This dissertation explores the informal community of 'YouTube beauty gurus' who create makeup tutorial videos, analyzing how they use digital platforms to construct social relationships and fame. Utilizing theories of value and art, the research delves into how these gurus navigate their online presence, promoting engagement while managing perceptions of authenticity. The findings contribute to the field of digital anthropology by providing insights into the social organization and value creation within decentralized online environments.

1. MSC
IN
DIGITAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
DISSERTATION
MAKING
UP
ART,
VIDEOS
AND
FAME
The
Creation
of
Social
Order
in
the
Informal
Realm
of
YouTube
Beauty
Gurus
JULIANO
SPYER
Dissertation
submitted
in
partial
fulfilment
of
the
requirements
for
the
degree
of
MSc
in
Digital
Anthropology
(UCL)
of
the
University
of
London
in
2011.
WORD
COUNT:
18,000
UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE
OF
LONDON
DEPARTMENT
OF
ANTHROPOLOGY
1

2.
Abstract
This
research
focused
in
an
informal
group
called
“YouTube
beauty
gurus”.
They
invest
time
and
resources
attracting
attention
to
(and
thus
gaining
publicity
from)
videos
they
produce
mainly
about
how
to
perform
makeup
routines.
I
used
the
ethnographic
material
the
research
generated
to
analyse
the
production
of
social
order
in
a
virtual
space
where
everyone
has
the
same
infrastructure
to
act.
I
drew
from
Munn’s
(1986)
theory
of
value
to
analyse
a
digital
artefact
called
“Tag”
used
for
bridging
together
smaller
networks
of
users
through
the
spatiotemporal
expansion
of
those
who
trade
it.
Gell’s
(1998)
theory
of
art
provided
the
larger
framing
to
examine
video
makeup
tutorials,
a
sophisticated
construct
that
entraps
its
audience
by
creating
the
impression
of
affinity
of
the
guru
with
her
viewers.
The
final
chapter
applied
Munn’s
phenomenological
approach
to
map
debates
around
performance,
professionalization,
friendship
and
beauty,
which
are
central
to
this
group’s.
In
all
cases,
the
research
confirmed
that
conceptualizing
action
as
the
origin
of
value
creation
represented
a
rich
alternative
to
examine
how
this
group
engineers
its
social
organization.
Also,
this
work
discusses
methodological
possibilities
to
conduct
ethnographic
research
on
YouTube.
Key
words:
YouTube,
makeup,
fame,
theory
of
value,
agency
2

3. List
of
Contents
Title
page
.......................................................................................................................
1
Abstract
.........................................................................................................................
2
List
of
contents
..............................................................................................................
3
Acknowledgements
........................................................................................................
4
Introduction
...................................................................................................................
6
Structure
of
the
Dissertation
..................................................................................................
9
Chapter
1:
Introducing
YouTube
and
Beauty
Gurus
......................................................
11
YouTube’s
Beauty
Gurus
.......................................................................................................
14
Chapter
2:
History
of
the
Project,
Method
and
Ethics
...................................................
22
Preparation
for
the
Research
................................................................................................
23
Methods
for
Gathering
Data
.................................................................................................
25
Definition
of
Informants
.......................................................................................................
28
Ethical
Choices
......................................................................................................................
29
Chapter
3:
Value
Production
and
Spatiotemporal
Expansion
through
Tag
videos
.........
30
General
Aspects
of
Comparison
between
Kula
and
YouTube
................................................
30
Tag
Videos
as
Virtual
Objects
of
Exchange
............................................................................
32
Value
Production
and
Intersubjective
Spatiotemporal
Expansion
.........................................
34
Conclusion
............................................................................................................................
35
Chapter
4:
YouTube
Makeup
Tutorials
as
Traps
............................................................
37
Agency,
Trap
and
‘Distributed’
Mind
....................................................................................
38
The
Artificiality
of
Makeup
Tutorials
.....................................................................................
38
‘Context
Collapse’
and
the
Trap
of
Context
Recreation
.........................................................
40
‘Privately
Public’
and
the
Trap
of
Controlling
the
Release
of
Information
.............................
42
‘Videos
of
Affinity’
and
the
Simulation
of
Closeness
.............................................................
43
Conclusion
............................................................................................................................
45
Chapter
5:
Fake
or
Real:
the
Production
of
Value
among
Gurus
....................................
46
The
Dialectical
Creation
of
Self-­‐Other
...................................................................................
46
Authenticity
vs.
Performance
...............................................................................................
48
Amateur
vs.
Professional
......................................................................................................
49
Friends
vs.
Fans
....................................................................................................................
50
Interior
Beauty
vs.
Exterior
Beauty
.......................................................................................
53
Haters
and
the
Subversion
of
Positive
Value
.........................................................................
55
Conclusion
............................................................................................................................
56
Conclusion
...................................................................................................................
58
Bibliography
.................................................................................................................
63
3

4. Acknoledgements
I
must
thank
first
the
academic
team
of
our
programme:
Danny
Miller,
Lane
De
Nicola
and
Stefana
Broadbent,
for
the
intellectual
insights
provided
through
the
year
as
much
as
for
the
availability
to
help
and
to
give
meaningful
academic
guidance.
I
especially
thank
Danny,
who
supervised
the
development
of
this
dissertation,
for
offering
rich
feedback
to
improve
the
work.
Christopher
Tilley
and
Ludovic
Coupaye
from
the
Material
Culture
programme
also
offered
valuable
attention
and
guidance.
I
am
grateful
to
the
office
staff
of
our
department,
more
directly
to
Diana
Goforth
and
James
Emmanuel,
for
the
professionalism
and
interest
they
demonstrated
throughout
the
year.
I
must
also
acknowledge
a
small
but
helpful
grant
from
UCL,
which
allowed
me
to
buy
two
books
and
pay
for
a
basic
makeup
course.
My
colleagues
at
the
postgraduate
level
at
the
Anthropology
Department
were
a
constant
source
of
support
and
intellectual
motivation.
I
would
like
to
mention
the
names
of
Andrew
Merril,
Cosimo
Lupo,
Hannah
Rose
Van
Wely,
Hussah
Al
Tamimi,
Jennifer
Robinson,
Jewel
Thomas,
João
Matta,
Laurence
Byrne,
Lida
Papamathaiaki,
Luiz
Vieira,
Matilda
Marshall,
Mika
Pasanen,
Nick
Gadsby,
Peter
Westman
and
Susanna
Inzoli.
I
am
also
in
debt
with
researchers
Jane
Cameron
from
the
London
College
of
Fashion
and
Sarah
Winkler
Reid
from
Brunel
University
for
the
opportunity
of
discussing
and
receiving
feedback
about
the
research.
During
the
initial
stage
of
my
fieldwork,
I
interviewed
six
women
about
their
experiences
with
cosmetics.
This
material
was
not
directly
used
on
this
dissertation,
but
it
was
nonetheless
a
very
helpful
introduction
to
the
subject.
They
are
Alex
Guado,
Chloe
Cook,
Dafne
Louzioti,
Helen
Saunders,
Kathleen
Sattore
and
Phoebe
Frangoul.
(Thanks
also
to
Jude
Saunders
for
putting
me
in
contact
with
Helen).
I
was
also
fortunate
to
have
4

5. received
a
practical
training
in
basic
makeup
from
Astra
Wren,
an
excellent
teacher
and
makeup
artist
from
the
Rouge
London
Makeup
School.
I
own
the
YouTube
“gurus”
that
guided
me
through
their
world
for
a
significant
portion
of
the
enthusiasm
that
fuelled
this
project.
This
dissertation
is
dedicated
to
José
Carlos
Sebe
Bom
Meihy.
His
loves
of
knowledge
and
of
writing
and
his
belief
in
the
importance
of
addressing
public
themes
are
a
source
of
inspiration.
And
also
to
my
wife
Thais,
who
teaches
me
about
the
important
things
of
life
and
said
I
should
study
anthropology.
5

6. Introduction
The
process
of
producing
this
dissertation
began
with
a
period
immersion
in
the
daily
lives
of
a
group
of
people
that
gather
spontaneously
on
YouTube
to
discuss
makeup.
They
call
themselves
“gurus”
and
their
routines
centre
on
attracting
attention
to
(and
thus
gaining
publicity
from)
videos
they
produce
using
portable
cameras
and
normal
computers.
For
this
reason,
part
of
the
contribution
this
work
intends
to
offer
relates
to
the
use
of
experimental
methodological
approaches
to
conduct
ethnographic
research
on
YouTube.
Since
teenagers
compose
a
significant
portion
of
the
group,
the
choices
I
made
also
respond
to
the
ethical
challenge
of
researching
subjects
who
are
underage.
These
gurus
invest
substantial
quantities
of
time
and
resources
to
crafting
videos
with
the
objective
of
gaining
recognition.
Some
have
risen
from
their
channels
to
achieve
the
status
of
celebrities
in
different
media
outlets,
arrived
at
distinguished
career
opportunities
or
launched
lines
of
cosmetic
products
with
their
names.
Many
are
not
quite
as
notorious
but
have
built
an
audience
with
tens
of
thousands
subscribers
who
regularly
watch
their
videos.
At
the
same
time,
it
was
clear
from
the
early
stages
of
my
fieldwork
that
acquiring
visibility
inside
this
group
did
not
result
from
the
simple
knowledge
one
had
about
makeup;
fame
resulted
from
an
intense
process
of
engaging
in
conversations
and
building
relationships.
I
chose
Munn’s
(1986)
theory
of
value
as
the
broad
conceptual
framework
to
analyze
the
ethnography
of
these
“beauty
gurus”.
Originally
developed
from
a
research
conducted
on
the
distant
island
of
Gawa
in
Papua
New
Guinea,
it
offers
a
model
to
study
an
informal
realm1
similar
to
the
one
I
found
on
YouTube,
where
users
have
the
same
1
Winkler
Reid
(2010:
13)
conceptualizes
the
notion
of
“informal
realm”
in
the
contexts
of
schools,
where
it
represents
“a
network
of
pupil
action
creating
and
sustaining
intersubjective
relations,
and
producing
value
outside
that
recognized
by
formal
schooling
[but
also]
shaped
by
it.”
Similarly
to
what
I
6

7. power
and
limitations
to
upload
videos
and
interact
with
others.
Although
companies
are
gradually
becoming
aware
of
this
“tribe”,
material
reward
does
not
represent
the
main
incentive
for
its
existence.
In
this
setting,
users
build
relationships
through
actions
such
as
watching,
evaluating,
commenting,
subscribing
and
uploading
videos.
Social
order
results
from
the
evaluation
of
these
actions
and
provides
individuals
and
groups
with
different
levels
of
status
(Winkler
Reid,
2010:
10-­‐11).
I
also
draw
from
Gell’s
(1998)
anthropological
theory
of
art
to
examine
the
“technology
of
enchantment”
used
to
produce
these
videos.
(One
could
call
it
“the
art
of
self-­‐representing
the
act
of
self-­‐decoration”.)
I
chose
Gell’s
more
general
framework
and
not
those
offered
by
anthropological
studies
of
self-­‐decoration
(see,
for
example,
Strathern,
1979;
O’Hanlon,
1989;
Gell,
1993;
and
Ewart
and
O’Hanlon,
2007)
because
his
work
was
conceived
as
a
corpus
of
theory
disembodied
from
indigenous
ethnography
to
be
applied
to
different
manifestations
of
art.
By
understanding
the
art
object
as
an
actor
that
mediates
social
relations,
it
is
possible
to
consider
that
these
objects
“mediate
a
technology
to
achieve
certain
ends,
notably
to
enmesh
patients
in
relation
and
intentionalities
sought
or
prescribed
by
agents”
(Thomas,
2001:
5).
(As
makeup
enthusiasts,
many
beauty
gurus
see
the
use
of
cosmetics
as
an
unrecognized
form
of
art
that,
as
such,
has
agency
and
creates
different
opportunities
for
empowerment.
Michelle
Phan’s
video
entitled
Catch
My
Heart
(2011)
could
be
a
starting
point
for
a
discussion
about
makeup
and
agency
just
by
considering
that
it
is
a
video
about
makeup,
directed
and
enacted
by
the
same
person,
exploring
new
grounds
regarding
the
narrative
of
makeup
tutorials
and
has
attracted
over
1.4
million
views
in
observed
among
beauty
gurus,
“the
most
successful
pupils
in
the
informal
realm
are
those
who
are
best
able
to
negotiate
their
investiment
in
order
to
create
the
most
value
.
.
.
through
their
acts
and
practices.”
7

8. less
than
two
weeks.
Phan’s
welcome
message
for
her
YouTube
channel
says:
“I
was
born
an
artist,
a
self-­‐taught
painter
for
10
years
and
went
through
an
additional
3
years
at
Ringling
College
of
Art
and
Design.
Makeup
is
another
medium
to
me.”
One
of
my
informants,
a
guru
of
17
years
old
and
one
thousand
subscribers,
echoes
this
idea
in
her
channel:
“.
.
.
when
I
was
introduced
to
makeup
I
looked
at
it
as
an
art
and
it
helped
me
gain
confidence
in
myself.”)
As
a
telescope
uses
different
formats
of
lenses
and
mirrors
to
process
luminous
information,
I
sought
conceptual
tools
that
could
attach
to
the
more
robust
framing
of
Munn
and
Gell
and
allow
the
examination
of
social
relations
mediated
by
digital
networks.
I
initially
drew
from
Miller’s
(2001)
application
of
the
notion
of
“art
as
a
trap”
to
examine
websites
in
Trinidad,
demonstrating
the
possibilities
of
applying
this
framing
to
virtual
artifacts.
I
also
looked
for
analytic
tools
developed
for
previous
research
conducted
on
YouTube.
Those
less
familiar
with
YouTube
are
usually
indifferent
to
the
ways
people
appropriate
it
as
a
device
for
decentralized
group
communication.
Conversations
evolve
from
a
distinct
set
of
conditions.
For
instance:
exchanges
are
not
synchronous
and
may
be
directed
to
an
unpredictable
range
of
spectators.
If
the
experience
of
virtuality
throws
humanity
“off-­‐balance”,
as
Boellstorff
(2008)
suggests,
it
also
changes
the
way
people
perceive
the
world.
In
this
context,
notions
such
as
“privacy”
seem
insufficient
to
describe
a
type
of
shared
content
that
displays
intimacy
but
limits
information
about
identity.
I
draw
on
studies
conducted
on
YouTube
by
Lange
(2007
and
2009)
and
Wesch
(2008)
to
bridge
the
wider
analytic
framing
with
the
specificity
of
the
topic.
In
order
to
address
categories
of
socially-­‐interconnected
users
like
YouTube
gurus,
one
is
tempted
to
use
the
term
“community”,
which
is
largely
adopted
for
that
purpose
8

9. by
journalists
and
also
by
academics.
I
have
also
applied
it,
for
convenience
and
lack
of
better
alternatives,
as
a
synonym
for
“large
and
informal
social
group”.
I
do
so
being
aware
of
Postill’s
(2008)
discussion
of
this
topic,
which
considers
the
term
problematic
due
to
its
vagueness
and
emotionally
charged
character.
As
he
summarized,
“community
merits
attention
as
a
polymorphous
folk
notion
widely
used
both
online
and
offline,
but
as
an
analytical
concept
with
an
identifiable
empirical
referent
it
is
of
little
use.”
I
should
also
clarify
that
I
use
“she”
and
“her”
in
all
cases
except
when
the
person
referred
is
masculine.
Structure
of
the
dissertation
This
first
chapter
introduces
the
general
ground
where
the
research
takes
place.
I
explain
the
service
YouTube
offers
to
Internet
users,
give
a
general
idea
of
how
it
works
and
present
“makeup
gurus”,
which
are
the
subject
of
this
dissertation.
The
following
chapter,
which
focus
on
research
methodology,
exposes
different
aspects
that
I
found
relevant
about
the
process
of
engaging
ethnographically
with
YouTube
and
with
this
particular
group
of
users.
It
gives
the
reader
the
roadmap
I
followed
which
includes
indications
of
dead-­‐ends,
but
also
of
promising
paths
that
other
researchers
might
want
to
experiment
with.
It
is
there
I
describe
a
technique
also
used
by
Tarlo
(2010)
to
indirectly
participate
in
conversations
through
various
channels
of
interaction
used
by
the
subjects
of
the
research.
In
chapter
3
I
apply
Munn’s
(1986)
model
for
explaining
value
creation
through
acts
of
exchange
to
conceptualize
the
emergence
of
a
particular
category
of
videos
that
circulate
mostly
inside
the
beauty
community
of
YouTube,
called
“Tags”.
Chapter
4
draws
from
Gell’s
(1998)
theory
of
art
to
discuss
the
video
tutorials
created
by
gurus
as
virtual
9

10. artifacts
forged
through
techniques
to
captivate
the
minds
of
viewers,
particularly
by
making
them
appear
to
be
produced
spontaneously
as
the
result
of
an
amateur
and
personal
labour
of
love.
I
develop
this
argument
using
the
notions
of
“context
collapse”
(Wesch,
2008),
“privately
public”
(Lange,
2007)
and
“video
of
affinity”
(Lange,
2009).
The
last
chapter
draws
mostly
from
Munn’s
(1986)
phenomenological
approach
to
attempt
to
map
key
aspects
that
derive
from
the
polarity
between
the
notions
of
“fake”
and
“real”.
This
chapter
also
focuses
more
on
ethnographic
material,
as
I
reflect
of
the
central
polarity
of
debates
around
the
topics
of
performance,
professionalization,
friendship
and
physical
beauty.
This
dissertation
contributes
to
the
emerging
field
of
digital
anthropology
as
it
explores
the
possibilities
of
applying
Munn’s
theory
of
value
to
study
the
creation
of
social
organization
and
hierarchy
in
decentralized
environments
on
the
Internet.
It
also
proposes
an
alternative
theoretical
path
to
the
study
of
self-­‐decoration
through
digital
technology,
as
most
of
the
production
on
the
topic
remains
focused
on
tribal
or
formally
tribal
groups.
My
work
is
also
intended
to
bring
a
contribution
to
the
anthropology
of
YouTube
as
it
deploys
an
analytic
toolkit
of
combined
notions
to
examine
the
agency
of
a
particular
type
of
video
and
how
it
mediates
relations
to
produce
particular
effects.
10

11. Introducing
YouTube
and
Beauty
Gurus
In
this
section
of
the
dissertation,
I
will
briefly
introduce
the
website
YouTube,
explain
the
service
it
offers
to
Internet
users
and
give
a
general
idea
of
how
it
works.
By
presenting
the
various
ways
users
participate
in
YouTube,
I
will
arrive
at
the
informal
community
of
“gurus”
and,
particularly,
the
subcategory
of
“makeup
gurus”,
with
whom
I
conducted
fieldwork.
In
the
following
sub-­‐section,
I
will
address
the
types
of
contents
they
produce,
the
various
motivations
for
participating
in
the
community,
and
how
these
gurus
measure
success.
This
introduction
is
necessary
to
the
understanding
of
the
ethnography
presented
and
discussed
in
the
dissertation.
YouTube
is
a
social
networking
site2
based
on
the
distribution
of
audio-­‐visual
content
published
by
its
participants.
It
is
available
in
34
languages
and
it
is
the
third
most
visited
site
on
the
Internet
after
Google
and
Facebook3.
Participation
is
free
but
users
must
register
to
be
able
to
upload
content
and
perform
other
actions
like
rating
or
commenting
on
videos;
unregistered
users
may
only
watch
the
videos.
There
are
various
ways
of
accessing
a
given
content.
Users
can:
search
the
website’s
database;
select
one
of
the
options
suggested
by
the
content
editors;
or
receive
(from
an
acquaintance)
a
direct
link
to
open
a
video.
Once
content
is
made
available,
any
Internet
user
can
watch
it
at
any
time.
2
YouTube
is
normally
described
as
a
“video-­‐sharing
site”,
which
stresses
the
audio-­‐visual
sharing
aspect
that
makes
it
different
from
other
social
networking
sites
and
also
represents
the
element
that
makes
the
site
valuable
to
the
majority
of
users
who
only
access
it
to
watch
–
and
not
to
upload
–
content.
As
noted
by
Lange
(2007),
this
definition
eludes
the
social
motivation
behind
the
website’s
success.
The
service
it
provides
matches
the
description
of
social
networking
site
offered
by
boyd
and
Ellison
(2008):
“We
define
social
network
sites
as
web-­‐based
services
that
allow
individuals
to
(1)
construct
a
public
or
semi-­‐public
profile
within
a
bounded
system,
(2)
articulate
a
list
of
other
users
with
whom
they
share
a
connection,
and
(3)
view
and
traverse
their
list
of
connections
and
those
made
by
others
within
the
system.”
3
Data
collected
by
Alexa
(http://www.alexa.com/)
in
September
of
2011.
11

12. Founded
in
February
2005,
YouTube
radically
simplified
the
process
of
sharing
audio-­‐visual
documents
(Wesch,
2008).
The
problem
users
faced
before
the
arrival
of
this
kind
of
web
publishing
was
that
video
files
were
typically
very
large,
and
the
ability
to
share
videos
was
limited
to
those
who
had
access
to
broadband
connections.
Due
to
its
success,
Google
bought
the
company
in
2006.
In
2008,
users
were
uploading
200,000
new
videos
to
YouTube
per
day4
(Wesch,
2008).
The
same
study
showed
that
88%
of
this
content
was
new
or
original
and
was
made
for
audiences
of
100
or
less.
Most
of
these
“amateur”
uploads
consisted
either
of
users
displaying
a
certain
expertise
(i.e.
playing
the
piano),
or
personal
recordings
of
everyday
life.
Out
of
the
total
daily
amount,
10,000
videos
were
directed
to
the
YouTube
community
itself,
adding
to
on-­‐going
debates
of
users
on
topics
of
common
interest
(Wesch,
2008).
Users
interested
in
publishing
content
on
YouTube
must
first
create
their
own
channels,
but
there
is
no
limit
to
the
number
of
channels
a
user
can
have.
Participants
are
not
obliged
to
use
their
real
names;
only
a
valid
email
address
is
required,
as
is
the
norm
among
similar
websites
like
Facebook,
Wikipedia
and
Twitter.
The
channel
they
create
will
then
be
the
repository
of
the
user’s
uploaded
content
and
it
is
through
this
channel
that
the
subscription
system
works.
If
a
registered
user
likes
a
given
channel,
she
can
subscribe
to
it
and
be
notified
when
new
content
is
published.
Not
all
users
are
interested
in
measuring
the
attention
their
videos
generate,
but
those
who
are
do
so
by
comparing
numbers
of
views
a
video
has,
and
subscribers
a
channel
has.
The
most
successful
accumulate
a
greater
number
of
views,
a
measure
of
the
attention
they
gathered
up
the
present
and/or
a
greater
number
of
subscribers,
which
represent
the
channel’s
potential,
given
that
it
shows
how
many
people
want
to
watch
the
channel’s
4
At
that
rate,
in
a
period
of
six
months
the
website
gathered
more
content
than
all
the
material
broadcasted
by
the
three
major
TV
networks
of
the
United
States
combined
(Wesch,
2008).
12

13. future
videos.
This
success
might
be
converted
in
to
money
or
material
benefits,
either
by
becoming
a
YouTube
partner
and
receiving
part
of
the
channel’s
advertising
revenue,
or
by
making
deals
with
other
companies
to
promote
their
products
or
services.
The
different
motivations
users
have
for
sharing
their
content
on
YouTube
will
be
discussed
at
a
different
part
of
this
dissertation.
For
the
moment,
it
is
enough
to
mention
that
there
are
many
levels
of
involvement
with
the
website
and
its
community
as
well
many
different
types
of
content
published.
This
varies
according
to
variables
such
as
experience
in
using
virtual
social
environments
and
access
to
and
knowledge
of
video-­‐
processing
software
and
equipment.
YouTube
organises
categories
of
information
based
on
types
of
content
and
types
of
accounts.
The
category
of
content
–
similar
to
that
of
types
of
magazines
–
is
defined
at
the
moment
the
video
is
published.
Before
uploading
the
document,
the
author
has
the
option
to
choose
from
the
following
possibilities
in
order
to
best
describe
their
content:
Autos
&
Vehicles;
Comedy;
Education;
Entertainment;
Film
&
Animation;
Gaming;
Howto
&
Style;
Music;
News
&
Politics;
Nonprofits
&
Activism;
People
&
Blogs;
Pets
&
Animals;
Science
&
Technology;
Sports;
and
Travel
&
Events.
The
easiest
way
one
arrives
at
these
categorist
is
by
accessing
the
homepage
of
YouTube
and
clicking
on
the
option
“browse”,
located
at
the
top
of
the
page,
to
the
right
of
the
search
button.
Type
of
account
is
a
category
chosen
at
the
time
the
user
creates
or
edits
the
information
on
her
channel.
The
options
provided
follow
a
different
rationale
to
that
of
traditional
media
outlets
and
represent
major
topics
of
interest
mapped
by
the
website’s
team.
Those
topics
are:
Comedians
(humour
content);
Directors
(fictional
content);
Gurus
(instructional
content);
Musicians
(musical
content);
Non-­‐Profit
(social
responsibility-­‐like
13

14. content);
Partners
(institutional
content);
Reporters
(editorial
content);
and
Sponsors
(advertising
content).
These
categories
are
not
easily
accessible,
but
allow
registered
users
to
access
channel
rankings.
The
list
of
account
types
can
be
found
at
this
address:
http://www.youtube.com/channels,
on
the
left
hand-­‐side
menu
which
integrates
content
types
and
account
types.
By
choosing
an
account
type,
the
website
will
offer
two
options
of
rankings:
by
number
of
views
or
by
number
of
subscriptions.
These
alternatives
can
be
changed
according
to
parameters
of
location
and
time
span
–
i.e.
a
certain
guru
might
be
the
7th
most
subscribed
this
month
in
Brazil
or
a
certain
comedian
maybe
the
31st
most
viewed
this
week
worldwide.
A
person
that
chooses
to
describe
herself
as
“gurus”
tells
us
that
specific
the
content
of
her
channel
will
primarily
display
videos
with
instructions
on
how
to
perform
certain
tasks.
There
are
many
subcategories
that
exist
within
the
broader
category
of
gurus.
For
example,
there
are
channels
dedicated
to
teaching
fitness
routines,
showcasing
the
effects
of
different
types
of
weapons,
showing
the
positions
of
the
Kama
Sutra,
giving
lessons
on
how
to
programme
in
various
computer
languages,
discussing
topics
related
to
academic
centres
of
interest
(linguistics,
astronomy,
etc.),
giving
lessons
to
students
of
various
levels
and
basically
anything
that
can
be
imagined
to
mobilise
the
attention
of
groups
of
people.
YouTube’s
Beauty
Gurus
The
group
studied
for
this
dissertation
identify
themselves
as
“beauty
gurus”
or
“makeup
gurus”
for
the
obvious
reason
that
the
types
of
instructions
they
create
surround
the
themes
of
cosmetics,
beauty
and
fashion
in
general.
The
usage
statistics
of
14

15. YouTube
shows
the
importance
they
have
in
attracting
and
mobilising
attention.
According
to
YouTube’s
ranking
of
gurus
in
May
2011,
half
of
the
top
24
channels
produced
beauty
related
content
and
none
of
the
other
gurus
(non-­‐beauty
gurus)
belong
to
a
single
category.
Michelle
Phan,
a
24
year-­‐old
Vietnamese-­‐American,
is
the
most
popular
beauty
guru
active
today
(Von
Pfetten,
2010).
She
has
nearly
1.5
million
users
subscribing
to
her
content
and
in
2010
became
the
most
subscribed
woman
on
YouTube.
In
order
to
evaluate
the
relevance
of
these
numbers,
it
might
be
useful
to
mention
that
the
BBC’s
YouTube
channel
has
close
to
268,000
subscribers.
Newcastle’s
Lauren
Luke,
the
most
famous
beauty
guru
from
the
United
Kingdom,
has
465,000
subscribers.
Based
on
my
broader
observation
of
English
speaking
participants,
most
gurus
are
either
teenagers
or
in
their
20s,
don’t
have
regular
jobs
and
record
their
videos
after
arriving
home
from
school
or
university.
(These
characteristics
seem
to
differ
from
country
to
country.
In
the
few
cases
of
Brazilian
beauty
gurus
I
observed,
a
number
of
them
related
their
activities
on
YouTube
to
earning
money
by
selling
the
products
they
use
to
create
“looks”.)
There
are
also
some
gurus
who
are
makeup
artists
that
adopted
the
“amateurish”
aesthetic
of
beauty
gurus
as
a
strategy
to
gain
popularity
and
consequently
open
up
new
career
opportunities.
These
gurus
tend
to
make
videos
only
about
makeup,
whereas
the
others
mingle
instructions
and
personal
accounts
of
their
lives
and
view
cosmetics
as
means
for
women
to
gain
self-­‐esteem
by
improving
their
appearances.
I
call
them
an
“informal
group”
because
it
is
a
group
without
controlled
boundaries.
Nobody
owns
it
(apart
from
YouTube)
or
limits
who
gets
in
or
out.
All
one
needs
to
do
to
become
a
guru
is
to
sign
up
for
a
YouTube
account
and
post
videos
related
to
the
subject.
In
this
sense,
being
a
beauty
guru
has
more
to
do
with
being
seen
as
such,
15

16. being
identified
as
one
by
other
members
of
the
“sorority”5,
and
one’s
acceptance
implies
the
adoption
of
a
certain
aesthetic
for
producing
videos.
As
one
browses
through
the
production
of
different
gurus,
it
is
noticeable
how
the
videos
are
aesthetically
homogeneous,
independent
of
linguistic
or
geographical
differences.
Makeup
gurus
primarily
produce
videos
using
a
format
of
video-­‐narrative
called
“tutorial”.
An
“online
tutorial”
or
an
“internet
video-­‐tutorial”
is
a
step-­‐by-­‐step
instruction
on
different
topics.
As
I
observed
during
the
fieldwork
for
this
project,
beauty
gurus
worldwide
share
a
set
of
body
communication
techniques
to
create
makeup
tutorials.
Below
I
present
images
that
display
some
of
the
most
recurrent
types
of
Figure
1
I
n ever
saw
a
video
from
a
guru
that
was
not
recorded
in
their
rooms
or
at
another
personal
environment
(i.e.
the
body-­‐action6.
bathroom
or
the
dresser
room).
Figure
2
The
camera
and
the
monitor
takes
the
place
of
the
mirror.
The
guru
moves
her
face
closer
or
further
from
the
camera
according
to
the
instruction
she
is
giving.
5
Although
there
are
male
gurus
–
mostly
gay
men
and/or
professional
makeup
artists
–
the
overwhelming
majority
of
gurus
devoted
to
beauty
related
topics
are
female.
6
All
the
images
of
gurus
portrayed
here
are
of
adults.
The
only
image
that
shows
a
full
frontal
face
is
the
first
and
it
is
from
a
celebrity
guru
with
over
100
thousand
followers.
I
do
not
inform
their
usernames
for
safety
reasons
that
will
be
discussed
opportunely.
16

17.
Figure
3
When
a
new
product
is
used,
before
applying
it,
the
guru
brings
it
near
the
camera
to
show
the
label
with
the
product's
specifications.
Figure
4
When
displaying
colour
is
important,
they
show
the
product
-­‐
i.e.
a
lipstick
-­‐
against
the
palm
of
their
h ands
to
produce
a
clearer
visualization.
Figure
5
A
common
variation
of
this
gesture
is
to
apply
the
product
to
the
back
of
the
hand
to
show
its
effect
on
skin.
17

18. Together
with
acquiring
the
common
visual
language
presented
above,
a
beauty
guru
is
recognized
also
for
being
active
in
creating
specific
kinds
of
content.
The
tutorial
is
the
most
frequent
and
it
includes
instructions
about
makeup,
hair
and
nails.
Product
reviews
are
also
popular
and
there
is
a
subcategory
of
reviews
called
“haul”
where
the
guru
showcases
various
items
she
has
recently
purchased.
“Outfit
of
the
day”
or
OOTD
is
a
brief
description
of
the
composition
of
clothes
and
accessories
the
guru
is
wearing
at
the
moment
of
making
the
video.
“Vlogs”
are
a
type
of
content
similar
to
a
diary
entry;
popular
subcategories
of
vlogging
are
“A
day
in
the
life”
and
“Follow
me
around”.
In
all
the
cases
I
observed,
the
makeup
guru
was
responsible
for
performing
all
the
tasks
related
to
the
production
of
the
video,
including
defining
the
particular
theme
of
each
video.
These
are
either
themes
of
their
own
repertoire
–
i.e.
a
certain
makeup
routine
to
go
to
school
–
or
represent
more
complex
objectives
like
reproducing
a
certain
“look”
used
by
a
celebrity
or
a
character
in
a
TV
show
or
film
–
i.e.
the
“look”
of
Kate
Middleton
for
the
Royal
wedding.
To
record
the
tutorial,
they
select
the
necessary
makeup
equipment
and
products,
turn
on
the
recording
software
and
perform
the
sequence
of
tasks
in
order
to
arrive
at
the
proposed
objective.
After
this
stage,
they
normally
use
editing
programmes
to
cut
unnecessary
parts
and
add
the
desired
visual
or
audio
effects–
like
textual
instructions
on
the
top
of
the
image.
Beginners
find
it
easier
to
film
the
makeup
process
and
later
add
the
audio
with
the
instructions,
but
it
is
a
sign
of
seniority
or
technical
superiority
to
be
able
to
perform
the
makeup
and
simultaneously
explain
each
act.
The
routine
of
YouTube
gurus
involves
both
making
videos
and
participating
in
the
conversations
proposed
by
others
inside
their
community.
This
conversation
happens
18

19. through
YouTube
by
means
of
videos
and
text
comments,
but
also
exceeds
this
domain
to
include
several
other
online
destinations
like
Twitter
and
Facebook.
Part
of
these
conversations
represent
attempts
to
build
relationships
which
are
helpful
to
promote
one’s
channel
and
give
it
visibility.
The
easiest
way
a
user
can
increase
the
number
of
subscribers
is
by
proposing
an
exchange:
she
subscribes
to
the
channel
of
another
guru
and
leaves
a
message
asking
the
other
for
to
do
the
same.
This
practice
is
especially
common
among
those
who
are
just
beginning
to
build
an
audience,
but
it
is
criticised
by
more
experienced
users.
There
are
other
practices
that
equally
offer
the
possibility
of
developing
an
audience,
and
are
more
widely
accepted,
namely
the
creation
of,
or
participation
in,
“collabs”,
or
the
engagement
in
a
practice
called
“tags”.
I
will
discuss
these
in
greater
detail
in
the
following
sections
of
this
dissertation,
but
will
introduce
them
briefly
here.
“Collab”
is
the
casual
name
given
to
“collaborative
channels”,
which
are
channels
produced
collectively
and
that
ultimately
serve
the
purpose
of
promoting
the
work
of
their
participants.
A
collab
is
usually
started
by
a
higher
ranking
guru
because
she
needs
to
have
a
sufficient
reputation
in
order
to
promote
this
new
channel
and
attract
others
to
participate
in
it.
There
is
a
selection
process
conducted
to
choose
the
other
participants
and
this
happens
through
auditioning.
Those
interested
submit
video-­‐responses
to
the
original
video
posted
announcing
the
new
collab.
Usually
a
collab
has
seven
participants
and
each
becomes
responsible
for
posting
a
new
video
on
a
certain
day
of
the
week.
Every
week
one
of
the
participants
comes
up
with
a
theme
that
all
the
others
will
use
to
produce
their
videos;
this
gives
consistency
to
the
content
of
the
channel.
Higher
ranking
gurus
display
their
influence
by
creating
collabs
while
lower
ranking
users
gain
visibility
19

20. and
experience
by
having
to
produce
more
videos
and
also
by
promoting
their
individual
channels
to
the
audience
of
the
collab.
If
collabs
produce
visibility
through
structured
social
organization,
“tags”
generate
visibility
through
the
engagement
in
a
collective
but
informal
activity.
The
term
tag
refers
to
two
ideas:
a
theme
for
a
video
and
the
naming
(“tagging”)
of
other
users.
The
themes
are
usually
about
one’s
personality
and
only
indirectly
about
makeup7;
for
instance,
in
the
theme
“My
perfect
imperfections”
the
users
are
challenged
to
make
a
video
talking
about
three
things
that
they
like
and
three
that
they
dislike
about
themselves8.
At
the
end
of
the
video,
they
may
“tag”
other
gurus
from
their
social
circle,
which
means
that
they
are
publically
inviting
them
to
produce
a
video
with
the
same
theme.
The
advantage
of
engaging
in
this
kind
of
activity
is
that
by
producing
videos
using
the
same
or
similar
titles,
gurus
expand
the
possibilities
of
these
videos
being
watched
by
a
wider
audience
since
YouTube
binds
similar
content
together.
A
person
that
watches
a
video
called
“My
perfect
imperfections”
will
automatically
see
other
videos
about
that
same
theme,
displayed
for
them
to
select.
Many
gurus
expect
to
gain
recognition
and
one
of
the
ways
this
happens
is
by
being
approached
by
cosmetic
companies.
It
is
a
sign
of
maturity
for
a
guru
to
be
chosen
to
review
products
and
many
include
contact
information
for
commercial
inquires
on
their
channel.
The
highest
ranking
gurus
with
hundreds
of
thousands
of
subscribers
sign
deals
with
makeup
companies
and
can
become
“online
ambassadors”
of
a
certain
brand
or
eventually
launch
their
own
makeup
products.
This
contact
with
the
commercial
world
7
I
haven’t
verified
if
tags
(and
also
collabs)
exist
in
other
communities
on
YouTube.
These
activities
may
result
from
the
high
number
of
beauty
gurus
and
from
the
fact
makeup
is
a
collective
activity
among
groups
of
women
interested
in
that
practice.
8
Since
beauty
gurus
normally
talk
about
beauty
related
issues,
videos
produced
following
this
theme
refer
to
part
of
their
bodies
that
they
find
more
or
less
attractive,
which
then
links
to
the
use
of
cosmetics
or
other
means
as
an
attempt
to
improve
their
looks.
20

21. is
sometimes
accompanied
by
tension
as
the
guru
becomes
vulnerable
to
criticism
by
competitors
for
giving
up
editorial
independence
and
producing
disguised
advertising.
21

22. Methodology
My
original
project
was
to
study
informal
learning
online.
I
wanted
to
observe
and
attempt
to
understand
the
process
in
which
Internet
users
gain
certain
skills
through
the
development
of
social
relations
in
informal
settings.
I
chose
to
conduct
this
research
on
YouTube
beauty
gurus
mainly
because
they
represent
an
informal
group
that
gathers
spontaneously
through
the
Web
and
share
the
purpose
of
exchanging
knowledge
and
experiences
related
to
fashion,
beauty
and
particularly
about
cosmetics
and
makeup
with
each
other.
At
the
early
stage
of
the
project,
while
I
was
still
considering
how
to
approach
this
community
and
conduct
the
research,
I
received
two
recommendations
from
my
supervisor,
one
of
which
I
could
not
adopt.
Firstly,
I
was
asked
to
research
not
gurus
but
the
audience
of
gurus.
Instead
of
looking
at
the
guru’s
individual
histories
to
explain
the
popularity
they
have,
I
should
study
those
who
choose
to
watch
videos
of
gurus
and
see
the
motivations
behind
that
interest.
I
attempted
to
follow
this
path,
but
had
to
reconsider
because
after
a
month
of
looking
for
people
who
matched
this
profile,
I
was
only
able
to
locate
and
interview
one
person.
I
faced
the
following
difficulties:
1)
considering
as
an
“audience”
those
who
do
not
participate
in
the
conversation,
I
could
not
look
for
them
through
YouTube
since
their
presence
watching
the
videos
does
not
leave
traces.
I
tried
to
find
these
people
through
recommendations
of
friends
but
this
strategy
is
not
efficient
for
a
research
project
that
has
to
start
and
end
in
four
months.
2)
What
is
the
definition
of
“audience”
in
the
context
of
the
Internet?
Prior
to
the
Internet,
the
audience
were
those
who
mostly
consumed
media
content:
readers
of
newspapers
and
magazines,
for
instance.
After
the
Internet,
being
the
audience
became
a
choice
for
those
who
were
online.
From
this
perspective,
22

23. when
does
a
person
move
from
the
position
of
being
in
an
audience
to
that
of
active
participant
in
the
public
sphere?
Are
users
that
don’t
publish
videos
but
comment
on
them
an
audience?
YouTube
users
with
less
visibility
might
influence
more
people
while
others
with
a
greater
number
of
views
might
be
communicating
only
within
a
circle
of
friends.
I
resolved
this
problem
by
choosing
to
observe
a
group
of
gurus
that
had
average
audiences,
as
I
will
explain
later
at
this
section.
In
the
end,
it
was
important
to
accept
that
being
a
guru
is
a
social
experience
and
that
it
is
part
of
being
a
guru
to
be
both
audience
and
producer.
The
suggestion
I
could
incorporate
was
to
go
in
to
the
field
without
a
specific
set
of
questions;
instead,
I
should
immerse
myself
in
the
world
of
these
gurus
to
find
out,
among
other
things:
what
it
is
that
makes
somebody
want
to
become
part
of
this
group?
What
do
they
talk
about
besides
makeup?
Do
they
have
specific
forms
of
organization?
How
does
one
moves
inside
this
group?
I
should
allow
my
curiosity
to
look
for
interesting
things
happening
and,
at
the
end
of
this
process,
produce
a
theory
explaining
what
is
like
to
be
a
guru.
That
is
how
I
conducted
this
work.
Preparation
for
the
research
Prior
to
conducting
participant
observation,
first
with
gurus
in
general
and
later
with
the
specific
network
of
actors
that
resulted
in
the
ethnography
used
for
this
dissertation,
I
learned
about
cosmetics
and
its
use
in
Britain
by
conducting
six
interviews
with
women
who
are
active
users
or
even
enthusiasts
of
makeup.
The
questions
I
asked
in
these
interviews
were:
1)
at
what
moment
in
life
they
first
acquired
an
interest
in
cosmetics?
How
did
it
start
and
with
whose
support?
And
2)
what
do
you
normally
keep
in
your
box
of
cosmetic
accessories
and
why?
I
considered
these
questions
23

24. straightforward
enough
to
produce
direct
answers
and
also
general
enough
to
allow
the
interviewees
to
formulate
the
answers
without
constrains
or
moral
judgments.
Alongside
the
interviews,
I
participated
in
a
daylong
intensive
makeup
course
for
amateurs
and
had
the
opportunity
to
get
to
know
the
different
properties
of
products
and
apply
the
products
on
my
own
face.
Being
the
only
man
among
eight
other
participants
including
the
teacher
and
her
assistant,
I
had
the
chance
to
experience
the
awkwardness
that
results
from
crossing
this
clearly
gender-­‐related
border
and
also
feel
the
difficulties
related
to
the
execution
of
different
routines.
I
did
not
know
that
makeup
required
such
complex
procedures,
involved
so
many
utensils
and
followed
so
many
patterns
to
add
different
layers
of
products.
I
was
also
confronted
with
the
understanding
that
makeup
is
as
much
about
showing
as
it
is
about
concealing.
This
is
something
I
will
explore
later
on.
Figure
6
Figure
6
Photograph
taken
at
the
end
of
the
makeup
course
at
the
Rouge
London
Makeup
School,
2011.
24

25. Methods
for
gathering
data
I
spent
over
a
month
“living”
among
beauty
gurus
before
choosing
my
informants
and
then
I
dedicated
myself
to
observing
these
informants
full
time
during
two
weeks.
All
the
data
gathered
for
this
research
was
collected
online
and
through
this
process
of
immersion
in,
and
observation
of,
their
past
and
present
activities.
Observation
here
means
watching
their
videos
and
following
their
online
public
communication
through
comment
exchange
and
also
through
the
dialogues
developed
through
the
website
Formspring,
a
service
through
which
many
gurus
receive
and
respond
to
questions
posted
either
openly
or
anonymously.
Formspring’s
value
derives
from
the
fact
other
popular
social
websites
like
YouTube
and
Facebook
do
not
allow
this
feature
of
anonymously
publishing
questions.
Since
gurus
are
interested
in
being
known
and
expanding
they
range
of
relationships,
Formspring
gives
the
possibility
of
receiving
from
friends
and
fans
the
kind
of
personal
questions
they
would
not
dare
to
ask
openly.
Formspring
is
widely
adopted,
especially
among
younger
beauty
gurus;
all
but
one
of
the
six
actors
selected
had
an
account
with
this
service.
Aside
from
one
public
exchange
of
online
comments
with
one
of
the
adult
informants,
I
did
not
attempt
to
communicate
with
the
actors.
I
decided
not
to
talk
directly
to
them
because
four
out
of
six
of
my
informants
were
less
than
18
years
of
age
and
I
didn’t
want
to
conduct
interviews
with
some
of
them
and
not
others.
This
solution
proved
useful
for
two
reasons:
it
offered
an
opportunity
of
conducting
research
in
a
safe
manner
with
actors
that
are
minors,
and
it
also
created
an
environment
that
allowed
actors
to
speak
and
share
opinions
that
seemed
more
welcoming
than,
for
instance,
that
of
an
academic
interview.
Tarlo
(2010:
146)
arrived
at
the
same
conclusions
while
conducting
research
on
Muslims
and
fashion
in
Britain.
She
wrote:
“What
makes
Internet
25

26. discussion
forums
and
threads
so
interesting
from
the
ethnographic
point
of
view
is
that
they
represent
unmediated
conversations
between
people
who
voice
their
opinions
far
more
freely
than
they
would
if
interviewed
by
a
researcher.”
The
richness
of
the
data
that
emerges
from
this
online
research
practice
–
that
presupposes
an
active
form
of
being
present
–
might
justify
the
act
of
naming
it
“observant
participation”,
to
indicate
it
has
evolved
from
the
anthropological
tradition
of
research.
A
possible
criticism
this
approach
may
generate
results
from
the
fact
the
researcher
does
not
meet
the
subject
in
“real
life”,
which
raises
questions
of
authenticity.
How
do
we
know
if
the
subject
is
who
she
says
she
is?
This
is
a
complex
issue
that
invites
further
debate
and
should
be
considered
in
light
of
the
particularity
of
each
case.
For
instance,
on
the
YouTube
beauty
guru
community,
users
follow
an
unwritten
rule
that
says
one
should
avoid
mentioning
places
or
other
information
that
could
lead
to
the
physical
localization
of
the
informant9.
They
also
prefer
not
to
use
surnames.
In
the
same
way
this
situation
might
make
it
easier
for
a
person
to
lie
about
herself,
it
also
makes
it
safer
for
her
to
discuss
topics
and
share
opinions
that
she
might
not
feel
comfortable
doing
under
different
conditions.
Regarding
this
matter,
I
agree
with
Boellstorff
(2008:
4,
60-­‐86),
who
conducted
a
three-­‐year
research
about
Second
Life
entirely
inside
the
virtual
world.
He
argues
that
the
users
that
choose
to
establish
relations
through
these
mediums
agree
to
do
so
knowing
that
most
likely
they
will
never
meet
face
to
face
the
people
they
met
online.
The
anthropologist
should
not
question
if
these
relationships
exist
but
study
them
“in
their
own
terms”.
That
is
why
he
considers
it
crucial
to
develop
research
methods
that
keep
up
with
the
“realities
of
technical
change”.
9
Lange
(2007)
discusses
the
practice
of
making
videos
that
are
promoted
beyond
one’s
social
circles
but
where
the
author
conceals
her
identity.
She
labels
these
videos
as
“privately
public”.
26

27. The
YouTube
project
conducted
as
part
of
the
Digital
Ethnography
program
(Wesch,
2008)
used
a
method
that
also
occurs
exclusively
online
but
incorporates
the
social
experience
of
inhabiting
the
world
of
the
actors
being
researched.
Each
participant
of
the
team
of
researchers
created
individual
channels
on
YouTube,
and
the
group
produced
a
video
which
was
posted
on
the
website
explaining
the
project
and
inviting
the
YouTube
community
to
engage
in
conversations
related
to
the
different
topics
of
the
study.
Choosing
this
path
made
the
interaction
with
the
community
more
transparent
and
honest,
which
motivated
some
users
to
participate
and
reflect
on
their
experiences,
not
exactly
as
if
they
were
being
interviewed
but
as
if
they
were
having
a
conversation
about
the
subject.
The
video
that
resulted
did
not
belong
to
the
researchers,
but
existed
alongside
other
videos
as
part
of
each
participant’s
channels.
In
other
words,
the
reflections
remained
in
the
community
together
with
the
videos
the
researchers
made
as
part
of
the
dynamics
of
embodying
the
activities
of
the
natives
and
experiencing
the
world
from
that
perspective.
Even
the
result
of
the
project
was
not
a
book
or
an
academic
paper,
but
a
lecture
using
audio-­‐visual
documents
collected
during
the
research
and
published
on
YouTube.
By
making
this
choice,
the
team
gave
back
to
the
original
community
the
result
of
the
research
while
offering
those
interested
on
learning
about
the
study
to
do
so
by
accessing
the
same
channel
of
communication
studied
and
having
the
opportunity
to
move
further
from
there
to
explore
the
website.
I
attempted
to
do
something
similar
creating
a
YouTube
channel10
to
introduce
myself
and
the
research
to
the
beauty
guru
community,
while
establishing
conversations
with
different
actors.
I
abandoned
this
alternative
because
of
the
time
constraints
of
the
research
and
also
because
it
would
limit
the
contact
to
adult
gurus.
10
http://www.youtube.com/youtubanthropologist
27

28. Definition
of
informants
According
to
preliminary
observation,
the
community
of
gurus
dedicated
to
creating
beauty
related
tutorials
appears
to
be
one
of
the
larger,
if
not
the
largest,
on
YouTube.
I
did
not
have
access
to
quantitative
data,
therefore
I
base
this
speculation
on
the
fact
no
other
guru
community
has
as
many
representatives
in
the
top
of
the
rankings
of
subscriptions
worldwide.
Out
of
24
gurus
listed
among
the
most
popular,
half
produced
beauty
tutorials.
This
means
I
could
have
selected
many
different
groups
of
subjects
for
this
research.
The
first
criterion
used
to
select
participants
was
to
find
those
who
had
a
strong
drive
to
improve
their
skills
in
making
tutorials.
Aside
from
that,
I
looked
for
informants
that
were
close
to
each
other
online
(and
online
only)
and
experienced
the
beauty
guru
community
from
different
perspectives.
The
list
I
arrived
at
results
from
these
choices.
All
are
English
speakers:
five
are
Americans
(one
currently
living
in
Israel)
and
one
is
Scottish.
The
number
of
subscriptions
each
has
starts
at
60
and
goes
up
to
10,000,
and
their
ages
varied
from
13
to
26
years
old.
The
higher-­‐ranking
gurus
were
YTGuru26
and
YTGuru14,
which
had
respectively
close
to
10,000
and
3,000
subscriptions,
and
had
created
their
own
collab
channels.
Two
of
the
remaining
girls
auditioned
and
were
accepted
to
these
collabs:
YTGuru20
had
around
600
subscribers
and
was
part
of
YTGuru26’s
collab.
YTGuru13a
had
close
to
1000
subscribers
and
belonged
to
YTGuru14’s
collab.
The
two
remaining
girls
auditioned
but
were
rejected
for
both
collabs.
Guru
Subscribers
Collab
YTGuru26
10,000
Collab
1
(owner)
YTGuru14
2,500
Collab
2
(owner)
YTGuru17
1,000
-­‐
YTGuru13a
1,000
Collab
2
(subord.)
YTGuru20
600
Collab
1
(subord.)
YTGuru13b
60
-­‐
28

29. Ethical
choices
Out
of
my
six
informants,
two
were
13,
one
was
14
and
one
was
17
years
old.
Their
parents
are
aware
that
their
daughters
have
channels
on
YouTube11
and
although
some
parents
did
not
appreciate
the
time
spent
on
the
site,
all
accepted
the
existence
of
these
YouTube
channels
and
also
had
the
option
of
following
the
content
published
there12.
All
accounts
on
both
YouTube
and
Formspring
are
public;
anybody
can
access
the
videos
and
other
exchanges
I
had
access
to
without
having
to
subscribe
to
either
of
the
websites.
For
this
reason,
I
considered
the
possibility
of
using
their
YouTube
usernames
to
allow
other
researchers
and
readers
in
general
to
be
able
to
access
the
same
data
and
also
follow
the
development
of
these
gurus
further.
Following
Snee
(2008:
3),
I
decided
not
to
expose
them
because
“some
interviewees
felt
that
putting
information
online
should
not
imply
consent
for
the
use
of
this
material.”
Their
participation
was
involuntary
on
this
research,
they
did
not
have
the
chance
to
opt
out
so
I
chose
to
conceal
their
usernames.
Instead
of
the
actual
usernames,
each
will
be
addressed
by
the
prefix
“YTGuru”
combined
with
a
number
that
corresponds
to
their
respective
ages.
In
the
only
case
of
coinciding
ages,
I
added
the
letters
A
or
B
to
distinguish
between
the
two.
Finally,
and
also
on
the
topic
of
privacy
concerns,
I
altered
the
fragments
of
texts
I
use
as
quotes
so
that
others
cannot
locate
their
original
sources
using
search
engines.
11
It
is
not
uncommon
that
parents
or
other
family
members
occasionally
appear
on
these
videos,
particularly
during
the
recording
of
vlog
posts
like
“A
day
in
the
life”.
The
gurus,
particular
the
younger
ones,
also
discuss
among
themselves
and
with
their
audience
whether
their
parents
know
about
the
channel,
if
they
watch
the
videos
and
what
opinions
they
have
about
it.
12
I
don’t
know
whether
the
same
happens
with
Formspring,
which
is
a
service
mostly
popular
among
younger
internet
users.
29

30.
Value
Production
and
Spatiotemporal
Expansion
Nancy
Munn’s
The
Fame
of
Gawa
has
become
an
influential
contribution
to
anthropology
since
its
publication
in
1986,
but
its
“fame”
did
not
spread
much
beyond
English-­‐speaking
scholars13.
Yet
it
is
remarkable
how
the
complexity
of
Munn’s
construct
for
explaining
the
creation
of
value
contrasts
with
how
simple
and
tempting
it
is
to
analyse
phenomena
in
radically
different
contexts
through
her
model.
For
instance,
two
of
its
early
reviewers
compared
books
to
Kula-­‐like
valuables
exchanged
through
academic
networks.
To
Kahn
(1988),
“In
writing
The
Fame
of
Gawa,
Munn
might
be
said
to
have
created
a
form
of
value
that
will
circulate
in
the
anthropological
world
and,
ultimately,
return
to
bring
fame
back
to
its
author.”
Less
optimistic,
Young
(1989)
writes
that
“Munn
has
taken
a
considerable
risk
in
that
her
reader
may
simply
refuse
to
learn
how
to
read
her
–
thereby
fulfilling
the
role
of
the
Gawan
witch
in
constricting
the
book’s
space-­‐time.”
In
this
chapter,
I
will
suggest
her
model
for
explaining
value
creation
through
acts
of
exchange
is
useful
in
understanding
the
motivations
for
producing
and
exchanging
a
particular
category
of
videos
called
Tags
that
circulate
mostly
inside
the
beauty
community
of
YouTube.
To
do
so,
I
will
briefly
recapitulate
Munn’s
interpretation
of
Kula
ceremonial
exchanges
for
the
people
of
Gawa,
discuss
the
social
aspects
involving
the
production
and
exchange
of
Tag
videos
and
then
examine
Tags
through
key
notions
of
Munn’s
theory
of
value.
General
Aspects
of
Comparison
between
Kula
and
YouTube
Gawa
is
one
of
the
islands
in
the
Massim
archipelago,
and
its
inhabitants
engage
in
acts
of
ceremonial
valuable
exchanges
called
Kula.
Many
gawans
devote
a
significant
13
The
Fame
of
Gawa
hasn’t
been
translated
to
languages
such
as
French,
German
or
Spanish
and
its
page
on
online
retailer
Amazon
still
invites
reader
to
“be
the
first
to
review
this
item.”
30

31. part
of
their
adult
lives
travelling
long
distances
in
canoes
to
participate
in
Kula
activities.
The
objective
of
these
enterprises
is
to
achieve
personal
renown
as
a
trader.
There
are
two
main
items
that
travel
with
islanders
during
those
trips:
arm
shells
and
necklaces.
In
all
the
expeditions
that
have
been
studied,
arm
shells
always
travel
clockwise
while
necklaces
go
the
opposite
way.
Also,
exchanges
may
only
happen
between
items
of
different
types:
necklaces
for
arm
shells
and
vice-­‐versa.
Each
islander
can
only
conduct
exchanges
with
previously
defined
partners
from
a
limited
number
of
islands14.
A
man’s
fame
results
from
his
capacity
to
convince
partners
to
trade
valuable
shells
with
him.
Becoming
a
respected
trader
abroad
reflects
on
the
influence
that
a
man
has
in
Gawa,
making
him
a
person
of
distinction
in
a
traditionally
egalitarian
society.
Makeup
gurus
also
exist
in
an
online
environment
without
social
distinctions15.
Access
to
YouTube
is
free
and
registration
to
the
service
provides
each
person
with
the
same
conditions
to
participate.
The
hierarchical
differences
that
emerge
are
usually
the
consequence
of
each
guru’s
qualities
and
dedication
to
learning
about
producing
value
through
specific
actions.
It
is
a
world
that
revolves
around
a
similar
dynamic
of
circulating
valuables
and
accumulating
fame.
Similar
to
the
Kula
ring
in
the
context
of
the
Massim
archipelago,
not
everyone
in
the
community
that
produces
makeup
tutorials
engages
in
the
practice
of
exchanging
Tags
and
even
among
those
that
do,
some
devote
much
more
time
to
this
activity
than
others.
Like
valuable
shells,
Tags
have
a
symbolic
value
that
exists
in
a
collective
setting
and
among
those
who
are
interested
in
the
trade.
Tags
loose
a
significant
portion
of
their
meaning
if
one
watches
it
by
itself
without
being
able
to
see
the
responses
from
the
community
or
by
watching
it
from
outside
of
the
beauty
guru
world.
14
For
more
information
on
rules
for
Kula,
see:
Campbell,
2002;
Leach,
1983;
Munn,
1986
and
2001;
Sillitoe,
1998.
15
There
are
cases
in
which
gurus
can
achieve
fame
artificially
by
offering
product
giveaways
in
exchange
for
subscriptions.
This
practice
is
questioned
among
gurus
who
argue
that
subscriptions
should
reflect
the
amount
of
time
and
effort
each
one
puts
in
to
developing
the
channel.
31

32. Tag
Videos
as
Virtual
Objects
of
Exchange
In
Munn’s
ethnographic
account
of
Gawa,
the
value
of
armbands
and
necklaces
is
symbolic
and
depends
on
the
stories
each
of
these
objects
accumulates
through
transactions.
As
a
valuable
item
changes
hands,
it
carries
with
it
the
names
and
becomes
associated
with
the
stories
of
its
previous
guardians,
and
so
fame
is
transferred
from
object
to
person
and
vice-­‐versa.
Collecting
a
valuable
object
adds
to
the
reputation
of
the
trader
and
also
makes
the
shell
more
desirable
(Leach,
1983;
Munn,
2001;
Campbell,
2002).
In
the
case
of
YouTube,
the
“ceremonial”
item
that
circulates
connecting
people
around
the
website
is
called
“Tag16”
or
“video
Tag”.
I
argue
that
Tags
should
be
conceptualized
as
“ceremonial”
to
mark
a
difference
between
these
types
of
videos
and
the
more
common
type
of
audio-­‐visual
instruction
that
might
be
said
to
hold
a
commodity-­‐like
function
or
value
of
transmitting
a
particular
knowledge.
As
discussed
in
the
introduction,
Tag
is
the
name
given
to
themes
that
are
created
and
openly
shared
among
participants
of
the
YouTube
beauty
community
with
the
purpose
of
generating
responses.
A
Tag
may
have
a
questionnaire
associated
with
it,
as
is
the
case
of
the
“Back
in
the
Day
Tag”
shown
below,
or
be
as
simple
as
the
“Room
Tour”,
which
I
will
discuss
shortly.
Tags
offer
opportunities
for
gurus
to
get
to
know
each
other
beyond
their
circle
of
offline
relationships.
The
objective
of
Tags
is
to
invite
the
user
to
engage
in
a
conversation
by
displaying
opinions
and
preferences.
The
user
creates
a
Tag
by
defining
one
or
a
few
things
belonging
to
a
broader
theme
that
she
considers
pertinent.
Below
is
an
example
of
a
Tag
whose
theme
provides
an
opportunity
for
gurus
16
I
will
refer
to
it
using
capitalized
“T”
to
signal
a
distinction
between
its
specific
meaning
in
the
context
of
beauty
gurus
and
the
common
use
of
“tag”
as
a
label
applied
to
index
content
uploaded
to
the
Internet.
32

33. to
share
personal
accounts
and
reflect
on
generational
differences.
In
this
case,
the
questions
the
guru
has
to
answer
to
participate
are:
-­‐ What
was
your
favourite
gaming
system?
I.e.
game
boy,
8
ball,
game
boy
advance
-­‐ What
was
your
favourite
TV
Show?
-­‐ What
was
your
favourite
movie?
-­‐ What
was
your
favourite
food
or
drink
or
meal?
I.e.
chicken
fingers,
grape
juice,
pizza
-­‐ What
was
one
of
your
most
important
objects?
I.e.
stuffed
animal,
pillow,
blanket
-­‐ What
was
your
career
aspiration?
I.e.
superstar,
astronaut
-­‐ What
was
your
favourite
computer
game
or
website?
-­‐ What
was
your
favourite
song,
artist,
or
band?
-­‐ Show
a
picture
that
could
describe
you
as
a
child.
-­‐ What
was
your
favourite
book?
-­‐ What
was
your
favourite
store?
The
“Room
Tour”
is
arguably
the
most
successful
Tag
that
exists
among
beauty
gurus.
It
has
achieved
a
level
of
recognition
inside
the
community
that
puts
it
in
a
distinct
position,
not
being
referred
as
a
Tag
but
simply
by
its
name.
It
is
interesting
to
draw
a
parallel
between
this
Tag
and
the
most
successful
Kula
valuables
that,
after
circulating
among
many
famous
traders,
received
a
name
and
acquired
the
status
of
an
individual
piece
(Sillitoe,
1998).
Room
Tours
are
a
common
item
on
most
gurus’
channel’s
video
list.
It
consists
of
precisely
what
the
title
suggests:
an
introduction
to
the
person’s
room
including
explanations
about
the
meaning
of
certain
objects
of
decoration
and
about
how
different
kinds
of
products
like
makeup
items
or
DVDs
are
organized
and
stored.
This
kind
of
video
resembles,
and
may
have
a
similar
function
to
that
of
showing
the
interior
of
the
house
to
guests
visiting
for
the
first
time.
As
Tags
are
an
informal
mechanism
to
promote
relationships,
part
of
the
process
of
participating
is
to
record
the
video
answering
the
questions,
and
part
is
“tagging”
users
from
one’s
circle
of
contacts.
This
second
meaning
of
“tagging”
happens
as
gurus
name
other
users
during
their
videos
and
by
doing
so,
formally
invites
them
to
answer
that
33

34. same
“Tag”.
Anyone
can
propose
a
Tag
and
invite
others
to
participate.
Gurus
with
more
subscribers
have
an
advantage
in
the
creation
of
successful
Tags
as
their
ideas
will
reach
more
people.
Equally,
a
Tag
can
spread
from
small
circles
of
little
known
gurus
and
occasionally
arrive
at
a
successful
“trader”
who
might
promote
it
further.
The
important
aspect
of
this
exchange
is
that
creating
or
recommending
a
Tag
to
one’s
audience
represents
an
opportunity
to
be
credited
by
those
who
follow
the
lead.
Value
Production
and
Intersubjective
Spatiotemporal
Expansion
In
Munn’s
model,
the
element
that
entails
the
process
of
value
creation
is
action.
Graeber
writes
(2002)
that
this
innovative
approach
“breaks
the
gift/commodity
dichotomy
open”.
His
argument
develops
from
the
understanding
that
anthropology
was
caught
in
a
circular
debate
about
the
origins
of
value
between
Formalists
and
Substantialists
(and
later
by
Structuralists),
never
arriving
at
a
satisfactory
result.
Munn
proposes
an
original
solution
by
identifying
action
as
a
common
denominator
to
justify
the
deployment
of
human
energy,
intelligence,
time
and
concern
(Graeber,
2002:
45).
A
crucial
notion
presented
by
Munn
is
that
of
“intersubjective
spacetime”,
which
she
defines
as
“a
space
of
self-­‐other
relationship
formed
in
and
through
acts
and
practices”
(1986:
9).
This
translates
roughly
to
fame
or
renown,
as
these
represent
the
consequence
of
a
relationship
between
self
and
other,
activated
through
hospitality
and
cultivated
by
constant
practice
of
exchange.
Spacetime
is
taken
in
this
context
as
a
parameter
of
value.
The
value
of
an
act
is
defined
through
its
capacity
to
expand
or
contract
a
person’s
renown
further
in
space
and/or
time,
which
means
that
it
has
either
positive
or
negative
value
transformation
(1986:
9).
It
is
useful
to
note
the
particular
equivalence
of
this
aspect
of
the
model
of
value
creation
applied
to
the
context
of
YouTube
and
the
34

35. exchange
of
Tags.
The
representation
of
spacetime
for
gurus
is
the
number
of
subscribers
each
channel
accumulates.
This
means
that
the
acts
that
expand
the
spacetime
of
a
guru
become
effectively
a
link
(or
a
relationship
connection)
between
them.
Two
types
of
situations
cause
the
attainment
of
fame
in
Gawa,
one
at
the
level
of
the
individual
and
the
other
at
the
level
of
the
society.
The
first
cause
of
fame
happens
in
the
context
of
the
ceremonial
transfer
of
food
for
hospitality.
If
a
man
eats
all
his
food
instead
of
saving
part
to
feed
occasional
guests,
his
chances
of
leaving
the
island
decreases
and
as
a
consequence
the
opportunities
the
island
will
have
to
expand
its
renown
also
become
compromised.
In
the
context
of
Tag
exchanges,
a
guru
must
establish
herself
as
a
trader,
which
translates
to
developing
partnerships
with
other
gurus
by
watching
their
videos
and
interacting
with
their
content.
Conclusion
In
this
chapter
I
attempted
to
compare
the
exchange
of
ceremonial
shells
in
the
contexts
of
the
Kula
ring
in
the
Massim
archipelago
and
of
a
special
type
of
video
called
Tags
inside
the
beauty
community
of
YouTube.
I
analysed
general
correspondences
of
how
value
is
created
and
transformed
as
these
objects
are
produced
and
shared
among
participants.
I
first
introduced
the
basic
aspects
about
the
Kula
ring
and
Tags
videos,
indicating
how
their
circulation
beings
renown
to
traders.
I
suggested
that
Tag
videos
share
a
particular
similarity
with
Kula
valuables:
both
have
ceremonial
rather
than
practical
use.
While
common
videos
about
how
to
create
certain
looks
have
the
practical
function
of
transferring
certain
knowledge,
Tag
videos
are
meant
to
produce
conversation
through
the
exchange
of
biographical
information
and
opinion
about
topics
of
interest
inside
the
beauty
community.
In
other
words,
Tags
are
instruments
to
35

36. promote
relationships
that
are
materialized
through
subscriptions
to
channels.
An
interesting
Tag
theme
is
more
likely
to
spread
among
beauty
gurus
and
interesting
answers
to
the
questions
of
particular
Tags
also
cause
the
name
of
the
guru
travel
beyond
her
direct
circle
of
contacts.
In
order
to
support
this
analysis,
I
drew
on
Munn
(1986)
and
on
Graeber’s
(2001)
discussion
of
Munn’s
theory
of
value
to
present
key
notions
such
as
action,
intersubjective
spacetime
and
value
transformation.
I
suggested
that
Munn’s
model
can
be
successfully
applied
to
explain
the
motivation
YouTube
beauty
gurus
have
for
spending
time
and
resources
creating
videos
that
do
not
display
their
knowledge
about
makeup.
By
participating
on
activities
of
Tag
production
and
exchange,
gurus
have
the
opportunity
to
differentiate
themselves
among
the
many
other
participants
of
the
community.
This
differentiation
occurs
as
the
guru
offers
to
the
community
a
kind
of
valuable
that
goes
beyond
the
craft
and
allows
participants
to
discuss
why
they
exist
as
a
community,
why
they
are
interested
in
beauty
products
and
are
engaged
in
producing
video
tutorials.
I
also
point
out
the
particular
correspondence
between
Munn’s
Gawa
and
the
YouTube
beauty
community
regarding
how
action
based
on
ritual
exchange
results
in
the
formation
of
intersubjective
relationships.
If
the
Kula
trader
seeks
fame
by
transacting
valuable
shells,
this
fame
is
translated
to
the
number
of
people
from
his
inter-­‐
island
world
that
know
his
name
and
his
stories.
Likewise,
participating
in
the
ceremonial
exchange
of
video
Tags
increases
the
possibility
that
the
content
of
her
channel
will
have
more
subscribers.
36

37. YouTube
Makeup
Tutorials
as
Traps
In
this
chapter,
I
will
draw
from
Gell’s
anthropological
theory
of
art
to
discuss
makeup
video
tutorials
as
products
of
what
he
called
“technology
of
enchantment”
(1999),
a
process
of
barely
comprehensible
virtuosity
that
impresses
the
mind
of
the
observer
through
complex
and
convoluted
patterns
(Thomas,
2001;
Miller,
2001).
Gell
develops
his
theory
from
the
notion
of
action
as
the
original
form
of
value
creation
(1998:
221-­‐30).
He
posits
that
these
especially
crafted
objects
can
carry
the
intention
of
their
creators
to
become
extensions
of
the
artists’
bodies
that
travel
in
spacetime.
Their
agency
appears
in
the
power
they
have
to
attract
and
trap
the
minds
of
others.
I
will
explore
this
framing
to
discuss
makeup
video
tutorials
on
YouTube
as
virtual
artefacts
forged
through
key
techniques
that
captivate
the
minds
of
particular
viewers.
In
Coming
of
Age
in
Second
Life
(2008)
Boellstorff
argues
that
“our
humanity
is
thrown
off
balance
…
through
transformed
possibilities
for
place-­‐making,
subjectivity,
and
community”
that
arrive
from
the
effect
of
virtuality
brought
about
by
the
Internet.
I
would
like
to
further
this
idea
by
arguing
that
the
Internet
as
a
platform
for
decentralized
group
communication
destabilizes
how
reality
is
understood,
allowing
for
the
creation
of
value
through
new
kinds
of
artefacts.
I
will
argue,
following
this
path,
that
the
mastering
of
skills
to
create
different
‘looks’
through
cosmetics
is
only
part
of
the
set
of
abilities
that
makes
a
successful
beauty
guru.
I
will
draw
from
frameworks
developed
by
Wesch
(2008)
and
Lange
(2007
and
2009)
to
discuss
video
tutorials
as
traps
evolving
from
the
rearrangement
of
notions
such
as
social
context,
public
space
and
amateur
production.
The
understanding
of
these
notions
is
equally
important
to
achieving
social
distinction
as
a
beauty
guru,
but,
as
with
other
traps,
those
are
not
exposed
publicly
and
must
be
learned
through
practice.
37

38. Agency,
Trap
and
‘Distributed’
Mind
The
idea
of
art
as
a
trap
(Gell,
1996;
Gell,
1998)
has
already
been
applied
to
the
context
of
virtual
environments.
Miller
(2001)
conducted
a
study
through
the
observation
of
three
distinct
types
of
websites
in
Trinidad
and
discusses
the
apparent
paradox
of
websites
created
with
limited
resources
by
teenagers
being
more
successful
in
attracting
viewers
than
those
of
companies
produced
with
the
help
of
paid
professionals.
Using
Gell’s
model
introduced
in
the
previous
paragraphs,
Miller
analyses
who
were
the
intended
“preys
”
targeted
in
each
of
these
cases,
concluding
that
as
the
different
sites
were
directed
toward
specific
recipients,
being
unattractive
made
sense
as
a
particular
strategy
as
much
as
being
exuberant
worked
for
another
purpose.
Miller
(2001)
complements
the
framing
of
this
study
following
Gell
by
drawing
on
Strathern’s
notion
of
the
‘distributed’
person
(Gell,
1998:
222).
The
similar
concept
of
a
‘distributed’
mind
is
useful
to
demonstrate
the
social
unity
of
the
different
groups
he
analysed.
He
explains
that
their
websites
“are
not
mere
idiosyncratic
or
individual
extensions,
since
even
after
a
very
short
time
they
take
on
genred
and
conventional
forms
as
a
collective
oeuvre
of
artworks
that
enable
us
to
recognize
and
respond
to
what
is
presented,
and
contain
the
individual
or
company
into
the
techniques
and
strategies
of
the
web.”
(2001:
22)
Similarly,
I
will
argue
that
YouTube
beauty
gurus
produce
videos
that
are
destined
to
act
inside
a
definite
communication
setting
and,
thus,
must
not
be
analysed
individually.
The
Artificiality
of
Makeup
Tutorials
Beauty
gurus
record
their
videos
from
their
rooms.
The
equipment
and
the
products
are
placed
on
the
table
near
the
camera.
They
normally
wear
casual
clothes
and
38

39. behind
the
guru,
the
audience
often
see
part
of
the
bed,
dresses
and
also
objects
for
decoration.
At
the
start
of
these
videos
the
gurus
greet
viewers,
say
their
YouTube
names
and
explain
what
that
video
will
be
about.
The
recording
develops
in
a
conversational
mode
and
she
thanks
her
subscribers
for
watching,
both
at
the
beginning
and
the
end
of
the
video.
It
is
not
uncommon
to
hear
expressions
like
“I
love
you
guys”,
“this
means
the
world
to
me”
and
“I
will
be
here
if
you
need
me”
during
recordings
or
for
them
to
exhibit
or
mention
elements
of
their
symbolic
world17.
The
piece
that
gets
uploaded
normally
lasts
between
five
and
ten
minutes
and
brings
a
continuous
flow
of
information,
occasionally
interrupted
by
the
rough
extraction
of
unwanted
portions
of
the
recording.
Playing
these
videos
may
cause
the
partial
impression
that
these
are
girls
who
love
makeup
and
decided
to
share
their
passion
with
others
by
turning
on
their
webcam
and
performing
their
favourite
routines.
One
may
also
think
that
the
popularity
they
acquire
is
only
the
unexpected
but
deserved
result
of
offering
something
valuable
to
the
world.
In
the
following
paragraphs
I
will
argue
instead
that
the
videos
of
YouTube
beauty
gurus
can
also
be
understood
as
products
of
a
makeup
routine
that
intends
to
artificially
engineer
the
appearance
of
something
genuine
and
spontaneous.
I
will
initially
defend
this
argument
using
Wesch’s
(2008)
notion
of
“context
collapse”,
which
was
coined
to
explain
the
effect
people
normally
have
when
recording
their
first
video-­‐blogs18
(or
“vlogs”).
17
To
English
speaking
teenage
gurus
from
the
United
States
this
world
usually
includes
things
like
iPods,
apps
downloaded
from
iTunes,
Converse
All
Stars
tennis
shoes,
teenage
celebrities
Justin
Biener
and
Selena
Gomez,
episodes
from
the
TV
series
Pretty
Little
Liars
and
playing
The
Sims3
online.
18
Video
blogging,
normally
shortened
to
vlogging,
is
a
form
of
blogging
for
which
the
medium
is
video
(Garfield
and
Tames,
2006).
39

40. “Context
Collapse”
and
the
Trap
of
Context
Recreation
Making
a
vlog
often
consists
in
recording,
processing
and
uploading
audio-­‐visual
content
in
which
the
person
speaks
for
a
few
minutes
about
one
or
more
subjects,
but
it
is
not
a
simple
craft
to
master.
Wesch
(2008)
points
to
a
particular
difficulty
for
beginners,
which
he
calls
“audience
dilemma”.
Being
alone
and
looking
at
the
camera,
the
person
attempts
to
anticipate
the
context
she
will
be
speaking
too,
but
this
context
in
uncertain
and
can
be
composed
of
the
imaginary
presence
of
any
one
of
the
half
a
billion
Internet
users
that
watch
videos
on
YouTube
every
month19.
This
wide
spectrum
of
audiences
includes
herself
in
the
present
and
in
the
future,
people
from
different
social
circles
she
inhabits
including
work
or
school
colleagues,
family
members
and
friends.
It
also
includes
potential
stalkers
and
an
undefined
range
of
people
that
may
arrive
at
the
video
and
choose
to
respond
to
it
either
by
posting
a
comment
or
even
remixing
its
content.
It
is
this
experience
of
trying
to
measure
or
identify
a
known
context
that
has
not
yet
been
mapped
and
understood
that
produces
what
Wesch
(2008)
called
“context
collapse”.
The
result
of
this
experience
is
a
commonly
frustrating
process
of
self-­‐
consciousness
and
attempts
of
anticipating
scenarios
that
leads
to
many
unsuccessful
recordings.
Wesch
(2008)
explains
that
to
overcome
“context
collapse”,
the
person
creates
a
new
mask
to
use
for
similar
situations,
which
may
include
defining
a
way
of
speaking
and
body
posture,
and
also
defining
the
particular
appearance
of
places
where
the
recordings
are
made.
This
event
is
critical
and
I
will
use
ethnographic
material
to
illustrate
how
it
happens.
19
"YouTube
Attracts
490
Million
Unique
Visitors
Per
Month."
PR
Newswire.
12
Feb.
2011.
40

41. The
transition
from
the
position
of
audience
to
producer
of
content
–
during
which
the
guru
composes
her
virtual
context
–
happens
gradually.
Many
say
that
their
participation
on
YouTube
evolved
over
time
and
included
experiences
with
more
than
one
channel.
YTGuru17
mentioned
she
“debuted”
on
YouTube
at
12
or
13
years
old
trying
to
make
comic
videos
imitating
a
popular
user
at
the
time.
Later
she
created
another
channel
to
publish
music
videos20
and
it
was
only
after
these
previous
steps
that
she
became
interested
in
makeup
and
created
a
new
channel
to
upload
that
type
of
content.
This
next
case
reveals
elements
of
gurus’
acts.
YTGuru20
made
a
video
paying
tribute
to
her
“favourite
youtubers”
through
which
it
is
possible
to
observe
key
aspects
of
performances
she
internalized
and
that
are
recurrent
among
beauty
gurus:
the
spontaneous
flow
of
speech
(iJustine21),
the
use
of
humour
and
self-­‐mocking
as
a
preventive
strategy
against
haters’
attacks,
(communitychannel)
and
the
release
of
personal
information
to
satisfy
fans
(onisionspeaks).
These
cases
expose
a
process
of
learning
related
to
becoming
a
knowledgeable
YouTube
beauty
guru.
Lave
and
Wenger
(1991)
conceptualized
a
process
of
informally
acquiring
knowledge
in
a
situated
context.
Their
notion
of
legitimate
peripheral
participation,
originally
developed
from
the
study
of
apprenticeship,
describes
learning
as
part
of
participating
in
a
number
of
practices
as
part
of
a
broader
social
setting.
The
actor
starts
her
practice
from
the
periphery
of
the
group
and
evolves
gradually
to
mastering
activities
she
is
exposed
to.
In
the
beauty
community,
though,
gurus
manipulate
the
20
These
clips
represent
a
genre
common
among
younger
English
speaking
teens
that
consists
of
collectively
producing
a
music
clip
for
a
popular
song
21
I
reveal
the
real
usernames
she
lists
because
it
will
give
the
reader
of
this
dissertation
a
notion
of
the
elements
YTGuru20
refers
to.
The
users
that
I
mention
are
adults
and
internet
celebrities
(with
not
less
than
100,000
subscribers
on
YouTube
alone)
and
by
consequence
publicly
known
personalities.
The
search
for
their
names
does
not
produce
unequivocal
connections
with
YTGuru20
so
the
display
of
these
references,
while
being
one
of
the
few
opportunities
to
offering
an
example
of
the
topic
discussed,
does
not
represent
a
threat
to
the
actor’s
anonymity.
41

42. display
of
this
evolution
by
making
private
or
erasing
the
videos
that
do
not
correspond
to
their
actual
position
of
development.
In
other
words,
it
is
a
common
practice
among
gurus,
during
the
course
of
their
learning
and
growth
inside
the
community,
to
eliminate
from
the
public
view
the
material
that
displays
earlier
and
less
sophisticated
versions
of
themselves
on
video.
“Privately
Public”
and
the
Trap
of
Controlling
the
Release
of
Information
Videos
produced
by
gurus
do
not
mention
information
that
may
lead
to
their
localization
or
identification,
but
that
is
an
unspoken
rule
that
one
learns
by
experiencing
and
participating
in
the
community.
I
will
argue
that
this
topic
is
avoided
to
maintain
the
impression
of
complicity
that
is
present
in
the
offline
environment
where
women
talk
and
exchange
makeup
tips.
I
will
use
the
notion
of
“privately
public”
created
by
Lange
(2007)
to
analyse
virtual
contexts
like
these
created
through
YouTube
videos
that
carry
characteristics
of
both
public
and
private
space.
I
will
elaborate
on
this
analysis
based
on
my
observation
of
“Room
Tours”,
a
very
popular
type
of
video
Tag
I
described
in
detail
earlier.
Watching
some
Room
Tours
caused
in
me
a
feeling
of
awkwardness
that,
borrowing
from
Wesch
(2008)
may
have
resulted
from
projected
“context
collapse”.
A
Room
Tour
exposes
(what
we
might
have
called
before)
one’s
privacy
by
displaying
the
interior
of
a
person’s
bedroom
to
a
potentially
large
number
of
anonymous
viewers.
Lange’s
research
(2007)
suggests,
though,
that
this
kind
of
exposure
is
calculated
as
the
producer
chooses
to
attract
attention
by
offering
content
of
relevance
(something
others
would
be
interested
in
watching)
while
withholding
identity
(i.e.
surname
and
information
that
could
lead
to
physical
localization).
She
calls
this
virtual
space
“privately
42

43. public”22
as
it
is
directed
towards
a
larger
audience
than
that
of
friends
and
family,
while
providing
lower
risks
of
social
embarrassment,
loss
of
credibility
or
exposure
to
stalkers23.
While
those
are
reasonable
concerns,
my
interest
lies
in
the
performative
act
of
exposing
intimacy
while
intentionally
hiding
identity
related
data,
because
it
is
this
practice
that
is
collectively
deployed
by
gurus.
“Videos
of
affinity”
and
the
Simulation
of
Closeness
The
notion
of
“video
of
affinity”
(Lange,
2009)
was
created
to
help
analyse
types
of
hybrid
content
that
did
not
fit
the
definition
of
amateur
or
professional
productions.
As
Lange
explains,
“many
so-­‐called
amateur
video
creators
can
use
characteristics
found
in
videos
of
affinity
to
gain
support
and
viewership
for
work
that
they
will
happily
commercialize.”
This
is
the
case
of
most
–
if
not
all
–
the
gurus
I
followed
during
fieldwork.
It
is
considered
normal
to
include
near
the
channel’s
description
an
email
contact
“for
business
enquires”.
After
YTGuru13a
reached
one
thousand
subscribers,
she
received
her
first
package
of
free
products
sent
from
a
company
in
return
for
a
review,
and
this
occasion
was
performatively
celebrated
on
the
review
she
uploaded.
I
suspect
that
this
type
of
contact
with
the
professional
world
has
a
symbolic
meaning
and
can
be
displayed
as
a
sign
of
prestige.
Following
these
previous
considerations,
I
will
use
Lange’s
notion
of
“video
of
affinity”
to
analyse
portions
of
ethnographic
material
and,
and
I
will
22
Together
with
this
notion,
she
also
offers
that
of
“publicly
private”
to
describe
the
opposite
situation
where
personal
content
is
uploaded
openly
to
facilitate
access
inside
a
trusted
circle
of
people.
In
this
case,
the
user
also
calculates
that
the
low
technical
quality
of
the
production
associated
with
the
lack
of
relevance
will
limit
the
video’s
circulation.
23
Security
is
the
main
justification
gurus
give
to
hiding
identity
and
localization,
but
many
consider
YouTube
as
a
separate
part
of
their
lives
and
for
that
reason
some
reported
embarrassment
when,
for
instance,
some
actual
friends
found
out
about
their
channel
dedicated
to
makeup
and
beauty.
Lange
(2007)
adds
that
some
users
avoid
saying
their
identities
to
avoid
losing
credibility
with
employers
or
clients.
43

44. also
argue
that
the
strategy
of
simulating
closeness
contributes
to
the
amount
of
attention
makeup
tutorials
and
their
creators
receive.
“Affinity”
as
an
element
of
communication
was
initially
used
to
describe
exchanges
through
instant
messaging
services
that
lacked
a
practical
function.
Nardi
(2006
in
Lange,
2009)
researched
users
that
sent
messages
to
acquaintances
without
the
intention
of
initiating
a
conversation
and
without
anything
important
to
say.
Developing
from
this
study,
she
explained
that
the
experience
of
affinity
“is
achieved
through
activities
of
social
bonding
in
which
people
come
to
feel
connected
with
one
another,
readying
them
for
further
communication.”
This
notion
is
useful
because
it
helps
explain
the
popularity
of
broadcast
ephemera
that
is
commonly
criticized
for
its
low
quality
or
relevance,
while
critics
fail
to
see
the
“social,
cultural
and
material
circumstances
that
influence
how
individuals
use
video
to
communicate.”
(Lange,
2009:
84)
Two
elements
of
makeup
gurus
can
be
presented
to
demonstrate
that
such
videos
trap
their
audiences
by
portraying
an
image
of
amateur
production.
One
is
the
appropriation
of
the
room
as
scenery
that
inculcates
values
such
as
intimacy
and
closeness.
This
choice
of
an
“informal”
setting
is
maintained
even
by
gurus
that
evolve
to
become
celebrities
outside
the
Internet,
as
is
the
case
of
Lauren
Luke.
The
idea
of
the
practicality
of
making
the
video
may
cover
the
intention
of
giving
viewers
“a
feeling
of
being
connected
not
to
a
video
but
to
a
person
who
shares
mutual
beliefs
of
interests.”
(Lange,
2009:
83)
In
addition
to
being
virtually
present
in
the
guru’s
room,
the
audience
is
constantly
and
also
enthusiastically
reminded
of
their
importance
and
of
their
singularity
in
the
life
of
that
guru.
Even
those
having
hundreds
of
thousands
of
subscriptions
recur
to
this
type
of
paternalistic
act
by
saying
that
they
will
always
be
available
to
anybody
who
44

45. needs
attention.
These
acts,
Lange
adds,
“can
exhibit
varying
degrees
of
sincerity,
personalization
and
realistic
expectations
of
interactivity.”
(2009:
83)
Conclusion
Based
on
the
arguments
presented,
I
suggested
that
an
essential
aspect
of
the
trap
beauty
video
tutorials
use
to
attract
their
viewership
is
to
create
the
impression
that
the
conversation
is
happening
not
as
it
is
–
asynchronous
and
directed
to
anyone
watching
–
but
as
if
it
was
a
synchronous
conversation
among
friends
or
at
least
people
with
certain
familiarity
with
each
other.
The
perception
of
the
audience
is
that
she
just
turned
on
the
camera
and
from
the
beginning
acted
with
the
same
spontaneity.
I
drew
from
Gell’s
notion
that
described
artefacts
as
having
agency
and
this
agency
being
the
capacity
of
attracting
a
certain
type
of
viewer.
I
used
Wesch’s
concept
of
“context
collapse”
and
Lange’s
concepts
of
“privately
public”
and
“video
of
affinity”
to
analyse
the
practice
and
techniques
used
to
create
tutorials.
I
showed
how
these
lenses
exposed
the
intentional
manipulation
of
what
is
displayed.
For
instance,
many
gurus
erase
or
make
private
older
videos
where
they
appear
less
confortable
and
secure
than
they
do
in
the
latest
productions.
Similarly
they
expose
intimacy,
control
identity
and
perform
“affinity”
to
create
the
impression
of
closeness.
45

46. Fake
or
Real:
the
Production
of
Value
among
Gurus
In
this
final
chapter,
I
will
draw
from
another
portion
of
Munn’s
(1986)
work
to
analyse
the
process
through
which
meaning
is
created
among
beauty
gurus
on
YouTube.
Initially,
I
will
present
the
framework
used
to
identify
the
polarities
from
which
Gawans
draw
ideas
and
concepts
about
themselves
and
the
world.
A
key
element
here
is
Munn’s
phenomenological
approach
that
understands
social
reality
as
resulting
from
a
self-­‐other
relation.
I
will
also
draw
from
Winkler
Reid
(2010)
to
adjust
this
conceptual
lens
to
function
in
an
environment
less
culturally
homogenous
than
that
of
Gawa.
The
text
that
follows
attempts
to
organize
the
material
collected
during
fieldwork
in
order
to
present
the
“web
of
meanings”
surrounding
the
world
of
YouTube
beauty
gurus
(as
I
experienced
it
in
2011
following
mostly
the
interaction
of
English
speaking
participants).
By
doing
that
I
am
subscribing
to
Munn’s
position
(1986:
6)
that
“theoretical
arguments
dealing
with
sociocultural
phenomena
must
be
based
on
culture-­‐
specific
meanings.”
This
translates
to
the
choice
to
focus
on
the
description
and
analysis
of
a
portion
of
the
symbolic
reality
of
this
group
rather
than
discussing
previously
defined
elements
like
speech
acts
or
dyadic
relations.
This
is
the
chapter
that
includes
more
ethnographic
material.
The
different
cases
that
will
be
exposed
and
analysed
exist
as
a
whole
connected
by
the
conceptual
frame
applied,
but
are
also
separate
pieces
that
will
occasionally
echo
arguments
from
other
parts
of
the
dissertation.
The
Dialectical
Creation
of
Self-­‐Other
The
symbolic
world
of
Gawa,
according
to
Munn
(1986),
results
from
the
dialectical
tension
of
two
founding
values:
on
one
hand,
the
island
conceives
its
wellness,
46

47. its
internal
viability,
based
on
how
the
island
is
viewed
from
the
perspective
of
the
inter-­‐
island
world;
on
the
other
hand,
Gawan
society
understands
that
its
lack
of
social
hierarchy
is
fundamental.
This
polarity
simultaneously
attracts
Gawans
to
the
outside
world
(where
they
seek
distinction
through
fame,
which
will
reflect
on
the
perception
others
have
of
Gawa)
while
it
also
justifies
the
negation
of
the
cases
of
individual
fame
in
the
intra-­‐island
world
(where
one
must
not
maintain
a
position
of
hierarchical
distinction).
The
dialectical
construct
suggested
by
Munn
is
based
on
conflicting
values;
but
instead
of
producing
a
destructive
outcome,
this
tension
is
culturally
active
in
its
process
of
expanding
the
symbolic
world
through
its
self-­‐expansion.
In
other
words,
the
conflict
provides
a
framework
from
which
Gawans
are
able
to
think
about
themselves
in
the
world
and,
by
doing
so,
generate
themselves
and
their
world.
It
is
central
to
Munn’s
argument
the
notion
that
sociocultural
phenomena
don’t
happen
in
space,
rather
space
is
created
through
the
dialectical
symbolic
process
of
generating
and
resolving
cultural
dilemmas
(1986:
22).
The
individual
is
not
subordinated
to
society
and
society
is
not
conceived
and
developed
through
external
forces.
Individuals
change
themselves
while
attempting
to
transform
their
world;
and
by
doing
so,
individuals
become
subjected
to
new
challenges.
Society
does
not
so
much
exist
in
the
world
but
exists
with
the
world
as
a
dynamic
part
of
the
creation
of
the
world.
Prior
to
starting
the
analysis,
it
is
necessary
to
make
an
adjustment
in
the
analytic
tool-­‐kit
to
make
it
work
in
a
setting
that
is
more
culturally
dynamic
than
Gawa.
I
will
draw
from
Winkler
Reid
(2010:
40-­‐41),
whose
study
also
focused
on
a
contemporary
Western
setting,
to
suggest
that
Munn
does
not
pay
enough
attention
“to
the
contemporary
relations
of
spacetime
…
and
possibilities
of
historical
transformations
in
value-­‐
production
…”
Winkler
Reid’s
solution
was
to
recognize
that
the
sub-­‐groups
she
studies
47

48. were
involved
in
different
modes
of
value
production
and
often
didn’t
agree
on
what
constituted
positive
value.
A
central
polarity
in
the
world
of
makeup
gurus
is
formed
around
what
is
“fake”
and
what
is
“real”.
Makeup
doesn’t
have
the
specific
purpose
of
concealing;
it
also
magnifies
qualities
that
exist
by
giving
them
visual
distinction.
On
the
other
hand,
makeup
may
be
responsible
for
disguising
“natural”
features
and
adding
artificial
ones.
It
is
from
this
original
tension
that
several
conflicting
aspects
of
the
lives
of
gurus
play
out
in
their
virtual
arena
of
debate.
Finally,
I
will
discuss
“haters”,
a
social
phenomenon
spreading
on
YouTube
that
is
the
negative
manifestation
of
fame.
I
will
argue
that
haters
on
YouTube
represent,
particularly
in
the
beauty
guru
world,
the
same
destructive
power
witches
have
on
Gawa.
Motivated
by
jealousy,
both
witches
and
haters
have
the
function
of
radically
subverting
one’s
spacetime.
Authenticity
vs.
performance
Personal
history
is
a
strong
enhancer
of
one’s
fame
on
YouTube
guru
world.
YTGuru14
was
frequently
asked
if
her
father
had
indeed
died
and
what
was
the
cause
of
his
death.
This
information
was
always
in
the
mind
of
her
fans
so
if
a
woman’s
voice
appeared
on
one
of
her
videos
saying
the
word
“husband”,
YTGuru14
was
questioned
and
had
to
explain
this
was
her
neighbour
speaking.
Later
when
a
men’s
voice
was
heard,
she
had
to
explain
it
was
her
stepdad
and
then
disclosed
to
the
eventually
convinced
but
still
curious
fans
that
her
father
had
died
of
cancer.
Some
gurus
constantly
include
videos
about
their
lives
outside
of
YouTube,
possibly
for
a
number
of
reasons
but
also
to
show
“how”
real
they
are.
In
the
summer
of
2010,
YTGuru26
went
with
her
mother
and
6
year-­‐old
son
to
Disneyland.
On
returning
48

49. from
this
trip,
she
uploaded
a
music
clip-­‐like
video
that
showed
in
detail
the
apartment
and
the
condominium
they
had
stayed
in.
In
a
different
piece,
she
shows
five
of
the
six
tattoos
she
has
and
recounted
the
history
behind
each
of
them:
how
old
she
was,
what
was
happening
in
her
life,
what
made
her
decide
to
get
the
tattoo
and
why
she
chose
that
specific
image.
She
explains
that
many
people
had
asked
her
to
make
that
video
and
before
ending
she
discusses
her
decision
of
having
the
tattoos
done
in
places
on
her
body
that
could
be
covered,
to
avoid
discrimination
when
applying
for
jobs.
YTGuru26’s
son
participates
in
some
of
her
videos,
sometimes
as
a
“guest
commentator”,
at
other
times
as
cameramen
(in
the
cases
she
needed
to
film
outside
of
their
house).
Other
recent
guests
on
her
videos
were
her
boyfriend
and
her
mother.
Both
were
brought
to
participate
on
Tags,
the
“Boyfriend
Tag”
and
the
“Mom
tag”.
Another
example
of
these
is
the
“Best
Friend
Tag”.
The
main
purpose
of
these
activities
is
to
offer
more
and
more
evidence
of
the
gurus
“real”
life
and
‘proof’
of
her
personality.
Amateur
vs.
professional
As
an
experienced
guru,
YTGuru26
often
makes
videos
giving
advice
about
how
to
become
a
renowned
guru.
The
most
important
thing,
according
to
her,
is
to
know
the
reason
one
has
for
becoming
a
guru.
If
all
people
want
is
to
get
free
products
and
make
money
through
partnerships,
they
are
“greedy”
and
“money
hungry”
and
should
give
up.
According
to
her,
one
must
have
passion
for
makeup,
beauty
and
fashion
and
making
videos
about
makeup
should
be
a
result
of
that.
Making
money
must
not
be
expected,
she
says,
as
she
tells
she
never
considered
making
a
living
from
her
passion.
The
material
reward
will
come,
though,
if
one
has
both
patience
and
disposition
to
work.
49

50. YTGuru17
occasionally
discusses
how
money
affects
the
world
of
gurus.
In
one
of
her
videos,
she
complains
about
the
use
of
contests
to
give
out
products
as
a
way
of
artificially
building
an
audience.
At
the
time
she
had
700
subscribers
and
said
it
took
her
a
year
and
a
half
of
intense
work
to
arrive
at
that
figure.
She
then
pointed
to
a
case
where
an
audience
of
400
subscribers
was
formed
after
three
weeks.
The
success
was
credited
to
another
guru
with
a
large
following
who
proposed
a
contest,
one
of
the
conditions
of
entry
being
to
subscribe
to
that
guru’s
channel.
This
was
unfair,
she
concluded.
The
community
does
not
regard
all
movements
toward
professionalism
as
problematic,
however.
Some
are
seen
differently
or
communicated
in
a
way
as
to
transform
the
negative
into
positive
expectation.
One
example
is
that
of
YTGuru14.
Early
in
2011
she
produced
and
published
a
video
where
she
celebrates
with
her
mother
the
arrival
of
a
message
from
YouTube
informing
her
that
she
had
been
accepted
as
partner.
Partnership
is
a
symbol
of
prestige
because
it
implies
an
understanding
that
the
user
attracts
a
significant
number
of
viewers
to
the
website
so
she
should
be
rewarded
with
receiving
a
portion
of
what
YouTube
makes
in
advertisement
from
that
user’s
channels.
Friends
vs.
fans
Beyond
the
technical
aspect
of
relationships
on
YouTube
related
to
who
subscribes
and
who
is
subscribed,
the
words
“friend”
and
“fan”
have
several
connotations
and
may
even
be
interchangeable
in
some
cases.
A
user
may
also
use
the
word
“friend”
to
describe
a
general
positive
feeling
for
her
followership.
YTGuru26
talks
in
one
of
her
videos
about
the
importance
of
YouTube
in
her
life
saying
she
feels
better
when,
after
a
bad
day,
she
gets
home
and
reads
the
positive
comments
posted
on
her
channel.
To
her,
and
also
to
YTGuru17,
much
of
the
reason
for
50

51. becoming
a
guru
is
attributed
to
the
people
one
gets
to
know
and
becomes
friends
with,
as
seen
in
the
following
exchange
through
Formspring
between
YTGuru17
and
an
anonymous
guest:
-­‐ How
do
you
have
so
many
subscribers?
-­‐ I
actually
don’t
consider
it
so
much,
but
I
put
a
lot
of
effort
into
my
videos,
and
I
value
each
of
my
subscribers
as
people
and
not
just
a
number,
i
also
love
making
friends...
I
have
fun
with
it.
Relations
exclusively
mediated
by
computer
communication
may
develop
into
what
is
traditionally
defined
as
friendship
and
include
long
term
stable
virtual
presence.
YTGuru14
and
YTGuru13a
have
achieved
this
status.
They
met
online
when
they
were
around
10
years
old
and
in
four
years
all
of
the
contact
they
had
was
mediated
by
a
screen.
Broadband
internet
and
video-­‐conferencing
technology
offered
the
infrastructure
for
continuous
communication
that
in
the
recent
past
the
telephone
offered
especially
for
young
women
(Winker
Reid,
personal
communication).
Different
services
that
include
channels
for
group
communication
like
Tinychat.com
are
used
to
throwing
parties
where
both
virtual
friends
and
fans
mingled
with
actual
friends.
Compared
to
other
gurus
of
their
age
group,
YTGuru13a
and
YTGuru14
are
both
well-­‐known
and
frequently
talk
about
their
audience
as
“fans”.
Message
exchanges
like
the
following
frequently
occur
between
them
and
their
followers:
-­‐ I
keep
refreshing
your
youtubee!
if
you
can’t
tell,
I’m
like
a
hard-­‐core
fan.
I’ve
watched
every
single
one
of
your
vids
:)
-­‐ Awh,
thanks!
That
means
so
much
<3
There
are
different
modes
of
communication
that
mark
statuses
between
gurus.
Higher
ranking
gurus
make
themselves
available
to
chat
with
their
followership
but
they
51

52. display
this
connection
publically
less
frequently.
A
“public
display
of
connection”
signs
to
the
others
as
a
manifestation
of
preference.
This
is
also
a
recurrent
centre
of
tensions
among
gurus
as
some
struggle
to
demonstrate
their
affinity
with
higher
ranking
users
while
these
higher
ranking
gurus
are
selective
about
acknowledging
these
actions.
I
followed
a
case
of
internal
dispute
that
aimed
to
clarify
the
nature
of
a
relationship.
The
users
involved
were
YTGuru17,
YTGuru14
and
YTGuru13a,
and
this
situation
must
be
contemplated
bearing
in
mind
that
YTGuru17
is
the
oldest
but
has
the
same
number
of
subscribers
as
YTGuru13a
–
around
1,000
at
the
time.
YTGuru14
was
the
highest
ranking
from
the
three
having
2,500
subscribers
and
was
only
openly
friends
with
YTGuru13a.
Out
of
all
the
videos
I
watched
from
these
gurus,
only
YTGuru17
talked
about
the
other
two
publically.
She
constantly
made
the
point
of
including
YTGuru14
and
YTGuru13a
among
her
“best
friends”
and
often
expressed
“loving
them
to
death”.
Here
she
is
replying
to
a
Formspring
anonymous
participant
requesting
names
of
gurus
to
“check
out”.
The
content
on
brackets
is
mine.
-­‐ YTGuru14,
YTGuru13a,
[others]
LOL
repeating
answers...
i
don’t
watch
makeup
gurus
much
anymore
(no
time)
i
basically
watch
my
friends'
videos
and
some
bigger
gurus
As
time
passed,
the
lack
of
reciprocation
made
YTGuru17
be
more
specific
about
how
she
was
using
the
word
“friend”,
as
in
this
Formspring
dialog
where
an
anonymous
person
asked
her
who
her
best
friends
on
YouTube
were.
Here
is
the
answer:
-­‐ This
question
is
complex
because
I
don’t
want
to
leave
anyone
out
and
i
don’t
want
to
say
that
someone
is
my
best
friend
unless
I
know
its
mutual...
and
i
can’t
guess
that
someone
would
think
of
me
as
a
friend
unless
they
say
so
...
but
52

53. anyways,
some
of
the
girls
that
i
love
are:
YTGuru13a,
YTGuru14,
[goes
on
listing
others]
The
debate
goes
further
as
another
anonymous
participant
asks
YTGuru17
if
she
doesn’t
think
some
of
the
people
she
calls
“friends”
on
YouTube
are
“kind
of
fake”
and
also
have
more
subscribers
than
they
deserve
for
the
quality
of
video
they
make.
Her
answer
is:
-­‐ The
people
I
am
actually
friends
with
are
not
fake.
These
people
include:
[another
name],
[another
name]
and
YTGuru13a...
Also,
I
have
acquaintances.
I
guess
you
could
call
it
that,
people
that
I
have
no
problem
talking
to
on
YouTube,
that
I
do
think
are
fake,
but
chances
are
if
I
have
referred
to
them
as
my
friend
they
aren’t...
I
used
these
cases
to
show
the
central
topic
of
debate
related
to
authenticity
unfolding
into
this
specific
domain.
The
meaning
of
the
terms
“friend”
and
“friendship”
varies
if
the
relationship
is
private
or
public
and
acknowledging
a
friendship
often
seems
to
represent
a
political
display
of
support
and
mutual
respect.
Interior
beauty
vs.
exterior
beauty
In
no
other
topic
previously
discussed
does
the
universe
of
Gawa
appear
to
be
so
well
connected
with
that
of
YouTube
beauty
gurus.
If
for
Gawan
men,
not
eating
more
than
the
necessary
is
an
act
displayed
through
a
healthy
body,
for
gurus
this
act
is
signified
in
attractiveness
and
social
acceptance.
Authenticity
in
this
case
can
be
acknowledging
that
low
weight
is
the
consequence
of
sacrifice,
which
is
the
opposite
of
what
a
person
really
wants
to
do.
Conversely,
authentic
beauty
is
also
attributed
to
personal
values
that
are
morally
more
important
than
“physical-­‐correctness”
and
can
become
physical
beauty
through
makeup.
Makeup
is
what
produces
value-­‐
53

54. transformation
similar
to
a
Gawan
spell,
enabling
what
is
inside
emerge
from
the
body.
Many
beauty
gurus
talk
about
makeup
and
cosmetics
in
general
as
tools
to
extracting
the
inter-­‐beauty
of
women
and
consequently
making
them
more
at
ease
with
not
having
all
the
physical
attributes
associated
with
exterior
beauty.
This
polarity
between
pleasure
and
sacrifice
surfaces
in
a
Tag
created
by
YTGuru26,
where
gurus
were
invited
to
tell
the
things
they
would
change
in
their
ideal
world.
Everything
she
lists
as
“imperfect”
is
a
side
effect
of
complying
with
standards
of
beauty.
To
begin,
she
says
in
her
ideal
world,
weight
would
be
controlled
the
same
way
a
thermostat
controls
temperature.
Pimples,
she
says,
would
last
only
a
week.
The
sun
wouldn’t
harm
the
skin
and
nail
polisher
wouldn’t
have
such
a
strong
smell.
One
of
the
Tags
that
most
clearly
opens
the
debate
about
inter-­‐beauty
versus
external
beauty
is
called
“My
perfect
imperfections”
and
it
challenges
the
guru
to
talk
about
three
things
she
likes
about
her
body
and
three
things
she
doesn’t
like.
At
the
beginning
of
her
video-­‐response,
YTGuru26
explained
she
did
not
like
the
theme
at
first
but
decided
to
make
a
video
as
that
Tag
became
popular
and
everyone
was
responding
to
it.
In
her
introductory
speech
she
says
both
she
doesn’t
care
about
discussing
her
“imperfections”
(as
she
has
the
love
of
her
family
and
friends
and
doesn’t
need
the
approval
of
others)
and
that
she
managed
to
accept
almost
everything
about
her
body
that
she
didn’t
like.
These
things
included
having
a
“big
nose”,
a
“big
butt”,
and
not
having
white
teeth.
She
added
having
accepted
the
fact
she
will
never
go
back
to
the
weight
she
had
before
getting
pregnant.
The
only
part
of
her
body
she
feels
she
will
never
learn
to
accept
is
her
hair,
because,
she
explained,
it
is
neither
straight
nor
curly,
it
is
not
defined,
so
it
has
to
be
artificially
straightened.
Before
ending
the
recording,
she
criticises
54

55. other
gurus
who
talk
about
being
unhappy
with
“small
boobs”
and
adds
she
has
better
things
to
spend
her
money
than
on
plastic
surgery.
The
tension
between
inner
and
outer
beauty
is
recurrently
discussed
by
YTGuru17.
On
a
video
published
in
2011,
she
narrated
how
bullying
affected
her
life
and
how
her
lack
of
self-­‐love
made
her
eat.
Lack
of
self-­‐esteem
becomes
the
signifier
of
contraction
of
spacetime,
as
she
gains
weight
proportionally
to
distancing
herself
from
others
and
having
no
social
life.
Haters
and
the
Subversion
of
Positive
Value
“Haters”,
like
fans,
follow
people
that
acquire
social
visibility,
but
instead
of
showing
admiration,
their
intention
is
to
find
flaws
and
contradictions
with
the
purpose
of
exposing
that
guru
as
a
fraud.
In
her
video
giving
advice
to
new
gurus,
YTGuru26
encourages
users
to
be
themselves,
because
if
you
hide
or
pretend
to
be
someone
else,
the
“haters
will
find
out”.
This
subversive
capacity
of
bringing
the
desired
authenticity
to
the
guru
environment
does
not
convince
her
to
defend
this
category
of
attitude.
In
the
same
video
she
describes
haters
as
people
that
are
either
jealous
of
other’s
talents
or
accomplishments
or
have
psychological
problems
and
release
their
anger
on
others.
The
problem,
she
concludes,
doesn’t
have
a
solution
as
haters
will
always
exist
and
one
has
to
develop
thick
skin
to
survive
their
attacks.
Here
is
an
example
of
the
content
of
a
message
from
a
hater
published
on
YTGuru17’s
Formspring
page:
-­‐ You
need
to
stop
kidding
yourself.
Your
videos
suck!
You
will
NEVER
be
big
on
YouTube.
You
are
just
a
wanna-­‐be.
Stop
trying.
55

56. As
I
read
this
anonymous
attack,
I
speculated
about
the
possibility
of
this
person
being
also
a
guru
who
participates
on
the
same
online
social
circles
as
YTGuru17.
Here
is
the
answer
YTGuru17
left
to
the
author
of
the
message:
-­‐ I
make
videos
because
I
enjoy
doing
it.
While
being
more
popular
on
YouTube
would
be
a
plus,
it
is
not
“make
or
break”
for
me.
If
my
videos
suck,
you
don’t
have
to
watch
them.
At
least
I
don’t
spend
my
spare
time
crushing
people's
hopes...
Haters,
like
Gawan
witches,
usually
don’t
have
names.
A
hater
is
more
an
entity
or
a
category
of
behaviour
than
a
person.
I
never
witnessed
a
guru
accusing
another
of
being
a
hater
–
mostly
because
haters
do
not
normally
reveal
their
identities.
They
either
post
anonymously
through
sites
like
Formspring
or
have
different
usernames
to
manifest
their
criticism.
From
my
observations
among
makeup
gurus,
haters
represent
the
complementary
part
of
hierarchical
relations.
They
are
accused
of
spending
time
to
destroy
other’s
positive
investments
but
also
are
respected
for
their
capacity
to
expose
fraud
and
keep
gurus
from
manipulating
their
followership.
Conclusion
In
this
chapter,
I
suggested
the
YouTube
beauty
guru
community
shapes
itself
through
relationships
generated
by
debating
variations
of
the
polarity
“real”
vs.
“fake”.
Gurus
construct
their
selves
as
gurus
by
engaging
in
practices
and
debates
inside
the
community.
The
perception
each
of
them
has
results
from
the
feedback
they
constantly
receive.
This
information
comes
in
terms
of
the
number
of
views
each
video
has,
the
number
of
comments
it
receives,
the
number
of
video-­‐responses
it
generates
and,
more
importantly,
the
number
of
subscribers
a
given
piece
traps
to
the
channel.
56

57. Drawing
from
phenomenology,
Munn
argues
that
Gawans
construct
their
individual
and
collective
meanings
based
on
the
tension
between
the
importance
of
fame
and
the
importance
of
social
equality.
It
is
through
this
tension
that
Gawans
organise
their
world
and
conceptualise
solutions
to
the
problems
they
face.
The
community
of
YouTube
participants
in
general
represent
a
valid
environment
in
which
to
apply
this
framework
because
the
actions
that
initiate
intersubjective
relationships
are
materialized
in
statistics,
links,
comments
and
other
forms
of
interaction.
Makeup,
in
the
context
of
gurus,
offers
a
powerful
metaphor
for
debates
surrounding
the
topic
of
authenticity.
I
suggested
this
core
theme
allows
gurus
to
share
their
views,
history
and
feelings
on
issues
that
reflect
this
original
concern
and
form
bonds
with
other
gurus
who
share
similar
world-­‐views.
I
presented
four
centres
of
debate
that
represent
spin-­‐offs
from
discussions
about
authenticity:
authenticity
vs.
performance
online;
amateurism
vs.
professionalism;
friendship
vs.
relationships
of
different
status;
and
finally
interior
vs.
exterior
beauty.
The
presentation
of
each
topic
attempted
to
portray
the
symbolic
contradictory
(or
dialectical)
nature
of
the
debates
and
not
a
perspective
that
one
side
was
better
than
the
other.
57

58. Conclusion
I
arrived
in
the
world
of
YouTube
beauty
gurus
without
a
specific
set
of
questions.
I
was
surprised
that,
although
I
have
been
employed
by
Internet
companies
for
almost
15
years,
I
had
never
heard
that
such
a
large
and
active
group
existed.
Some
of
its
most
important
participants
have
risen
to
fame
beyond
the
borders
of
the
Internet,
but
the
social
environment
where
these
people
came
from
remains
under
the
radar
of
society.
Like
the
private
spaces
where
people
put
on
their
makeup,
this
portion
of
YouTube
seems
to
be
known
only
by
those
interested
in
cosmetics.
I
was
intrigued
by
the
number
of
women
from
many
parts
of
the
world
that
engaged
actively
and
for
long
periods
of
time
in
creating
a
channel
with
makeup
tutorials.
I
was
particularly
enchanted
with
the
performances
of
children
as
young
as
11,
able
to
captivate
an
audience
by
displaying
their
skills
and
knowledge
of
the
subject.
The
notion
of
“informal
realm”,
used
by
Winkler
Reid
(2010),
and
based
on
Munn’s
(1986)
theory
of
value
offered
the
main
analytic
framework
for
this
dissertation.
Gurus
exist
in
a
decentralized
environment
where
all
arrive
with
the
same
tools
and
limitations.
Action
is
at
the
centre
of
this
process
of
creating
meaning
among
gurus.
It
is
through
action
that
they
engage
in
conversations,
such
as
through
video
Tags;
this
“ceremonial”
form
of
video
that
serves
to
bridge
previously
disconnected
clusters
of
gurus
by
proposing
dialogs
around
topics
of
common
interest.
Before
being
ready
to
propose
a
theme
for
a
Tag,
the
new
guru
must
establish
partnerships
through
cooperation
with
others
in
similar
situations.
Like
Kula
shells,
the
participation
in
the
exchange
of
videos
is
a
social
act
that
demands
the
acquisition
of
particular
sets
of
knowledge
about
video
production,
YouTube
and
how
to
form
relationships
there.
Munn’s
model
is
relevant
for
this
context
because
it
places
the
participants
of
the
group
58

59. not
as
mechanical
pieces
that
reproduce
social
patterns,
but
as
active
producers
of
their
own
symbolic
world.
The
three
chapters
that
focus
on
the
analysis
of
ethnographic
data
bring
loosely
connected
aspects
of
similar
themes.
They
represent
a
progression
of
attempts
to
examine
aspects
of
the
ethnographic
material
using
different
configurations
of
concepts.
What
unified
these
three
experiments
is
the
interest
in
understanding
what
creates
and
transforms
the
motivations
for
people
to
spontaneously
form
social
ties
by
talking
about
makeup,
using
mainly
video
as
platform
for
interaction.
These
have
been
preliminary
attempts
that
resulted
in
more
uncertainties
and
questions
about
anthropology
and
the
conduction
of
anthropological
research
than
conclusive
answers.
Conversely,
in
all
three
cases
Munn’s
and
the
auxiliary
framings
proved
relevant
to
examine
the
social
organization
of
an
informal
realm
like
YouTube
is
for
beauty
gurus.
The
research
also
points
to
methodological
alternatives
to
conduct
ethnographic
research
on
digital
settings.
Traditional
anthropological
research
is
normally
conducted
through
long
periods
of
direct
engagement
with
the
culture
one
intends
to
study.
What
should
be
done,
then,
if
the
people
in
question
have
chosen
to
function
using
the
computer
as
a
platform
for
interaction?
Should
the
researcher
examine
the
“real”
person
behind
the
monitor
or
look
at
the
world
in
question
from
the
same
perspective
as
those
who
choose
to
live
in
it?
My
choice
for
this
research,
for
various
reasons,
was
to
experience
life
as
a
“YouTuber”.
It
gave
me
a
privileged
perspective
to
follow
the
evolution
of
six
women,
at
different
stages
of
their
lives,
investing
time
and
energy
to
become
renown
beauty
gurus.
I
experimented
an
alternative
of
conducting
research
within
the
virtual
places
where
actors
meet;
Tarlo
59

60. (2010)
used
this
solution
as
an
important
resource
of
material
that
would
be
much
more
difficult
to
find
offline
but
that
exists
in
abundance
online.
The
remaining
part
of
the
dissertation
has
looked
at
particular
aspects
of
the
life
of
gurus
and
the
processes
through
which
they
gained
social
distinction.
The
first,
in
chapter
3,
explored
the
possibilities
of
conceptualizing
a
specific
kind
of
video
called
Tag
as
a
ceremonial
device
used
to
create
and
expand
intersubjective
spacetime.
These
virtual
objects
bear
a
fundamental
resemblance
to
Kula
shells;
they
don’t
have
a
“practical”
use
except
that
of
acquiring
fame
through
participation.
Also,
both
“Tags”
and
shells
develop
during
their
journeys,
are
formed
and
receive
social
validation
through
exchange
and
occasionally,
as
they
embed
the
history
of
their
previous
traders,
become
unique
entities
like
in
the
case
of
the
“Room
Tour”.
Chapter
4
presented
a
framework
with
multiple
layers
of
concepts
that
intended
to
analyse
video
tutorials
as
traps.
I
suggested
that
an
essential
aspect
of
the
trap
these
videos
use
to
attract
their
viewership
is
to
create
the
impression
that
the
conversation
is
happening
not
as
it
is
–
asynchronous
and
directed
to
anyone
watching
–
but
as
if
it
was
a
synchronous
conversation
among
friends.
The
perception
of
the
audience
is
that
the
guru
turned
on
the
camera
without
rehearsing
and
shared
tips,
motivated
by
passion.
The
reality
is
different:
gurus
evolve
their
knowledge
about
video
production
while
erasing
the
traces
of
their
evolution.
One
of
the
key
elements
used
in
the
crafting
of
popular
videos
is
the
capacity
to
recreate
the
context
of
an
offline
conversation
while
speaking
to
a
camera
and
to
an
unknown
audience.
The
deconstruction
of
videos
to
explore
their
invisible
constitution
was
primarily
possible
thanks
to
Gell’s
concept
of
the
artefact
that
possesses
agency,
but
the
analysis
would
not
have
been
effective
without
the
addition
of
60

61. notions
developed
from
Lange
(2007
and
2009)
and
Wesch
(2008)
through
previous
studies
conducted
on
YouTube.
In
chapter
5,
I
suggested
the
YouTube
beauty
guru
community
shapes
itself
through
relationships
generated
by
debating
variations
of
the
polarity
“real”
vs.
“fake”.
The
framing
I
used
to
analyse
the
ethnography
also
came
from
Munn’s
(1986)
study
of
the
Gawans.
There
she
suggested
that
the
web
of
meanings
that
composed
the
symbolic
world
of
these
islanders
was
constantly
being
developed
out
of
an
original
tension
or
polarity
between
the
collective
desire
for
social
equality
and
the
individual
aspiration
of
social
distinction.
Similarly,
gurus
invent
themselves
as
participants
of
this
collectivity
by
engaging
in
practices
and
debates
inside
the
community.
Makeup,
in
this
context,
is
a
subject
of
interest
because
it
offers
a
powerful
metaphor
for
debates
surrounding
the
topic
of
authenticity.
I
suggested
that
this
core
theme
enables
gurus
to
share
their
views,
history
and
feeling
on
issues
that
reflect
this
original
concern
and
form
bonds
with
other
gurus
who
hold
similar
world-­‐views.
I
consider
these
valid
starting
points
for
engaging
further
with
this
community
or
eventually
others
on
YouTube.
For
those
interested
in
engaging
with
the
YouTube
beauty
group,
I
recommend
looking
at
two
aspects
to
expand
the
scope
of
investigation.
Firstly,
it
would
be
interesting
to
look
more
precisely
at
the
cases
of
young
teenagers
starting
their
careers
as
beauty
gurus.
Makeup
seems
to
be
one
of
the
subjects
that
best
represents
the
transition
to
adult
life
for
women,
and
its
manipulation
in
social
settings
is
related
to
the
process
of
forming
one’s
identity.
Many
of
these
girls
are
expanding
their
experimentations
with
identity
to
include
engagement
with
the
production
of
video
tutorials.
Secondly,
on
the
other
side
of
this
world
there
is
an
almost
invisible
subject.
As
61

62. far
as
I
could
perceive
from
my
brief
investigation,
these
are
adult
women
that
for
different
reasons
avoided
learning
about
makeup
while
growing
up
and
now
seem
to
feel
excluded
or
recriminated
in
some
circles
for
not
knowing
how
to
use
cosmetics.
To
these
women,
YouTube
tutorials
represent
an
opportunity
to
achieve
a
minimal
level
of
proficiency
in
the
use
of
makeup
without
having
to
submit
themselves
to
the
criticism
or
humiliation
of
asking
for
help
from
their
peers.
Focusing
more
attention
on
these
two
groups
might
provide
valuable
resources
to
several
fields
of
enquiry,
especially
identity
and
gender
studies.
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