Barnens youtube-idoler : En studie av två svenska gaming-youtubers som informationsförmedlare

Sammanfattning: This thesis explores a video phenomenon called “Let’s Play”, that allows people to share their gaming experience with an online audience, for example on YouTube. Let’s Play-videos are a favorite pastime with children. Yet, the knowledge about the information in these videos is sparse. The aim of this study is to contribute with knowledge about how Swedish Let’s Play-producers on YouTube, targeting children aged 6–12, mediate information. This study is a qualitative analysis of material from two famous, Swedish Let’s Play-YouTubers, Tomu and Duno. It applies cognitive authority theory as a theoretical framework in order to explain how the YouTubers, intentionally or not, construct themselves as influencers with the power to influence other people’s thoughts. The empirical material consists of six videos; three videos from each YouTuber, and information on the YouTube pages related to these videos. As this is a qualitative study on a limited material, it is not possible to generalize the findings of the study to all Swedish Let’s Play-videos, but the study contributes to the overall understanding of the mechanisms behind how Let’s Play-YouTubers influence their audiences. This study finds that most of the content in Tomu and Duno’s production is fairly child-friendly and does not include sexism, racism, or offensive language. One of the videos include violent content, though this content is not of a very realistic kind. Both YouTubers seem to construct their cognitive authority by signaling expertise, trustworthiness, reputation, and performance. While Tomu relies on a trustworthy approach, Duno relies on signaling expertise. Both gamers mediate information related to their videos in a way that signals their fame and reputation.