Social Network Usage
I split my data collection into the three groups: Bloggers, Musicians, and Viral Videos. I wanted to see how social media usage differed between the groups and the effect that it had on YouTube subscribers.
Here are the results of the data collected regarding usage of the social media sites Tumblr, Facebook, and Twitter.
Bloggers’ Usage
From this we can see that Tyler Oakley was the most active blogger in terms of social network usage. He and Jenna Mourey both used all three social networks to promote their video channel. On the other hand, Lucas Cruikshank only used Facebook to promote his channel. He did not even have a Tumblr account and had not updated his Twitter in the week that I observed his social network usage.
Musicians’ Usage
From this we can see that Justin Bieber was the most active on social networks, especially Twitter. This seemed to be the case with all of the musicians as they all updated Twitter at least once a day in the week that I observed. It is interesting to note that none of the three musicians had Tumblr accounts to promote their YouTube channels.
Viral Videos’ Usage
Here, we see that Team Starkid far outweighed the two other Viral Video channels in social network usage. Their strong online presence in Facebook and Twitter kept them much more active on fan’s online news feeds than the other two channels I observed. Like the musicians, none of the three viral video channels used Tumblr for promotion.
Subscribers Gained
Overall, Tyler Oakley, Jenna Mourey, and Justin Bieber gained the most YouTube subscribers in the time that I observed their channels. Looking back at the social network usage charts, it seems that they are among the most active across the most platforms. They were also examples of channels who came out with a single popular video to greatly increase their subscriber numbers. Even though they only updated their YouTube channel once in the week that I observed them, their constant posts on social networks still drove fans to subscribe to their channels.
For example, Tyler Oakley, a blogger, released a video titled “How to: Stalk One Direction,” during the week that I observed the channel. Because this video was popular with one group of people (One Direction fans), it gained the most popularity and total views. Therefore, Tyler gained the most channel subscribers. Also, Tyler used many different promotions on his numerous social networks. He tweeted the video to his Twitter followers and played on their desire for more followers and notoriety by saying, “If you retweet my video ‘How to: Stalk One Direction,’ I’ll pick one of you to follow!” He also did this on his Tumblr account with the post, “Reblog my new video ‘How to: Stalk One Direction,’ and I’ll check out your blog! I love following new people!”
Jenna Mourey, another blogger, also updated her YouTube channel once in the week that I observed, with her video, “How Girls Pack a Suitcase.” However, this was not a spontaneous update, as she promises one video per week, usually on Wednesdays. She also updated Twitter and Tumblr with links to her new video, but did not use promotions the same way that Tyler Oakley did.
Justin Bieber, on the other hand, is not a blogger with regular videos like the previous two. However, he did gain a significant amount of followers the same way that the two bloggers did because he announced the music video for his new single, “Boyfriend.” He already has a significant amount of notoriety, but also used Twitter as a platform to spread the word about his new video.
Overall, we can see that a YouTube update, paired with social media updates, is the best way to gain YouTube popularity. The most consistent social network users with the most widespread online presence gained the most followers.
Social Media Usage for Different Types of Users
By grouping the observed channels by Blogger, Musician, and Viral Video, I was able to see the way that social media affects different users.
The group that had the most widespread online presence was the Blogger group. They each had more than five different self-promoted social networks. For example, Jenna Mourey uses Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google Plus. Bloggers are the group that are solely self-promoted and seek popularity. They are the ones who use their own lives to gain followers and get their message across. For all three of my observed, they have been able to make careers out of this. For example, Lucas Cruikshank has used his social media fame to launch an acting career based on his YouTube videos. He was featured on an episode of “iCarly,” and had a feature film on Nickelodeon, “Fred,” based off of his YouTube persona. Through my archival data collection, I have found that widespread social media usage is most beneficial and used by bloggers.
Musicians, on the other hand, can use YouTube as a form of exposure for recording contracts. For example, Justin Bieber was first discovered because of his amateur singing videos around his hometown. He gained a huge following on YouTube and was called by a record company as a result of this to perform for them. He then went on to become a huge star, but still relies on social media to connect with fans. For example, every time he posts a new video to YouTube, his subscriber count spikes and this means that his popularity is increased. From this we can see that musicians have to rely less on other social networks, but it is still an important component of their online presence.
Viral Video channels, from my data collection, use social networks the least out of all of the groups. This group posted videos originally for their own sake, instead of for the sake of gaining an audience. Therefore, their main goal is not necessarily self promotion. For example, Team Starkid posted their self-written Harry Potter-parody musical, “A Very Potter Musical,” online for their friends and family to see. However, other users sent the video around and they gained a massive following that they never even desired or expected. Their internet fame also helped launch the career of actor Darren Criss, who now is a series regular on “Glee.” Now, they have created a theatre company and depend on social networking to get their ideas out.
The main difference I saw between Bloggers and Musicians, and Viral Videos in terms of social media usage is that Viral Video channels usually rely on social media usage from fans, but not of their own accord. Their channels are often spread by fans on Twitter and Tumblr, instead of self-promotion.
Popularity vs. Overall Fame
The assumption this research that the more people subscribe to a YouTube channel, the more popularity the channel has. Although we may have quantitative ways to see popularity, I wanted to see if there was a way to gauge positive and negative popularity.
So, here are the results of observing twenty comments from the top video on each channel. They are coded based on positive responses, negative responses, and indifferent or irrelevant responses.
From this we can see that the most positive popularity was observed with Jenna Mourey and David De Vore Jr. Jenna Mourey causes controversy with her videos, but gains a large audience by making her videos comical, applicable to a young fan base, and regularly updated. The most popular video on David De Vore Jr.’s channel, “David After the Dentist,” is one of the most viewed videos of all time on YouTube. It is an example of a viral video because it gained a large number of views through word-of-mouth, so to speak. This word-of-mouth comes from social media usage of fans who email or tweet links to the video.
The most negative popularity was on Rebecca Black’s video, “Friday.” She was the recipient of hate speech and offensive language. She is a musician signed to a recording label, but was attacked for the content of her song, the lyrics, and her vocal ability.
Overall, popularity may be attainable online, but it may not necessarily be through a positive response on social media sites.