In my studies, I focused heavily on online cultures, specifically media and fan practices around YouTube and Twitch content creation. I have acted as chat mod and video editor within this space for years and finished my degree with an A+ thesis on corporate VTubing. I examined the methods used to develop and market virtual YouTubers as approachable streamers, stars and characters of a fantasy story at the same time, analysed the role of fan labour, and embedded the phenomenon into established media theory.
Read my full thesis here:
“Where the agency provides the virtual body:
Production, commodification and media practices in corporate VTubing”
Considering the VTuber as a construct that incentivises parasocial relationships, combines methods of stimulating desire and idolisation with a fundamental unattainability and utilises fan labour to enact itself adds a strong pull towards stardom.
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Further essays:
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