EXPLORING HAUL VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE: A COLLECTIVE CASE STUDY APPROACH

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EXPLORING HAUL VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE: A COLLECTIVE CASE STUDY APPROACH ( exploring-haul-videos-on-youtube-collective-case-study-appro )

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as well. Haulers, and not only those interviewed for this project, generate virtual popularity for their expertise regarding fashion and beauty trends. “Can people find community online in the Internet? Can relationships between people who never see, smell, touch, or hear each other be supportive and intimate? (p. 167)” These questions are posed by Wellman and Gulia (1999)—and early indications are that the answer is yes. A key finding this research brings forward is the concept of community as it exists within the hauling phenomenon. As has been discussed, the notion of community has been confirmed to be present on YouTube according to each hauler interviewed. YouTube, as a medium, does allow users to see and hear those they are watching, which may contribute to the ease with which community can be established. Further, haulers are able to interact and bond with girls and women who share similar interests. Interestingly, the virtual socializing that takes place through hauling on YouTube can transfer into non-virtual friendship as well. According to Dittmar, it is not just excessive consumers who purchase items that they think will boost their self-image (in Benson, 2000, p. 106). An excessive buyer can be understood as an individual who purchases material items (i.e. an expensive designer handbag) to reach an ideal self-image (in both their own opinion and that of others) (in Benson, 2000, p. 107). She says, “Self-image concerns are a particularly important motivation in impulsive and excessive buying” (p. 112). As was mentioned in my interview with Dr. April Lane Benson, the notion of the “self-discrepancy gap” is also discussed by Dittmar. “...excessive buyers typically believe that material goods help them compensate by bringing them closer to their ideal selves” (p. 125). It is possible that what is taking place on YouTube is a virtual display of young women trying to close their self-discrepancy gap and receive positive reinforcement while doing so from their viewers. 131

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