YouTube素人明星的誕生與生存之道

Abstract

YouTube目前是閱聽大眾視聽影片時最常使用的影片分享網站，也同時是世界上第二常用的網站。這十年左右，許多「素人」在此平台上分享特定才藝或者內容，而這些「素人」當中有不少被主流媒體注意到，並繼續以「YouTube明星」的身分生存下去。 本研究的目的是分析YouTube獨特的明星系統，探索能夠在YouTube上獲得明星地位的「素人」所具有的特質、深究能獲得長期關注的「YouTube明星」、以及僅獲短期注目的「YouTube明星」之間的區別，並分析「YouTube明星」是否具自戀傾向。為了探詢上述問題，研究者深度訪談五位長期有名的YouTube明星與三位短期有名的YouTube明星，探究他們之間的異同。 本研究發現，YouTube明星最關鍵特質是「敢」於與觀眾分享某種新內容之開創精神。至於長期有名的「YouTube明星」以及短期有名的「YouTube明星」之間的比較上，研究者發現他們並沒有天生特質上的差異：主要差異在於為了製作影片所花的時間與上傳頻率等「習慣」。此外，長期有名的「YouTube明星」維繫YouTube明星系統最主要的關鍵在於影片內容的品質。他們的影片內容必須不斷地因應觀眾的需求，而非像一些短期受到注目的影片，僅僅靠一時的「效果」。最後，本研究也發現這些「YouTube明星」並非自戀者：若他們自戀的特徵太明顯，他們往往無法維持觀眾的支持。

YouTube is currently the most major website utilized for sharing and viewing videos; it is also the second most popular website worldwide. Over the past decade or so, many ordinary amateurs posting videos of themselves sharing some form of talented performance have caught attention from mainstream media and continued to strive as stars on this platform. This research seeks to uncover YouTube’s star system. It aims to reveal the qualities that are found in ordinary amateurs able to achieve celebrity status on YouTube, to distinguish qualities that differentiate YouTube celebrities of short-term and those of long-term while defining the elements that orchestrate YouTube’s star system, and to find out if YouTube celebrities are narcissists or not. In-depth interviews were performed with five long-term YouTube use celebrities and three short-term users. Results showed that a daring pioneering spirit to share new content with the audience is one of the most essential qualities of YouTube celebrities. No significant differences were found between long-term use YouTube celebrities and short-term users in terms of their innate qualities; core differences were found in their habits such as the time they devote themselves to producing videos and how often they upload them. The key element orchestrating YouTube’s star system was found to be the quality of their videos’ content; their videos’ content must constantly reflect what the audience desires, unlike videos that become viral short-term due to a certain “effect.” Lastly, it revealed that YouTube celebrities are not narcissists, for they would not be able to sustain support from the audience if narcissistic features are apparent to them.