Cómo me hice BookTuber: (auto)etnografía digital, prosumo literario y sociabilidad en YouTube

José M. Tomasena

doi:10.7764/cdi.54.52927

Authors

José M. Tomasena Universitat de Barcelona

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7764/cdi.54.52927

Keywords:

Youtube, booktubers, digital ethnography, literary prosumption, affinity spaces, datification

Abstract

This article is a methodological reflection on a digital ethnography among Spanish-language BookTubers conducted between 2017 and 2020. It presents a review of the main ways of understanding the ethnographic paradigm in the digital context, specifically on YouTube, and raises methodological reflections around five topics: 1) the field as a construct of open participation, 2) the role of affect in digital ethnography, 3) the construction of social ties from affinity, 4) the datification of practices and social relations, and 5) the implications of the public exposure of the researcher. The aim is to contribute to the understanding of the forms of literary prosumption on YouTube, to the practices of digital ethnography and auto-ethnography on digital platforms, and to the methodological debates on the study of content creators on digital platforms.

Author Biography

José M. Tomasena, Universitat de Barcelona

José M. Tomasena, writer, journalist, and university professor. He is currently a Margarita Salas post-doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Information and Audiovisual Media of the Universidad de Barcelona and professor of the master of Creative Writing at the BSM-UPF. Ph.D. in Communication from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. His areas of academic interest include media literacy, reading and writing practices in social networks, digital ethnography, cultural studies, and the history of reading and publishing.

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