Women on YouTube: Representation and participation through the Web Scraping technique

Abstract

YouTube is the favourite entertainment platform for teens and pre-teens. It is configured as a space for interaction and collaboration that coordinates collective creativity as a generator of meaning. Because of this, nowadays the platform constitutes an enabling environment for subjectivation. Women and men participate by sharing or consuming videos, although the visibility and experiences are different for each gender. The aim of this study is to analyse the presence of women in the new spaces of participation, both from the perspective of producers and consumers of content. An analysis based on Web Scraping of the Instagram profiles of the 50 most successful Youtubers in Spain was carried out. The data obtained was analysed with the statistical software R. The results show a low representation of women among the channels with the highest number of views and subscribers. In addition, there is a lower presence of a female audience. Both roles, women as content creators and as consumers, are mostly associated with stereotypically feminine content such as beauty, drawmylife and fitness sports. The study shows that YouTube, the platform representing the new online participation spaces, reproduces the gender power structures of traditional media. An analytical approach to media education is needed to fight against sexist representations, stereotypes and under-representation of women in public spaces..