ABOUT | YouTube

Thank you for visiting this website and showing an interest in this research study.

The research project focuses on YouTube and critical thinking. I want to listen to young people and hear their views about YouTube and YouTube influencers. What or who is a YouTuber and why and how do you watch YouTube videos? These are some of the questions I am trying to answer in this research and I think YOU can help.

YouTube is currently one of the most popular platforms for young people in the UK and young people are often referred to as 'YouTube natives'. Research suggest that there has been a shift from watching traditional television to engaging with YouTube content and I want to understand how and why you are watching YouTube.

This research is part of a PhD project carried out by me, Evelyn Keryova, based at the University of Sussex. The working title of this PhD project is 'Exploring Critical Thinking of Young People: The Case of YouTube'.

The video-sharing social media site YouTube, is one of the most popular platforms for young people. Young people have been called 'YouTube natives' because of their heavy use of the platform (Dolliver 2016) and becoming a YouTuber is a dream job for many (Stokel-Walker, 2019). The UK media regulator Ofcom (2018) suggests there is a clear shift from watching traditional television to YouTube content amongst young people of all ages but particularly those aged between 12-14 years.

This doctoral project addreses a lack of research on how young people aged 12-14 understand and engage with YouTube and whether this can be understood as ‘critical thinking’.

I am conducting this research with both adults (parent, guardian, carer) and young people. The research with adults will be exploring their views about how their child engages with YouTube and how they engage with YouTube themselves. The research with young people will explore their engagement with the YouTube content and their understanding of what ‘influencing’ means. The research will also include some family interviews where young people and their parents/carers will be invited to talk together with a researcher.

The overall aim of this research is to develop new knowledge and resources for media education
with young people.

Research questions:

What does critical thinking of young people aged
12-14 years look like in relation to YouTube?
How do young people respond to YouTube content? What interests them, what they see as controversial and how might we characterise their thinking as critical?
How do young people critically engage with YouTube content?

Research questions

and research aim

Stages of the research

Stage 1 - Questionnaire for Adults

An online questionnaire, which gathers the views of adults about young people's engagement with YouTube is the starting point for this research study

Stage 2 - Questionnaire for Young People

A second online questionnaire seeks the views of young people on YouTube, their engagement with YouTube content and their understanding of some terms associated with YouTube and social media

Stage 3 - Family Interviews

Volunteers from the surveys will be invited to take part in online Zoom interviews. These will include parent/carers and their child

Stage 4 - Young People's Focus Groups

Volunteers from the survey will be invited to take part in online focus groups with other young people. These will last between one and two hours and will include activities to help you explore your views about YouTube influencers and the idea of being influenced

More information about the Stage 3 and Stage 4 of this research will be added to this website after the successful completion of Stage 1 and Stage 2

About Evelyn

I am a PhD student at University of Sussex. I graduated from City University, London in 2016 (MA) and from Middlesex University London

(BA Hons) in 2015.

I am a lecturer (HPA) at Middlesex University London where I teach long-form journalism and supervise 3rd year BA Journalism and Media dissertations and creative projects related to social media and digital media production.

Having background in journalism and personal interest in social media, YouTube has an impact on me personally. I watch videos every day and because of that, I want to know more about how young people aged 12-14 years engage with this social media platform.

My current research interests include the study of digital media, current role of traditional media in the digital age, social media, everyday digital childhoods and participatory digital methods.

If you want to learn more about me, you can visit my website.