This research explores how did influencers incorporate the Covid-19
pandemic into their regular content production on YouTube by specifically examining the
recent genre of "quarantine vlog," which emerged in concurrence with global lockdowns. I
adopt a grounded theory approach to analyze the YouTube transcriptions of purposefully
selected 9 quarantine vlogs filmed by women influencers during the early months of the
pandemic, along with 250 user comments. My analysis shows that quarantine vlogs are
significantly different than ordinary vlogs. I draw on existing research on influencer
cultures to explain this dissimilarity as a tension between influencers' struggle to form an
intimacy with the viewers - which can have a soothing effect in a moment of a crisis - and
the use of vlogs as a neoliberal device in order to preserve their aspirational image. I
demonstrate that quarantine vlogs reveal that influencers are no longer able to perform an
aspirational ideal in their videos without first engaging with the mental stress, anxiety,
confusion, and loneliness brought by COVID-19 or apologizing for their relative privilege
and demonstrating sympathy towards their followers who are in hardship. At the same time, to
preserve their aspirational persona, they reframe the pandemic moment as an opportunity for
productivity and self-growth. As a result, influencers carry out substantial affective labor
and engage in a delicate self-governance to preserve their relevance and online visibility
during a global moment of crisis.
QUARANTINE VLOGS: DIGITAL AFFECTIVE LABOR AND SELF-GOVERNANCE DURING
COVID-19
