Kids content creators on new media: YouTube channels for kids through the portrayal of life styles and gender roles

The aim of this study is to put forth the idea of how kids content creators are presented in relation to proposed portrayal of life styles, gender roles and use of branded goods in the most popular YouTube channels for kids which have unmediated and rapid reach to the children audience in question on new media. Within the framework of this purpose, firstly, new media, social networks, marketing activities, influncer concepts, emergence of child influencers on new media are studied, secondly, child concept, age groups, miniature adult, gender roles, role modeling theory are explained, then one most viewed video the selected from the each of the most three popular YouTube channels for kids, which have at least two topic of social gender, portrayal of life styles, use of branded goods are analyzed with the discourse analysis method. In this analysis, the discourse analysis method has been adapted to the YouTube interface. Finally, the conclusions and findings of the study is explained and according to these results, solutions are proposed which might prevent exploitation, privacy and ethical issues on new media for children audience. As a result, the YouTube female child content creators with the most views is found to use female gender roles that are assigned to women by society, also they take on adult role models and rethorics, act as if they are adults or miniature adults. Additionally, these content creator kids position themselves as child influencers which has tempting middle-class life styles by using and showing branded goods and toys which their audience might not afford. In this study, the educational value of YouTube content is considered and attention is paid that the approach of the subject of this study is not biased. Keywords: New Media, Child, YouTube Channels for Kids, Life Styles, Influencer