to places
they likely would not have visited otherwise.
On the other hand, the analyzed YouTubers show a strong influ-
ence from marketing communication and mainstream media formats,

73
Lidia Marôpo, Inês Vitorino Sampaio & Nut Pereira de Miranda

evidenced in the exaltation of consumer habits connected to brands,

seen in formats (challenges and series); in the “making of ” at the end
of some videos; in sound and visual professional effects; in the use
of jargon and standardized gestures to demonstrate affection; and in
appeals to build a loyal audience.
The act of playing, in this context of intense commodification of the
content they author, is easily transformed into an “obligation” due to
the demands for frequency in video-sharing, commitments to sponsors,
and a busy schedule. The time they apparently dedicate to the activity,
the financial profit generated from different marketing communication
strategies, and the professionalism in the management of their actions
indicate that this activity could be characterized as child labor. There
are also signs that the child and female identity they promote builds
strong connections to a consumer culture, related not only to toys and
children’s products but also to beauty products and other adult-related
manufactured goods. Moreover, having popularity as one of their main
goals in authoring content (as demonstrated in their insistent appeals
to their audiences) might make them overestimate fame and success
as their goal for the present and future, promoting a narcissist identity.
Our analysis reveals a confluence of the YouTubers’ singular and
individual characteristics with performances collectively originated
and managed as a community of practice (Lange, 2014), which are
translated into formats, content, and common strategies, in a process of
bricolage (Willet, 2008) profoundly influenced by a consumer culture.
The four channels can also be seen as spaces broadcasting models of
thinking and acting to the wider public of children and teenagers who
accompany them regularly.

Note
1. Ages in December 2016.

Lidia Marôpo, Ph.D., Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal and Interdisciplinary Centre

of Social Sciences/Nova University of Lisbon (CICS.NOVA), Portugal, lidia.maropo@
ese.ips.pt
Inês Vitorino Sampaio, Ph.D., Instituto de Cultura e Arte, Federal University of Ceará
(UFC), Brazil, [email protected]
Nut Pereira de Miranda, Master Candidate, Instituto de Cultura e Arte, Federal
University of Ceará (UFC), Brazil, [email protected]

74
 Top Girls on YouTube

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Publications from the International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media
Yearbooks
Dafna Lemish & Maya Götz (Eds.) Beyond the Stereotypes? Images of Boys and Girls, and their Consequences. Yearbook 2017
Magda Abu-Fadil, Jordi Torrent, Alton Grizzle (Eds.) Opportunities for Media and Information Literacy in the Middle East
and North Africa. Yearbook 2016
Sirkku Kotilainen, Reijo Kupiainen (Eds.) Reflections on Media Education Futures. Contributions to the Conference Media Education Futures in
Tampere, Finland 2014. Yearbook 2015
Ilana Eleá (Ed.) Agentes e Vozes. Um Panorama da Mídia-Educação no Brasil, Portugal e Espanha. Yearbook 2014. Portuguese/Spanish Edition.
Cecilia von Feilitzen & Johanna Stenersen (Eds): Young People, Media and Health. Risks and Rights. Yearbook 2014.
English Edition.
Thomas Tufte, Norbert Wildermuth, Anne Sofie Hansen-Skovmoes, Winnie Mitullah (Eds): Speaking Up and Talking Back? Media Empowerment and
Civic Engagement among East and Southern African Youth. Yearbook 2012/2013.
Cecilia von Feilitzen, Ulla Carlsson & Catharina Bucht (Eds): New Questions, New Insights, New Approaches. Contributions
to the Research Forum at the World Summit on Media for Children and Youth 2010. Yearbook 2011.
Ulla Carlsson (Ed.) Children and Youth in the Digital Media Culture. From a Nordic Horizon. Yearbook 2010.

The Creative YouTubers

Thomas Tufte & Florencia Enghel (Eds): Youth Engaging With the World. Media, Communication and Social Change. Yearbook 2009.
Norma Pecora, Enyonam Osei-Hwere & Ulla Carlsson (Eds): African Media, African Children. Yearbook 2008.
Karin M. Ekström & Birgitte Tufte (Eds): Children, Media and Consumption. On the Front Edge. Yearbook 2007.
Ulla Carlsson & Cecilia von Feilitzen (Eds): In the Service of Young People? Studies and Reflections on Media in the Digital Age. Yearbook 2005/2006.
Cecilia von Feilitzen (Ed.): Young People, Soap Operas and Reality TV. Yearbook 2004.
Somewhere around 300-400 hours of video is uploaded
Cecilia von Feilitzen & Ulla Carlsson (Eds): Promote or Protect? Perspectives on Media Literacy and Media Regulations. Yearbook 2003.
every minute on the immensely popular platform of You-
Cecilia von Feilitzen & Ulla Carlsson (Eds): Children, Young People and Media Globalisation. Yearbook 2002.

Tube. In this section, authors present examples of video­

Cecilia von Feilitzen & Catharina Bucht: Outlooks on Children and Media. Child Rights, Media Trends, Media Research, Media Literacy, Child
Participation, Declarations. Yearbook 2001.
blogging,
Cecilia otherwise
von Feilitzen & Ulla Carlssonknown as invlogging,
(Eds): Children the New MediaaLandscape.
common Games,feature
Pornography, Perceptions. Yearbook 2000.

among viewers. Some vloggers have become world famousYearbook 1999.

Cecilia von Feilitzen & Ulla Carlsson (Eds): Children and Media. Image, Education, Participation.
Ulla Carlsson & Cecilia von Feilitzen (Eds): Children and Media Violence. Yearbook 1998.
through their presence on the screen, some of them are still
Other publications
mostly known among their friends and family.
Ilana Eleá (Ed.) Agents and Voices. A Panorama of Media Education in Brazil, Portugal and Spain, 2015.
Jagtar Singh, Alton Grizzle, Sin Joan Yee & Sherri Hope Culver (Eds): MILID Yearbook 2015.
Media and Information Literacy for the Sustainable Development Goals
Sherri Hope Culver & Paulette Kerr (Eds): MILID Yearbook 2014. Global Citizenship in a Digital World.
Catharina Bucht & Eva Harrie: Young People in the Nordic Digital Media Culture. A Statistical Overview, 2013.
Ulla Carlsson & Sherri Hope Culver (Eds): MILID Yearbook 2013. Media and Information Literacy and Intercultural Dialogue.
Catharina Bucht & Maria Edström (Eds): Youth Have Their Say on Internet Governance. Nordic Youth Forum at EuroDig, Stockholm June 2012.
Sirkku Kotilainen & Sol-Britt Arnolds-Granlund (Eds): Media Literacy Education. Nordic Perspectives, in cooperation with the Finnish Society on
Media Education, 2010.
María Dolores Souza & Patricio Cabello (Eds): The Emerging Media Toddlers, 2010.
Young People in the European Digital Media Landscape. A Statistical Overview with an Introduction by Sonia Livingstone
and Leslie Haddon. 2009 (For the EU conference ‘Promoting a Creative Generation’, July 2009)
Cecilia von Feilitzen: Influences of Mediated Violence. A Brief Research Summary, 2009.
Ulla Carlsson, Samy Tayie, Geneviève Jacquinot-Delaunay & José Manuel Pérez Tornero (Eds): Empowerment Through Media Education. An
Intercultural Dialogue, in co-operation with UNESCO, Dar Graphit and the Mentor Association, 2008.
Ulla Carlsson (Ed.): Regulation, Awareness, Empowerment. Young People and Harmful Media Content in the Digital Age, in co-operation with
UNESCO, 2006.
Maria Jacobson: Young People and Gendered Media Messages, 2005.
Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen & Jonas Heide Smith: Playing with Fire. How do Computer Games Influence the Player?, 2004.
 This book YOUNG & CREATIVE – Digital Technologies Empowering Children in Every-
day Life aims to catch different examples where children and youth have been active
and creative by their own initiative, driven by intrinsic motivation, personal interests
and peer relations. We want to show the opportunities of digital technologies for cre-
ative processes of children and young people. The access to digital technology and
its growing convergence has allowed young people to experiment active roles as cul-
tural producers. Participation becomes a keyword when “consumers take media into
their own hands”. Digital technologies offer the potential of different forms of partici-
patory media culture, and finally creative practices.

The Creative YouTubers

YOUNG and CREATIVE is a mix of research articles, interviews and case studies. The
target audience of this book is students, professionals and researchers working in the
field of education, communication, children and youth studies, new literacy studies
and media and information literacy.
Somewhere around 300-400 hours of video is uploaded
every minute on the immensely popular platform of You-
Tube.Eleá,
Ilana In this
PhDsection, authors
in Education frompresent
PUC-Rioexamples of Brazil,
de Janeiro, video­is former scientific coor-
blogging,
dinator otherwise
at The knownClearinghouse
International as vlogging, a on
common feature
Children, Youth and Media, Nordicom,
among viewers. Some vloggers have become world famous
Sweden.
through
Lothar theirProfessor
Mikos, presenceofonTelevision
the screen, some of
Studies, them are still
Department of Media Studies, Filmuni-
mostly known among their friends and family.
versität Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF, Potsdam, Germany, and Honorary Professsor at
University of International Business and Economy, Beijing, China.

University of Gothenburg
Box 713, SE 405 30 Göteborg, Sweden
Telephone +46 31 786 00 00 • Fax + 46 31 786 46 55
ISBN 978-91-87957-85-7

E-mail [email protected]
9 789187 957857

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