Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Folklor/Edebiyat, cilt.30, sa.118, ss.311-336, 2024 (ESCI)
Parodic content disseminated and popularized on YouTube, a platform extensively frequented by children from an early age, constitutes a significant facet of postmodern culture. Despite its reliance on humor derived from intricate associations referencing original texts, thereby resembling a form of pastiche or imitation, such content is widely embraced as a prevalent mode of expression within children‘s play and entertainment culture. This study, focusing on children‘s parody, comedy, and sketch videos on YouTube, aims to explore how children, who also serve as content creators, generate humor in the videos they produce and the underlying sources of this humor. To accomplish this objective, a thematic qualitative content analysis was conducted on the 242 most popular videos uploaded by child YouTubers, including channels such as Fatih Selim Tube, Yusuf Mirza Tube, Agugu Tv, Toy Hunt, Toy Candy, Ecrinsu Çoban, Oyuncak Oynuyorum, Oyuncu Yusuf, Princess Elif, and Princess Lina Tv. Beyond functioning as a platform catering to children‘s interests, YouTube also serves as a conduit for companies to engage with child viewers. This commercial dimension of YouTube enhances the prevalence of elements associated with consumer culture in the content disseminated on the platform. Consequently, in addition to exploring the evolving nature of children‘s humor on YouTube, this study also scrutinizes elements related to consumer culture within such humor. The research findings suggest that parody videos on children‘s YouTube channels often take the form of pastiche or imitation, referencing popular texts, and are frequently rooted in playful activities such as hide and seek, escape, and chase. Furthermore, these videos frequently incorporate commercial content, reflecting the pervasive influence of consumer culture within children‘s digital entertainment spaces.