Facework in Confessional Videos by YouTube Content Creators

Abstract

This article analyses the role of facework in the discourse of confessional YouTube videos by female fashion and beauty content creators, where they disclose personal problems, and offer viewers advice. It uses thematic analysis to identify discursive tactics that protect viewers’ face. The article argues that the parasocial nature of the connection that these videos attempt to establish with an audience that content creators know little about makes it important for them to reflexively adapt to these viewers’ needs for fellowship and autonomy. Their disclosures may be intended to create closeness, but at the same time they need to cater for distance and prepare the ground for this content to be received as well as possible. However, just like the connection that the videos seek to establish, the facework they contain is also parasocially situated: the videos speak to an imagined viewer’s need for inclusion and this viewer’s possible objections, as these are perceived by the content creator. The article contributes to a better understanding of the construction of closeness in this genre of mediated discourse.