About amateurs and professionals: Types of political influencer communication on YouTube

Abstract

Political social media influencers (PSMI), who as personal brands regularly disseminate self-produced political content on platforms such as YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, can influence the political public and opinion formation beyond their online networks. This raises questions about the form and quality of their communication. In order to draw a differentiated picture of PSMI communication and its contribution to the political public sphere, this paper examines which types of political influencer communication on YouTube can be distinguished from one another. Based on a quantitative content analysis of 896 political topics from 724 YouTube videos of 32 German PSMI, a cluster analysis identifies five types: “monologuing lay communication,” “approachable mediation,” “harmonious advocacy,” “aggressive activism,” and “outrage management.” The types differ both in their professionalism and in their deliberative quality. The results are discussed in terms of their potential impact and are intended to make PSMI more relatable to empirical research.