Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

COMS 401 Influencers - Final Mind Map, Visibility and Privledge, platform…

- - - - Tacit Labor - Embodied and unseen work done with the intent of seeming natural of effortless.
        "An expression of contrived authenticity and reflexivity" (Abidin 2016,1)
      - Woodstock discusses Twitch broadcasters' labor to understand this fast rising and increasingly apparent digital games labor practice. This article uses "affective labour" to explain the attractiveness of live streaming' interpersonal and social aspects. " In terms of Twitch, the streamer to modulate emotions and impact through performance is key.
        
        spaces that appear on camera, the overlapping interfaces on the screen, the community spaces that form around a streamer, as the space of Twitch as a broader platform. "Livestreaming from the bedroom: Performing intimacy through domestic space on Twitch" Sarah Banet-Weiser, 2012, p.682)
  - - - The rise of live streaming on platforms like Twitch has brought about a new form of digital labor that involves emotional and interpersonal work, known as "affective labor." This work is essential for the success of Twitch streamers, who must carefully curate their persona and perform emotional labor to engage their audience. This work is an expression of what Abidin calls "contrived authenticity and reflexivity." Overall, these readings highlight the complex and multi-faceted nature of digital labor and self-branding in the age of social media and influencer marketing, where individuals must balance authenticity, passion, and emotional labor to succeed.
- - - - Creators in the influencer industry are shaped by their intersecting identities, which can impact their practices and experiences in various ways. One key factor that affects creators is race and the construction of whiteness as the norm. Whiteness can limit the opportunities and visibility of non-white creators, perpetuating systemic inequalities and limiting diversity in the industry. This can lead to marginalization and tokenization of creators who do not fit into the dominant norm.
      - The phenomenon of "woke" capitalism can also impact creators' experiences in the industry. Companies and influencers often commodify social justice movements, leading creators to feel pressure to conform to certain social justice messaging or practices. This can be performative and may not genuinely reflect their beliefs or experiences. Creators may feel conflicted about how to authentically address social justice issues in their work, while also navigating the commercial interests of the industry.
      - The rise of virtual influencers is another aspect that can impact creators' experiences in the industry. Virtual influencers blur the line between reality and fiction, often presenting unrealistic beauty standards and body image expectations. Creators may feel pressure to present themselves in certain ways to meet these expectations or to compete with virtual influencers. This can lead to feelings of inadequacy or pressure to conform to narrow beauty standards.
      - Lastly, issues of representation and privilege are crucial to understanding the experiences of creators in the industry. Creators may feel pressure to represent their identities and communities in their work, but may struggle with expectations and limitations placed on them. Privilege, such as financial stability or social connections, can impact creators' access to opportunities and resources in the industry. Creators without these privileges may face greater challenges in navigating the industry, which can limit their ability to represent themselves and their communities authentically.
    - - Gendered authenticity policing is a pervasive issue in the influencer industry. Creators are often expected to conform to traditional gender roles and norms, which can be particularly challenging for those who identify outside of the gender binary. The pressure to present a certain image of oneself can lead to a phenomenon known as entrepreneurial femininity, in which women creators are expected to present themselves as successful, confident, and empowered while also maintaining a conventionally attractive and feminine image.
      - However, this expectation of conformity can lead to digital horizontal violence, in which creators are criticized and attacked by their peers and audience for not adhering to gendered expectations. This can result in a toxic environment in which creators feel pressured to present a certain image of themselves, even if it is not authentic to who they are.
      - Furthermore, the pressure to present an authentic image of oneself can also lead to issues of fakery and legitimacy. Creators may feel the need to curate their image in order to appeal to their audience and gain success, which can lead to the perpetuation of inauthentic or staged content. This can undermine the legitimacy of the influencer industry and lead to a lack of trust between creators and their audience.
      - In order to combat these issues, it is important for the industry to recognize and address the ways in which gendered authenticity policing operates within it. Creators should be encouraged to present themselves authentically, rather than conforming to traditional gender roles and expectations. Additionally, it is important to create a more supportive and inclusive environment within the industry, in which creators feel safe to express themselves in a way that feels authentic to them.
  - - - As creators navigate these intersections, they must also consider their responsibility to create inclusive and empowering content that does not perpetuate harmful stereotypes or reinforce oppressive power dynamics. By actively engaging with and challenging these power dynamics, creators can use their platforms to amplify marginalized voices and perspectives and pave the way for a more inclusive and equitable industry. Ultimately, creators' intersecting identities shape their practices and experiences in the industry, and it is essential to recognize and acknowledge these complexities to foster a more inclusive and empowering industry.
      - In the beauty industry, for instance, feminine norms and standards have been constructed as the norm, often excluding or limiting the representation of creators with intersecting identities. Moreover, the idea of "woke" capitalism and performative allyship can tokenize and exploit creators with marginalized identities while reinforcing harmful power dynamics. It is crucial to recognize that the industry's structures and norms have historically excluded certain identities and that creators are challenging and disrupting these norms through their practices.
      - Creators' intersecting identities, such as race, gender, sexuality, and class, play a significant role in shaping their practices and experiences in the industry. The intersections of these identities create a complex web of power dynamics that can both benefit and disadvantage creators. For example, some creators may use their intersecting identities as a form of authenticity to appeal to their audience, while others may face discrimination and barriers due to their marginalized identities.
- - - - Partnership program requirements: Many social media platforms have creator programs that allow creators to monetize their content through advertising, sponsorships, and other means. These programs usually require high-quality content, follower or engagement thresholds, and community guidelines.
        
        the requirements are:
        
        Content quality, engagement, and platform compliance are usually required to monetize social media content. YouTube creators must have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours in the past year to monetize their content with ads.
        
        Platform-specific payout percentage and frequency. Twitch pays 50% and YouTube 55% of ad revenue. Some platforms pay creators monthly, while others pay out less frequently.
        
        The platform's website or creator documentation usually has this information. Platforms may email, in-app notify, or otherwise inform creators of these policies.
        
        These policies can protect the platform by ensuring content meets quality and policy standards and by generating revenue through advertising and other means. These policies can protect creators by allowing them to monetize their content and build sustainable careers on the platform. By following these rules, creators can ensure that their content is monetizable and profitable.
- - - - A clear picture of how automated decision-making works, or at least encapsulates the feeling of being at the whim of an algorithm, tends to emerge for those who believe their livelihoods are most directly affected by such decisions (Noble 2018). According to Safiya Noble (2018), the experiences of marginalized groups on social media platforms are reflected in the narratives they share. The emotional experience of a working life mediated by algorithms is captured accurately. Women are disproportionately impacted by algorithms, especially women of color. Algorithms, according to studies, are biased in a discriminatory way that contributes to the perpetuation of prejudice based on race, gender, and religion (Noble 2018).
        
        the algorithm and
        social media work
      - Because it punishes "risky" content by making it invisible, YouTube's algorithm determines not only what content is popular but also what content is created (Bishop 2018). Creators are at the mercy of the algorithm when it comes to the types of content they produce, which is essential if they want to turn their self-brand into a career (Abidin 2019). There is a great deal of financial and emotional pressure to act in accordance with their self-brand. Algorithmic self-optimization is what Sophie Bishop (2018) calls the process by which creators tweak their work and identities to win over the algorithm. In order to rise to the top of a hierarchy of visibility that privileges hegemonic white femininity, beauty vloggers on YouTube, for instance, use algorithmic self-optimization.
        
        beauty youtubers
        algorithmic self-optimization
    - - Even though Reddit is an open-source platform that encourages the development of diverse online communities, it still reflects the underlying priorities of its designers and developers, who are primarily located in Silicon Valley. By using the upvote and downvote buttons, users can influence which posts get the most attention. However, a post's popularity, upvotes, and exposure all increase when it receives a large number of upvotes within its own subreddit. Massanari calls this kind of change a power-law dynamic, which occurs when a change in one quantity causes another quality to change in a proportional manner.
        
        Twitch released a new feature they called the "Boost Train" in September 2022. Twitch restricted access to the Boost Train to select channels. Hype Trains are activated on Twitch when viewers subscribe to a channel or donate bits. As more people contribute and subscribe, the Hype Train gains momentum. The Boost Train grants a streamer a "Boost" when they reach predetermined thresholds on the Hype Train. The Boost will help the streamer become "a highly visible part of Twitch," similar to the effect of upvotes on Reddit. In their frequently asked questions, Twitch mentions that they are experimenting with other parts of the site, but they provide the "live channels we recommend" section as an example of a highly visible space. The ability of a streamer to inspire their audience to donate, subscribe, and watch ads is crucial to the success of the boost train. The viewers can "support" their preferred streamer by tuning in more frequently and/or making monetary contributions.
        
        Twitch - Boost Train -
        
        There are ways to game the supposed neutrality of platforms even when meritocratic systems are in place, such as Boost Trains and upvote/downvote systems. Massanari uses the example of Unidan, a prolific science redditor, to illustrate this point. Unidan was shadowbanned for manipulating Reddit's upvote, downvote, and karma systems, which are supposed to be based on merit. She notes that while Unidan was banned, it's likely that his fans were also manipulating votes to boost the popularity of their favorite redditor.
        
        the neutrality of
        platforms
        "the feast of jackdaws"
        
        Platform politics is defined by Massanari (2014) as "the assemblage of design, policies, and norms that encourage certain kinds of cultures and behaviors to coalesce on platforms while implicitly discouraging others." Certain online identities develop as a result of platform politics. Making it through the politics of online platforms is a crucial part of the job for content creators and influencers who rely on their work to support themselves. Constant knowledge creep as a result of evolving platform technologies forces content producers to keep up with the times, often at their own expense. The insecurity of platform work emphasizes the need for a broadening skill set among creators.
        
        Changing terms of
        employment
- - - - Caplan and Gillespie call YouTube's governance tiered. Different users have different standards. Native social media creators say traditional media and celebrities are "more advertiser-friendly" and have lower standards. They also felt their content was being censored by flawed automated processes. Oversimplifying tiered governance to user-generated content versus traditional media is wrong. YouTube lists popular and advertiser-friendly creators. The algorithm favors these content creators. Partnership criteria change.
        
        tiered governance
        strategy
      - the promise of
        platforms
        
        In Caplan and Gillespie's article, platforms were once seen as spaces of possibility, creativity, community, and democracy. The YPP and other programs show how platformized digital content's cultural production model is based on economic arrangements that prioritize profit for key stakeholders. As a profit-sharing tool and a way for the platform to "give back" to its most loyal users, the Partnership Program seemed promising for creators. Platformized work is precarious, as shown by these partnership programs.