{"id":30,"date":"2019-03-05T16:07:22","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T16:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zoeglatt.com\/?page_id=30"},"modified":"2024-03-12T14:57:57","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T14:57:57","slug":"dr-youtube-in-the-news","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/zoeglatt.com\/?page_id=30","title":{"rendered":"IN THE NEWS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I am regularly interviewed as a social media, Internet and influencer culture expert by journalists and have featured in Wired, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Telegraph, BBC 5 Live radio, Vice, GQ, Rolling Stone UK, Time <\/em>and Esquire, <\/em>amongst others. If you’re a journalist looking for a quote, then please get in touch<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Why YouTubers are feeling the burn<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, The Guardian<\/em> (12th<\/sup> August 2018) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cYouTube\u2019s algorithms prefer channels that have regular uploads and a narrow focus in terms of content,\u201d explains Zoe Glatt, a PhD researcher conducting a digital ethnography of YouTube creators at the London School of Economics. \u201cCreators are encouraged to pursue a quantity-over-quality approach if they want to achieve success on YouTube. This, combined with a lack of clarity about what content exactly YouTube will promote and what might be demonetised, leads to an extremely precarious and stressful working life for creators.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2018The great YouTube exodus is coming \u2014 leaving AI junk and MrBeast to reign supreme<\/a>\u2019 Lindsay Dodgson, Business Insider <\/em>(12th March 2024)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zoe Glatt, a digital ethnographer and feminist media scholar, told Business Insider she thinks the number of “high-profile OG YouTubers” leaving has to do with already existing problems with being a content creator being exacerbated in recent years… Content creation has always been precarious,” she said, fraught with “uncertainty and burnout” caused by how unpredictable it is to build a career on a platform that is constantly changing, and that has “opaque algorithmic systems and unreliable monetization mechanisms.”

Despite being generally considered one of the top social media platforms for creator compensation, YouTube has struggled in the past with combating hate speech and conspiracy theories, making its copyright claim system fair and consistent, and how to balance free speech with being advertiser-friendly.
Glatt said a few elite creators have managed to navigate all the changes to cultivate their presence for 10 years or more. That’s why some of the recent departures have been so shocking, she said. “But when we look at the longer trajectory, it becomes clear that this shift has been a long time coming,” she said.

Since TikTok exploded in popularity circa 2018, other platforms have been playing “catch up” in the game of short-form content, Glatt said. There have been many complaints among creators about YouTube’s prioritization of shorts, for example, over longer videos, she added. When YouTube prioritizes one metric or type of content over another, she said, “This sends ripples across the platform ecosystem, upending previously successful creators and entire genres.” The result is that even long-standing creators with large followings don’t feel like the work they are putting into their channels is paying off, leading them to pivot, or even give up altogether. “The creators who have left recently have seen this process happen time and again,” Glatt said. “And for one reason or another this time round, they have decided to leave…”

When creators like Patrick (MatPat) started out, they had fewer responsibilities, Glatt said. “Many of them are now in their 30s or 40s, have children and mortgages, and simply cannot afford to gamble on such an unpredictable career.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘Here\u2019s why bimbos are having a renaissance on TikTok<\/a>\u2019 Charlotte Colombo, Metro UK <\/em>(25th August 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Zoe Glatt, a PhD researcher in internet culture and feminism, describes the rise of #BimboTok as a \u2018reclamation of the word\u2019. While women were previously boxed into the term by men, they are now using the term to \u2018celebrate hyperfemininity whilst disavowing the male gaze.\u2019
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Zoe tells Metro.co.uk that #BimboTok \u2018is a tongue in cheek and celebratory feminist movement, lighthearted but also radically leftwing\u2019. As pointed out by Zoe, at the heart of #BimboToker\u2019s content is a rhetoric that is trans-inclusive, antiracist, sex work positive, anticapitalist, and \u2018in line with the broadly more socially progressive Gen Z\u2019.
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But when it comes to bimbos, there is no sense of competition or one quality of womanhood winning out over the other since, as Zoe points out, they are \u2018less attached to the idea that to be taken seriously they have to subdue their femininity or sexuality\u2019”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘Why So Many YouTube and TikTok Stars Want to Sell You a Shirt (And Maybe a Burger)<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, Time<\/em> (15th April 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In fact, says Zoe Glatt at the London School of Economics, who studies YouTubers\u2019 life and businesses, creators are now tapping into multiple income sources to maintain stability.”Content creators are required to diversify their labor and income streams across many platforms and projects if they hope to build sustainable audiences and careers,\u201d says Glatt. \u201cAt a fundamental level, there is a deep-seated anxiety in the creator community that a platform that appears to be a pillar of the social media ecology can disappear overnight.\u201d
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Glatt says that it\u2019s no longer enough to simply be \u2018just\u2019 a YouTuber; you\u2019re expected to be a brand, producing for YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, and any other platform that will come along in the future. \u201cEntrepreneurial creators understand themselves as cross-platform, multi-media brands, simultaneously dependent on and independent from the platforms that they work across,\u201d says Glatt.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘Die gro\u00dfe Freiheit der Superstars<\/a>\u2019 Johannes B\u00f6hme, Brand Eins <\/em>(25th February 2022)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Everywhere, much of the revenue is concentrated with a very small group. The vast majority deserves extra income at best. The imbalance has worsened in recent years. The sociologist Zo\u00eb Glatt from the London School of Economics points out, for example, that the large YouTube accounts with more than one million subscribers grew by 65 percent in 2019. The smaller ones with fewer than 1,000 subscribers, on the other hand, stagnated. “Small accounts fight against the recommendation algorithm of the platforms that prefer large accounts,” says Glatt. The only big exception to this rule is Tiktok, whose algorithm allows some newcomers to reach an audience of millions in a few months.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘Whatever happened to the Brit Crew?<\/a>\u2019 Amelia Tait, Rolling Stone UK<\/em> (10th December 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Zo\u00eb Glatt, a digital anthropology researcher at the London School of Economics, notes: “The commodity being sold in their videos is the vlogger themself – their lifestyle, activities, tastes and relationships.”<\/em>


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‘TikTok\u2019s LGBTQ+ Discourse is Just a Re-Run of Tumblr<\/a>\u2019 Charli Clement, VICE <\/em>(27th<\/sup> January 2021)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Why does this duplicated discourse occur? \u201cSocial media platforms have long been the place where subcultures and marginalized people have flourished, where those who feel isolated in their offline context can meet like minded people,” Zoe Glatt, a PhD Researcher at London School of Economics in Media and Communications, told Motherboard. \u201cIt used to be that LGBTQ+ communities existed in small pockets of the Internet, on Tumblr and YouTube,\u201d she continued, \u201cbut in recent years, shifting attitudes towards gender and sexuality have meant that LGBTQ+ concerns and discourses have become much more part of the mainstream.\u201d
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“The discourses that circulate on social media have a profound impact on communities in the offline world,\u201d Glatt added, \u201cnot because media determines social life, but because media is a part of social life.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘TikTok creators are paying brokers $1,000 to get verified on the app<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, Business Insider <\/em>(1st December 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“It doesn’t surprise me in the least that people would be willing to spend upwards of $1,000 to be marked as verified on TikTok,” said Zoe Glatt, an academic studying social media at the London School of Economics… “In the influencer industry, which is based on an economy of visibility (who can gain the most eyeballs), there is a long tradition of paying for fake followers and views. Verification is just another facet of the same logic: creators trying to appear to be popular and legitimate in the hopes that it will lead to income opportunities down the line, especially with brands.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Charli D’Amelio first person to hit 100 million TikTok followers<\/a>\u2019 Katie Collins, CNET<\/em> (22nd<\/sup> November 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Earlier this year, D’Amelio was falsely credited with creating the “Renegade” dance, which was actually the work of Black teenager Jalaiah Harmon from Atlanta, Georgia — not something she had claimed, but that was widely assumed due to her viral version of the dance. “This story tells us something about the culture of TikTok, where white creators commonly appropriate aspects of Black culture,” says Glatt. The episode led to D’Amelio and others more frequently adding dance credits in their TikTok captions to ensure the creator was being recognized.
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“It is precisely her ordinariness that is the key to her success,” says Zoe Glatt, a digital anthropologist and critical intersectional feminist researcher at London School of Economics. “With her pretty girl-next-door vibe, she exemplifies the ideal package for a TikToker: Relatable, authentic, normatively attractive, youthful, fun, unthreatening and uncontroversial.”
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According to Glatt, this incident “demonstrates the fragility of online fame, especially for young women who are held to impossibly high standards of behaviour as compared to their male counterparts.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘Would you pay to follow an influencer?<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, BBC Worklife <\/em>(22nd September 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cFor me, what these membership schemes signal is yet another step towards the influencer industry looking increasingly like the traditional media that it originally bucked against,\u201d says Glatt. \u201cThere\u2019s a slickness and commercialism that jars against the homemade quality that most content creators still strive towards, no matter how big their operation has become.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘It\u2019s the Beginning of the End for Independent YouTubers<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, OneZero <\/em>(16th March 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis system is particularly stacked against small individual creators, who are competing on an overcrowded platform against corporate monoliths such as T-Series, BuzzFeed, and Bon App\u00e9tit, as well as seemingly independent major influencers, who in fact more often than not have teams of people working for them,\u201d says Zoe Glatt, a PhD researcher at the London School of Economics who studies YouTube. \u201cThese companies have the time and resources to pump out a much higher quantity and quality of content, which performs better algorithmically than an independent creator who has to work another job to earn a living.\u201d Glatt says the algorithm \u2014 and the industrialization of YouTube \u2014 is \u201cyet another compounding factor as to why traditional inequalities across intersections of race, class, and gender persist and, indeed, why the barriers to entry remain extremely high in the online video industry.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘The Bloodiest Battle in the Shortform Video App War Will Be Fought Through Off-Platform Embeds<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, FFWD Medium <\/em>(27th January 2020)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIn the case of TikTok and Byte, these platforms are able to reach and draw in new audiences by enabling easy shareability of their content on other platforms, and they control the marketing narrative by watermarking their content when it is downloaded,\u201d explains Zoe Glatt, who is studying a PhD at the London School of Economics on YouTube.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘\u2018This app is free and therapy is not\u2019: Gen Z will keep using TikTok even if they don\u2019t trust it<\/a>\u2019 Abby Ohlheiser, The Washington Post <\/em>(15th November 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cCreators are critical of host platforms and feel that they don\u2019t have their best interests at heart,\u201d said Zo\u00eb Glatt, a researcher at the London School of Economics who studies content creators. \u201cHowever, creators still use these platforms, often to share intimate details of their lives, because they want to communicate with their audience-community (whether these are friends or fans).”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘What\u2019s the Deal with Jacob Sartorius\u2019s Social Media Proclamations?<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, FFWD Medium<\/em> (1st October 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The popularity of influencers is differentiated from traditional mass media celebrity in its emphasis on the performance of authenticity, intimacy, availability and connectedness,\u201d explains Zoe Glatt, who is studying YouTube for her PhD at London School of Economics. \u201cJacob Sartorius practices a particularly extreme version of this, actively cultivating a parasocial relationship where each follower feels like the personal recipient of his attention and affection.<\/em>.. But while the messages appear to give off some semblance of intimacy \u2014 why else would you say \u201cif i went in for it would u kiss me?\u201d \u2014 Glatt is clear that they\u2019re serving a different purpose. \u201cThese messages are not merely expressions of endearment from Sartorius to his fans, but work to solidify his appeal as a heart-throb, and ultimately to increase his popularity and record sales,\u201d she says.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘Why the Fast Forward Button is the YouTube Viewer\u2019s Best Friend<\/a>\u2019 Amelia Tait, FFWD Medium<\/em> (6th September 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Today, users can upload videos that are hours long \u2014 and frequently do. \u201cIt\u2019s now common to see vlogs and other content on YouTube that is half an hour or longer,\u201d says Zo\u00eb Glatt, who is studying for a PhD on YouTube at London School of Economics… Glatt believes that the tendency to watch videos at 1.5x or 2x speed \u201csuggests that audiences are taking a more means-to-an-end approach to content\u201d by ensuring they can keep up with their favourite creators. \u201cAfter all, if you follow even 10 channels religiously and each channel is now producing a 30-minute video per week, this is much more of a time commitment than it used to be.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Influencers are now monetising their wedding day<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, GQ <\/em>(29th<\/sup> July 2019) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThis is the logical conclusion to the commodification of personal life that has been foundational to the influencer industry, similar to family creators monetising pregnancy vlogs and the ubiquity of oversharing personal issues,\u201d says Zo\u00eb Glatt, who is studying YouTube for a PhD at London School Of Economics.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘More Kids Want to Be YouTubers than Astronauts Because Obviously<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, FFWD Medium<\/em> (17th July 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cPut simply, social media stars are the celebrities for the younger generation, much like astronauts were back in 1969,\u201d says Zoe Glatt, a PhD researcher at the London School of Economics. \u201cNot only this, but there is an accessibility to them that previous forms of celebrity did not have, with the perception that anyone can \u2018make it\u2019 in this growing industry as long as they have a smartphone. All this considered, it is no surprise that so many young people today aspire to follow this career path.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Does Jake love Tana? YouTube’s power couple and the dangers of influencer fakery<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, The Telegraph<\/em> (26th<\/sup> June 2019) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cShe and her now-apparent fianc\u00e9 Jake Paul are at the more reality TV end of the YouTube spectrum, both having courted controversy and drama for views in the past,\u201d explains Zoe Glatt, who is studying YouTube for her PhD at London School of Economics. \u201cTheir YouTube content has long blurred the line between reality and entertainment. This, coupled with their massive combined online following, makes them the perfect object for a legacy media company such as MTV to grasp on to in a bid to reach the coveted youth\/social media demographic.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\u2018How A Desperation For YouTube Fame Ended In Tragedy<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, Esquire<\/em> (2nd May 2019) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Pranks are an important part of YouTube \u2013 \u2018a genre of content that is largely designed to the platform\u2019s algorithmic preference for click-baity and shocking content,\u2019 says Zo\u00eb Glatt, a PhD researcher at the London School of Economics. \u2018In some corners of YouTube there is a race-to-the-bottom mentality. If the appeal of your content is that it is shocking or risqu\u00e9, then the competitive nature of YouTube means that people have to post increasingly shocking and risqu\u00e9 content in order to be seen.\u2019”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

‘What does Lilly Singh\u2019s NBC late-night show mean for YouTube?<\/a>\u2019 Teddy Amenabar, Washington Post <\/em>(12th<\/sup> April 2019) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThere\u2019s an increasing interpenetration between mainstream media and Internet media,\u201d Glatt said. \u201cMainstream executives, I guess, have finally caught on to the fact that YouTube stars get more views than they do.\u201d<\/em>



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\u2018The ethics and effect of YouTube’s fudged Tommy Robinson ban<\/a>\u2019 Will Bedingfield, Wired UK <\/em>(5th<\/sup> April 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe restrictions do nothing, either, to mute Robinson\u2019s dialogue with his followers. \u201cThey will undoubtedly stem the flow of new viewers to his channel, but that does not mean that his existing viewers will be any less engaged in his content,\u201d says Zo\u00eb Glatt, a researcher at the London School of Economics.\u201d<\/em>

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\u2018Banning comments won\u2019t fix YouTube\u2019s paedophile problem. Its algorithm is totally broken<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, Wired UK <\/em>(1st<\/sup> March 2019)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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‘They\u2019re completely aware of what the problem is, but they are giving a quick fix in order to appease advertisers,\u201d says Zoe Glatt, who is studying YouTube for her PhD at London School of Economics. \u201cYes, in the short term turning off all comments will deal with this problem in the sense that it will stop predatory comments on videos of young people. But it’s like using a rocket launcher to kill a fly, and creators are the unintended casualties.\u201d<\/em>

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\u2018YouTube Community Reacts to VidCon London 2019<\/a>\u2019 Bob Leak, TenEighty Magazine <\/em>(20th<\/sup> February 2019) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The convention received a wide array of responses from both attendees and creators alike, so we thought we\u2019d round-up just what everyone had to say about the past weekend. \u201cThe UK online video community is alive and thriving,\u201d was Zoe Glatt\u2018s response to VidCon London.<\/em>








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\u2018YouTube’s prank ban deepens the expanding rift with its creators<\/a>\u2019 Chris Stokel-Walker, Wired UK <\/em>(16th<\/sup> January 2019) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cSimilarly to Logan Paul’s suicide forest video, this sort of content is driven by the work that creators do to be seen, also referred to as visibility labour,\u201d says Glatt. \u201cIn some corners of YouTube there is a race to the bottom mentality. If the appeal of your content is that it is shocking or risqu\u00e9, then the competitive nature of YouTube means that people have to post increasingly shocking and risqu\u00e9 content in order to be seen.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018The Lonely Life of a Professional YouTuber<\/a>\u2019 Joe Zadeh, Vice<\/em> (22nd<\/sup> February 2018) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Two months ago, Ofcom released their “Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report” for 2017, and it contained striking revelations. Among 12 to 15-year-olds, YouTube was the most recognised content brand, ahead of ITV, Netflix and the BBC. Ninety percent of them use it, and the majority prefer it to watching a TV set.<\/em>
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\u2018Do scandals ever really knock YouTubers like Logan Paul, PewDiePie and Zoella?<\/a>\u2019 George Harrison, The Sun<\/em> (9th<\/sup> January 2018) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“He might find it harder to work with brands in the future, who fear looking bad by association. But greater than this, he has further alienated himself from the broader YouTube community. For the most part, the wider YouTube community – creators and viewers alike – has unequivocally denounced his Aokigahara video.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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\u2018James Charles causing gridlock in Birmingham and the popularity of social media celebrities\u2019<\/a> ITV News<\/em> TV interview (28th<\/sup> January 2019):<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“When it comes to YouTubers, organisers of events often don\u2019t realise the popularity and so they just don\u2019t have the infrastructure in place.” <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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I was interviewed on @ITVnews<\/a> this evening about @JamesCharles<\/a> causing gridlock in Birmingham and the popularity of social media celebrities! \u26a1\ufe0f\u26a1\ufe0f You can watch it here: pic.twitter.com\/zlREbeJOYn<\/a><\/p>— \u2124\ud835\udd60\ud835\udd56 \ud835\udd3e\ud835\udd5d\ud835\udd52\ud835\udd65\ud835\udd65 \u2728\ufe0f (@ZoeGlatt) January 28, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote>