Participatory Culture between Producer, Co-Producers and Community on YouTube Channel Easy Languages

Easy Languages is a channel on YouTube that focuses on language learning through street interviews. The channel is the result of dynamic participatory culture on the Web 2.0 and it has a main producer and several co-producers who constantly upload language-learning videos on the channel. Participatory culture is the main theme of this thesis. This thesis investigates the motivations behind the participation of the producer and the co-producers on the video production and the reason behind the community support towards the works of the producer and the co-producers within the Easy Languages channel. To investigate participatory culture on the Easy Languages channel, semi-structured interview was used as the method of data collection. This thesis begins with a discussion on the motivation behind the involvement of the producer and co-producers on the channel. This highlights the process of participation on the YouTube channel by the producer and co-producers. The following analysis investigates the motivation, driving factors and challenges during video production. In this analysis, self-motivation and driven motivations are the primary factors that influence participation in video production. The notion of amateur works is discussed in the next chapter, which highlights the results of amateur work and how the producer and co-producers perceive their work as an amateur. The last analysis of this thesis provides a discussion on the role of the community within the Easy languages channel. There are three important findings that support a continuation of participatory culture within the Easy Languages channel. Firstly, feedback plays an important role in motivating the producer and co-producers to produce more videos. Secondly, YouTube is the right platform for amateur workers to publish and distribute their videos publicly. Thirdly, the community is essential in creating sustainability for the Easy Languages project. Finally, the continuous exchange of communication and information created mutual benefits for producer, co-producers and the community within the Easy Languages channel