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I’m Nervous about Sharing This Secret with You: Youtube Influencers Generate Strong Parasocial Interactions by Discussing Personal Issues

Mike Thelwall

Mike Thelwall

Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group, University of WolverhamptonUK
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Thelwall, Mike
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Emma Stuart

Emma Stuart

Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group, University of WolverhamptonUK
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Stuart, Emma
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Amalia Mas-Bleda

Amalia Mas-Bleda

Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group, University of WolverhamptonUK
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Mas-Bleda, Amalia
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Meiko Makita

Meiko Makita

Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group, University of WolverhamptonUK
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Makita, Meiko
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Mahshid Abdoli

Mahshid Abdoli

Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group, University of WolverhamptonUK
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Abdoli, Mahshid
  
Apr 25, 2022
I’m Nervous about Sharing This Secret with You: Youtube Influencers Generate Strong Parasocial Interactions by Discussing Personal Issues's Cover Image
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Article Category: Research Paper
Published Online: Apr 25, 2022
Page range: 31 - 56
Received: Feb 09, 2022
Accepted: Mar 27, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2022-0011
Keywords
© 2022 Mike Thelwall et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Figure 1

The manual and automated stages of the data collection and classification components of the research design. Results from earlier stages are also used in some statistical analyses (e.g., for popularity).
The manual and automated stages of the data collection and classification components of the research design. Results from earlier stages are also used in some statistical analyses (e.g., for popularity).

Figure 2

The difference between the sPSI potential of the highest you video and the lowest you video by channel (e.g., a channel would score 3 if the highest you video had sPSI potential 5 and the lowest you video had sPSI potential 2), in the 117 channels analysed.
The difference between the sPSI potential of the highest you video and the lowest you video by channel (e.g., a channel would score 3 if the highest you video had sPSI potential 5 and the lowest you video had sPSI potential 2), in the 117 channels analysed.

Figure 3

95% confidence intervals for the difference between the coder score of the highest you video and the lowest you video within a channel (n=117).
95% confidence intervals for the difference between the coder score of the highest you video and the lowest you video within a channel (n=117).

Figure 4

The difference between the coder score of the highest you video and the lowest you video (e.g., a channel difference would be -4 if the highest you video scored 1 and the lowest you video scored 5) by channel (n=117).
The difference between the coder score of the highest you video and the lowest you video (e.g., a channel difference would be -4 if the highest you video scored 1 and the lowest you video scored 5) by channel (n=117).

Spearman correlations between channel differences: high you proportion video subtract low you proportion video (n=117)_

Spearman's rho* Eye contact Head and shoulders Alone Influencer focus Friendly, realistic Personal issues sPSI potential
Faces camera .537** .482** .328** .365** .235* 0.166 .224*
Eye contact 1 .457** .513** .487** .342** .286** .405**
Head & shoulders 1 .460** .274** .231* 0.054 .262**
Alone 1 .395** .191* 0.159 .302**
Influencer focus 1 .449** .760** .657**
Friendly, realistic 1 .450** .506**
Personal issues 1 .712**

Median Spearman correlation between video age and you pronoun proportion within a channel for different thresholds_

Spearman's rho ≥ 10 videos ≥ 50 videos ≥ 100 videos
≥ 100 comments per video −0.033 (n=118) −0.041 (n=148) −0.021 (n=194)
≥ 50 comments per video −0.037* (n=151) −0.028 (n=185) −0.030 (n=236)
≥ 10 comments per video −0.049** (n=211) −0.029 (n=247) −0.021 (n=275)

Inter-coder consistency scores for facets of UK female influencer videos Krippendorff's alpha at the difference between high you and low you videos within a channel level (n=117)_ Interval alpha is used for the middle six and ordinal alpha for the other two_

Facet 1 2,3,4 5 Alpha
H1 High sPSI potential None ….*** Very high 0.716
H2 Faces camera Almost never ….* Virtually all the time 0.730
H2 Eye contact with camera lens Almost never ….* Virtually all the time 0.684
H2 Head and shoulders mainly in shot Almost never ….* Virtually all the time 0.722
H2 Alone (no other talking people) Almost never ….* Virtually all the time 0.936
H2 Main focus is vlogger Almost never ….* Virtually all the time 0.842
H3 Friendly, realistic chat style Almost never ….* Virtually all the time 0.552
H4 Personal issues disclosed Never ….** Very personal focus 0.887
Qual1 Reason for high or low PSI Free text

Average coder scores for the attributes classified (n=234)_

Factor Min. Max. Mean Std. dev.
Faces camera 1 5 4.4 0.80
Eye contact with camera lens 1 5 3.2 0.87
Head and shoulders mainly in shot 1 5 3.4 1.51
Alone 1 5 3.7 1.54
Main focus 1 5 3.4 1.11
Friendly, realistic chat style 1 5 3.4 0.78
Personal issues disclosed 1 5 2.8 1.29
High parasocial interaction potential 1 5 3.1 0.89

Spearman correlations between the median proportion of you-related pronouns in comments on videos and the total number of subscribers or video views, for different minimum numbers of qualifying videos_ One channel with hidden channel subscription counts was excluded_

Qualification Total channel views Channel subscribers No. of channels
≥ 100 videos with ≥ 100 comments −0.260** −0.229* 117
≥ 50 videos with ≥ 100 comments −0.216** −0.193* 147
≥ 10 videos with ≥ 100 comments −0.252** −0.250** 192
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