From My Living Room to Yours: A Grounded Theory Typology of Racial Discussions on YouTube

As online media such as YouTube have become prevalent in social life, it is pertinent to understand the shape of online social spaces. This study proposes a typology of how users talk about race in the most popular social spaces on YouTube. The ways which people discuss race online are described using grounded theory and iterative discussion analysis of racial discussions collected from YouTube’s most popular videos on three days in February, 2012. The categories of discussion are outlined as hostility to racial subjects, overt racism, and racial stereotyping. Possibilities for how these trends are guided by neoliberal racial ideology are discussed. By building on studies of racial discourse in face-to-face interviews and theories of color-blind racism this study furthers sociological understanding about how racial ideology shapes interactions in pseudo-anonymous online contexts. Findings suggest racial discourse is a pertinent topic of investigation in social spaces online for understanding the pervasiveness and complexity of hegemonic racial ideologies.

Name thesis:degree_name

MA

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Arts and Sciences: Sociology

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Cincinnati

Year dc:date

2012

Author dc:creator

• Spiker, Russell L., Jr.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Malat, Jennifer

• Sociology
• sociology of race
• racism
• YouTube
• internet communication
• colorblind ideology
• racial discrimination

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1352993609

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:ucin1352993609