Reflecting on "Meta-YouTube": Self-Reflexivity in (New) American Audiovisual Media (dissertation project)

Dissertation in Culture

Mentoring team:

First Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Frank Kelleter
Second Supervisor: Prof. Patricia G. Lange
Third Supervisor: TBD

This project - situated in the intersection of cultural studies, media studies and the digital humanities with emphasis on new media studies - aims to trace the development of self-reflexivity in new American audiovisual media, zeroing in on audiovisual online user generated content (audiovisual UGC). How does self-reflexivity operate in this new type of media? Is it in any way distinct from self-reflexivity in traditional audiovisual media, or does it continue to adhere to convention? In turn, what does it reflect on, exactly - specifically in content from the first half of the 2020's? What can be gleaned from this exploration about the broader media ecosystem of the 2020's and its potential future(s)?

The project aims for an interdisciplinary perspective, beginning from a theoretical exploration and historization of the concept of self-reflexivity in the context of media studies. In this part the project will challenge self-reflexivity's emotional impact and the extent of its potential subversiveness in relation to newer media. In the latter half, the project uses self-reflexivity to orient a creator-forward analysis of clusters of case studies that fall under the category of "Meta-YouTube" - content native to the platform that explicitly discusses YouTube itself, with emphasis on the various facets of production and distribution in relation to both itself and other new and traditional audiovisual media.