La vlogosphère engagée des jeunes sur YouTube au Québec : un espace de délibération restreint et socialement stratifié

Abstract

Launched in 2005, YouTube remains a very popular platform among young people in Quebec. However, no comprehensive research has documented the place they occupy as video content creators on the website. Aiming to fill this gap, this article’s focus is vlogs that deal with social issues. Thanks to prolonged observation, the data collected shows that civic content is in the minority in the Quebec vlogosphere, which is mainly composed of young people in their twenties. The presence of women is predominant and there are many LGBTQ+ vloggers, but racialized youth are almost absent. YouTubers who benefit from good visibility mostly come from the Montreal region and have been creating videos for many years, revealing the existence of barriers to access to this digital public space for newcomers. Environmental issues dominate the vast and varied list of themes covered in their vlogs.

Keywords

• YouTube
• Vlogs
• youth
• youth voice
• Québec
• civic engagement