Towards the engagement economy: interconnected processes of commodification on YouTube

Abstract

A dominant way for digital platforms to generate revenue has been through the sale of audiences to advertisers encapsulated by the idea of the attention economy. This model has been challenged in recent years due to competitive and political pressures on platforms. In this paper, we use YouTube as a case to understand how processes of commodification are changing on digital platforms. We demonstrate that YouTube furthers the commodification of content, audiences and creative labour by cultivating commercial interactions, standardising exchange mechanisms and constructing systems of trust. The platform enables producers and retailers to sell digital and physical goods to users, advertisers to capture audiences’ interest and brands to establish partnerships with producers. In sum, we show how YouTube not only monetises attention but commodifies all forms of engagement through its marketplaces with consequences for the precarity of users and producers on the platform.