Study of Youtube game vlogs in terms of community communication

With the widespread use of the Internet and web technologies, which have become prominent among the new communication technologies, new forms of socialization and communication practices have entered into our lives. The concept of congregation, which exists in real spaces, has transformed over time and rebuilt in the virtual world. Coming together in an interactive virtual world, users have started to create their own content thanks to the possibilities offered by web 2.0 technology. Individuals come together for the common pleasure in the virtual world and form new communities. Youtube allows its users to create content on their personal channels. In this way, users come together on their favorite Youtube channels to create virtual communities and communicate with each other in line with their common tastes. The aim of the study is to examine the structure and communication practices of virtual communities coming together to watch the game vlog on Youtube. In the first part of the thesis, the development of new communication technologies over time and the emergence of social media platforms are mentioned. In the second part, the changes that the concept of the community has shown in the historical process and the concept of virtual community have been emphasized. In the last chapter, the game vlog community and its communication practices are examined. 4802 comments on 4 videos selected from Burak Oyunda channel were analyzed with netnography research design. As a result of the analysis, it has been determined that the group consists of 3 different member groups and developed different communication practices from each other. Keywords: Virtual Community, Youtube, Content Production, Game Vlog