PewDiePie som kulturkritisk aktør – metakritik og konstruktionen af ’indie’

Abstract

The most popular youtuber of all times, PewDiePie, has repeatedly criticized YouTube and mainstream news outlets, though both have contributed to position PewDiePie as a highly successful youtuber. This paper examines how PewDiePie manages his role as a youtuber: How he emerges as a credible youtuber creating an authentic relationship with his audience, while his commercial success depends on the transformation of these authentic relationships into monetary profit. Drawing on the ideology of indie culture, the article explores how the dialectic relation between indie culture and mainstream culture is central for PewDiePie’s criticism of YouTube and mainstream news outlets. In addition, the article draws on the concept of the microcelebrity to fully grasp the internet culture that has produced PewDiePie’s massive popularity. It is concluded that, while PewDiePie draws on indie discourses in the production of video content, the criticism is also a stylistic element in PewDiePie’s brand.