I missed most of the first talk in the post-lunch panel at AoIR 2018, but here we go with Sophie Bishop’s paper on sponsored content on YouTube, in the context of beauty vloggers. Fans of these vloggers generally understand that such content is often commercially sponsored and supported in some form; they are very active in policing vloggers’ behaviours, establishing appropriate boundaries of authenticity in this space.
Such boundary-setting takes place in a range of online fora away from YouTube itself; here, fans critique their influencers (sometimes quite harshly) and discuss the limitations and implications of commercial sponsorship. There’s a great need for further attention from fandom scholars on these spaces.
These discussions address the unspoken social contract between vloggers, fans, and the fashion industry, as well as the commercial realities of this space; this is a form of calibrated amateurism that is expressed through a very carefully designed aesthetic, as Crystal Abidin argues.
Sophie’s own work focusses especially on Stylehaul, which offers native advertising that influencers can interweave with their own content; this locks them into four-year contracts, removes access to Google AdWords data, and siphons off 30% of the advertising revenue, however. Vloggers frame such sponsored content by situating the sponsored product within their own material.
Such content is also anchored by seasonality: for instance aligned with holiday periods, where some vloggers post a new update on each of the 24 days of Christmas in order to maximise their ability to promote sponsored content, or connected with special activities like a weekend trip. Strategically incorporating, revealing as well as concealing sponsored content, is crucial here, as is balancing commercial sponsorship and an authentic appeal.
