Influencers’ presentation of self-care on YouTube

It’s essential, but inaccessible

Authors

  • Laura Knowles University of Saskatchewan
  • Jorden Cummings University of Saskatchewan

Keywords:

social media, YouTube, influencers, persuasion, self-care, diet culture

Abstract

Research on self-care originally focused on helping and health professionals; however, the impression of self-care continues to shift: It has become a phrase used by laypersons. As more people turn online for self-care information, and people with positive self-care experiences want to share these, there is more space for influencers to discuss self-care. The purpose of this project was to understand how online space is used by influencers to describe, promote, and present self-care. Analyzing 15 influencer videos on YouTube, we identified two themes, one explicit and one implicit: Theme 1, Self-Care is Essential (explicit), with subthemes (a) Don’t Feel Guilty, (b) Create Habits That Support Self-Care, and (c) Self-Care is Idiosyncratic; and Theme 2, Self-Care Requires Access and Privilege (implicit), with subthemes, (a) Maintenance of Beauty Ideals for Women, (b) Trendy, Expensive Lifestyle, and (c) Earn a Self-Care Day. This thematic analysis revealed that inherent privileges presented by influencers have the potential to create a fantasy of self-care that is unattainable by regular viewers and encourages adherence to aspects of consumerism, diet culture, and gender norms.

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Published

2024-05-30

Issue

Vol. 13 No. 1 (2024): Journal of Social Media in Society

Section

Articles

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