Bodies in alliance

Rethinking cultural and economic logics of social media celebrity constitution in Turkey's new media ecosystem

Bibliographic Data

ID5675013
AuthorsSerhat Kayma (0000-0003-4096-1546, Hacettepe University, corresponding author), Orhun Yakin, Orhun Yakın (0000-0002-8709-8260, Hacettepe University)
Year2021
Volume12
Issue1
Pages20-35
Publication date2021-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCelebrity Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1939-2397 • E-ISSN: 1939-2400
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/19392397.2019.1587306
OpenAlexW2938189770
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited27

This article examines the cultural and economic logics of social media celebrity constitution under the contemporary conditions of advanced capitalism. Although the past two decades have witnessed a great deal of interest in the constitution of social media celebrities in the new media ecosystem, little research directly deals with the constitution of this kind of ‘statue’ and contemporary capitalism nexus. In this sense, the present article, through the lens of immaterial labour theory, will focus on the following research question: how are Turkey’s economic and political transitions reflected in the new media ecosystem, especially within the rising concept of neoliberal individualism? By taking up this question, this article will regard the cultural and economic logics of social media celebrities as immaterial labour and evaluate their role in the new media ecosystem by regarding Turkish YouTubers as its case study. This study argues that the constitution of social media celebrity and contemporary capitalism’s commodification logic are strongly tied to each other. The present study has found that the constitution of social media celebrity under the contemporary conditions of capitalism is reproduced by the macro transformation process into a new media ecosystem, especially in the case of Turkish YouTubers

Capitalism · Commodification · Constitution · Economics · Economy · Media ecology · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Social media · Social science · Sociology · Turkish · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Law · Social Media and Politics

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