Digital Trust 1 of 4

Hello and welcome to my Ethnographic Research!! More simply my 4 part blog series about fan experiences and interactions with modern day influencers like SarahsDay and Zoella!

Now you might be wondering what ethnographic research is and how it relates to our favourite online personalities.

So, ethnography:

'involves gaining a deeper understanding of particular research fields. Ethnographic research is a qualitative method where researchers observe and/or interact with a study’s participants in their real-life environment. The aim of an ethnographic study is to get ‘under the skin’ of a media niche and all its associated issues and attributes, to examine the cultural environment from both an outsider’s perspective and first-hand experience.

In more simpler terms I want to learn the ins and out of being part of a lifestyle influencers audience. More specifically I plan to gain a deeper understanding of the way in which lifestyle creators create a ‘digital trust’ within their audience.

Ideally, I would have embedded a survey within this blog to understand a wider range of experiences within these audiences. However due to ethical reasons, I am unable to control who exactly does the survey and permissions and it just gets messy from there. Instead I'm going to elaborate on my experience within the lifestyle influencer world and hopefully it'll make you think further into your experience as an audience.

With 6 out of 10 people preferring online video to live TV it’s not surprising that I’d be one of those 6. With 80 different languages available and a reach in 91 countries it’s safe to say that YouTube has adapted to the online world. Since starting in 2005, it has continuously evolved, and the content is everchanging and extremely broad.

I first started watching lifestyle influencers in 2010 where I was drawn too and mainly family/coupled centred channels with day to day lifestyle content. Watching channels such as Charles and Ally Trippy, The ShayTards, PVP and Zoella. They were mainly vlog driven and included fun challenge content. At the time pranks and challenges were at quite a high with viral prank wars, ice bucket and cinnamon challenges being at the forefront of many youtubers channels.

I personally would come home from school and watch these videos, although they weren’t intellectually stimulating, I would argue that actually learn little bits and pieces here there, especially with many of the channels being American and Britain I gain day to day knowledge which I wouldn’t usually get watching live TV. The idea of sitting and watching other people live fun adventurous lives at the comfort of my own home which I thought was really quite impressive.

Now fast-forward to 2020 and PVP has broken up (which they shared online), The Shaytards had a cheating scandal (which they have since resolved though this was kept quite private), Charles and Ally divorced (though they individually continued with Youtube) and Zoella has created her own beauty line, written 2 books though she has lost her viral nature on the platform and now reaches a smaller audience. I personally watch a few of their continuing content more so Zoella than any other although she has rebranded herself as Zoe Sugg (her full name).

I’ve drawn my own conclusion to say that each of these original channels actually stopped uploading for several periods of time which lead to myself finding new people to watch such as Milena Ciciotti, Julia and Hunter, SarahsDay, Logan Paul, Meighan Rienks, Rachel Catherine and many more. I find I gain a lot of knowledge from most of the youtubers I watch now, whether it’s simple facts, recipes or general life advice. I think most importantly I learn from their experience and go forward in my life knowing these little extra things.

In my personal experience as well as YouTube influencers I’ve begun to follow them through social media such as Instagram. Which they use as platform for promoting their own products, other products, day to day experiences and more low maintenance content such as Instagram stories or IGTV.

After seeing their day to day lives on Youtube and their raw day to day experience through Instagram stories I find a certain ‘trust’ in anything they share. And it’s this I wonder whether I’m the only one?

Although I haven’t been able to hear from other audiences through survey I’d love to hear your thoughts so leave a comment about who your favourite influencer is and your experience being part of their audience. Stay tuned for next week I've planned to fully immerse myslf into being an active audience member of Sarah's Day.

Live and Laugh,