[Last modified: October, 20 2024 07:20 PM]
When considering my positionality and the potential impact on my study of long form nostalgia content on YouTube, several key considerations emerged. Firstly, the long form nostalgia content and hyper-niche digital communities that my study focuses on are largely male dominated. This is especially apparent with the video game retrospectives I have studied so far. As a result of this, the male dominated community may view me, a feminine presenting woman, as an outsider. Similarly, I may be viewed as an outsider due to my unfamiliarity with the topics of the videos. Some of the content I have engaged with have been concerned with video games I have never played and some that were released prior to my birth. Despite this, I am involved in this community as a user of YouTube that typically engages with long form content outside of my research. As a result I must be careful to maintain adequate distance and not allow my own nostalgic sentiments and entertainment preferences to influence my positionality as a researcher. This is particularly important when selecting videos for participant observation and conducting thematic analysis of the comment sections. I must be conscious not to gravitate toward videos that speak to my preferences or to exhibit confirmation bias in the seeking of nostalgic comments. Furthermore, my nationality as an American may aid me as many of the long form content creators I have engaged with thus far share my nationality. As a result of this shared nationality, I may be viewed more favorably or have increased access in my pursuit of interlocutors. In addition, my digital presence and consumption could result in an algorithmic positionality as my previous viewing habits inform YouTube’s algorithm to push certain content to my homepage and to the top of search pages. To mitigate against this, I have created a new YouTube account purely for research purposes which I will keep separate from my personal account.
Overall, it is evident that factors such as my age, gender, nationality and personal viewing habits/preferences can have unintended consequences on my research. I will continue to be considerate and practice reflexivity in order to account for these and any other factors that emerge.