Rhetorical strategy's analysis and reception in YouTube videos' narrati̇ves

Rhetoric is an important field of practice and research with its origins in Antiquity. At its most basic, it can be defined as the art, skill, or practice of using language attractively for persuasion. It emerged on the stage of history as a result of social and sociopolitical necessity and spread to all areas of communication practice in time. It has also formed an important practical and conceptual ground in terms of systematizing communication processes and determining the rules throughout history. In the communication environment where communication tools, processes, actors, forms, and discourses become as complex and diversified as possible, rhetoric still provides an important research ground for communication and persuasion. From this point of view, this study has taken YouTubers, video narratives and YouTuber target audiences, which have become a daily phoneme of the field of communication, as a rhetorical-centered issue and problem. In this direction, "Which rhetorical strategies do YouTubers use in their video content narratives?" and "How do YouTuber audiences receive rhetorical strategies in the content they watch?" Two basic questions were asked. In order to find answers to the related questions, a case study research was conducted in which qualitative methods were used. The data were obtained by the document analysis technique, and the analysis of the data was made by qualitative content analysis. The universe and sample of the study were carefully determined as described. In addition, the data coding and analysis program called MAXQDA was used in coding for qualitative content analysis. The data obtained from the coding were visualized through the related program and interpreted based on our questions and the literature. In this direction, it has been determined that Youtubers use the strategies for ethos, logos and pathos, which are the foundations of rhetoric, in their video narrative content, in a common and effective way, and their intensity has been revealed. In the reception analysis for the target audience, it was seen that the audience showed a positive approach towards the video narratives and the rhetorical process succeeded at the point of persuasion. Another result that has been determined is that the ethos components come to the fore in the formation of the positive view of the target audience towards the video narratives of both YouTubers.