Coping with Uncertainties in Social Media Entertainment

Establishing a foothold in the cultural economy has always been challenging. As a writer, musician, or actor, even before the advent of social media, one had to compete against a multitude of equally ambitious peers. Income was often modest, working conditions were stressful, and a sustainable career was by no means guaranteed. Platforms like YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok have further exacerbated this situation. The increasing competition and opaque recommendation algorithms make it even harder for creatives to predict and plan the success of their cultural activities. An interdisciplinary team from the Media Business Research Group at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences is engaged in a three-year research project exploring how so-called creators on YouTube and other platforms cope with this uncertainty. The research team builds on insights gained from economic sociological studies of classical cultural industries such as the music or film industry. From this body of research, it is known that imitating legitimate role models, committing to clear genre categories, and forming loose networks play an important role in managing uncertainties. However, these strategies have not yet been studied for the novel forms of cultural production in social media. The project "Coping with Uncertainties in Social Media Entertainment" breaks new ground not only with its distinctly economic sociological perspective but also with an innovative research design. Data on creators on YouTube will be retrieved via an API (Application Programming Interface) to the platform, manually enriched with additional online information, and statistically analyzed. The quantitative analyses are accompanied by guided interviews with selected creators and experts from their environment. "With this approach, we hope to gain not only a better understanding of cultural production in social media but also a scientific basis for the further development of instruments to regulate digital platforms," explains Andreas Gebesmair, lecturer at St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences and head of the project. "Moreover, the research project is expected to provide significant impulses for international theoretical discussions in economic sociology."