Creator Culture

Explores new perspectives on social media entertainmentThere is a new class of cultural producers—YouTube vloggers, Twitch gameplayers, Instagram influencers, TikTokers, Chinese wanghong, and others—who are part of a rapidly emerging and highly disruptive industry of monetized “user-generated” content. As this new wave of native social media entrepreneurs emerge, so do new formations of culture and the ways they are studied.In this volume, contributors draw on scholarship in media and communication studies, science and technology studies, and social media, Internet, and platform studies, in order to define this new field of study and the emergence of creator culture. Creator Culture introduces readers to new paradigms of social media entertainment from critical perspectives, demonstrating both relations to and differentiations from the well-established media forms and institutions traditionally within the scope of media studies.This volume does not seek to impose a uniform perspective; rather, the goal is to stimulate in-depth, globally-focused engagement with this burgeoning industry and establish a dynamic research agenda for scholars, teachers, and students, as well as creators and professionals across the media, communication, creative, and social media industries.Contributors include: Jean Burgess, Zoë Glatt, Sarah Banet-Weiser, Brent Luvaas, Carlos A. Scolari, Damián Fraticelli, José M. Tomasena, Junyi Lv, Hector Postigo, Brooke Erin Duffy, Megan Sawey, Jarrod Walzcer, Sangeet Kumar, Sriram Mohan, Aswin Punathambekar, Mohamed El Marzouki, Elaine Jing Zhao, Arturo Arriagada, Jeremy Shtern, Stephanie Hill

This lively collection puts forth a persuasive case for ‘creator culture’ as a major new force in media industries worldwide. Drawing from intricate analyses and ethnographies of creator practices across the globe, the scholars in this volume show how today’s social media entrepreneurs exist at the uneasy intersection of platforms, legacy media, and advertising. From unboxing videos to fashion influencers, these essays explore the cultural logics of online creators and their larger sociocultural contexts. An essential collection for scholars of branding, celebrity, and social media, and anyone interested in the future of entertainment., What could once be referred to confidently as ‘the media’ has fragmented into a diverse array of creators, platforms, audiences, communities, regulatory responsibilities, and business models. With Creator Culture, Cunningham and Craig have captured the zeitgeist of social media entertainment, bringing together an array of leading international researchers to critically analyze this emergent field.

Stuart Cunningham is Distinguished Professor of Media and Communication, Queensland University of Technology. His most recent books include Media Economics (with Terry Flew and Adam Swift, 2015), Screen Distribution and the New King Kongs of the Online World (with Jon Silver, 2013), and Hidden Innovation: Policy, Industry and the Creative Sector (2013).David Craig is Clinical Associate Professor at USC Annenberg’s School for Communication and Journalism and a Fellow at the Peabody Media Center. Craig is also a veteran media producer and executive nominated for many Emmy Awards and responsible for over thirty critically-acclaimed films, TV programs, and stage productions.Nancy K. Baym is a Sr. Principal Researcher at Microsoft in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She is the author and co-editor of three previous books about audiences, relationships, and the internet. More information, most of her articles, and some of her talks are available at nancybaym.com.