Vlogging and micro-celebrity: Ethnographic research of YouTube production practices of youth in Turkey

The aim of this thesis study is to explain the social, cultural and economic functions of content production by considering young people's vlog production on YouTube in the context of micro-celebrity.. The term of "micro-celebrity" is used to discuss the new forms of labor and capital created by the changing media production and consumption practices by the spread of user-based content production. In this framework, with the online ethnography method, in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 people (the sample of the research), 30 YouTube channels producing vlog content were followed by the lurking method, and a total of 180 videos of these channels were analyzed with qualitative content analysis.The data shows that vlogs are not just a form of digital or cultural production; It is a system within the knowledge economy that creates new forms of work, labor and capital. For young people, the main motivation for vlogging is transforming leisure into an alternative career. Being visible on YouTube has become an important social status indicator. The income model of vlogs is based on emotion, social capital, and forms of interaction, and these forms of interaction are called emotional labor. The main reason for the researcher to choose this topic is the lack of analysis in the literature of the relationship between young people's autobiographical vlog content production and commercial industries in social, cultural and economic contexts. This thesis was supported by the 100/2000 YÖK Doctoral Scholarship and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), the Scientist Support Department (BİDEB), 2211-A 2211 / A General Domestic Doctorate Scholarship Program.