Práticas informacionais na web social: uma análise espaço-temporal sobre o influenciador digital no YouTube

Abstract

Informational practices in digital contexts bring new perspectives on the various forms of interaction on the social web and their possibilities for reflections on social influence and the identification of the user as an informational subject and influencing agent. Characterized as individuals who influence and, at the same time, are influenced by the world, these actors are constantly subject to internal and external factors that contribute to changes in their actions and behaviors. The culture of digital influencers has been investigated by several interpretations, since these individuals, in addition to the direct relationship they have with the platforms on which they operate, carry with them psychological, social, cultural and economic elements. This research consists of analyzing digital influencers on YouTube platform from perspective of informational practices, seeking to understand their performance before the public over time. To this end, it reflects the social influence arising from the interdisciplinary dialogue between Information Science and Communication, allowing the influencer to be seen in its complexity, as well as the mediation devices at his fingertips and in the metrics of social media that allow the evaluation of his performance. Using the descriptive-exploratory method, it performs: (a) a systematic review of Brazilian postgraduate research on digital influencers in several areas, reflecting on the culture of these personalities in the academic environment; (b) an empirical analysis of the performance of the main Brazilian Youtubers, based on indicators from a set of videos from their channels on platform. The channels analyzed according to criteria of popularity, engagement and high number were Felipe Neto, Whindersson Nunes, Felipe Castanhari (“Nostalgia”) and the duo Lukas Marques and Daniel Molo (“Você Sabia?”). In the analysis of the platform's growth and behaviors that have changed over time since the creation of schedules, the results indicate a better performance in entertainment and parody content; science and curiosities and general knowledge. It was concluded that social influence promotes the emergence of new meanings that are reformulated according to the current context. In this sense, influencers suffer interferences from digital environment, being led to modify their speeches and behaviors and, in turn, their informational practices, in order to obtain the approval and recognition of their followers.