From the couch to the desk: study of gender interactions around Spanish TV series on YouTube

Abstract

This study explores YouTube users’ creation and consumption of videos related to primetime Spanish TV series, from a comparative gender perspective. The exploration is based on a sample of more than 100 short YouTube videos about 21 Spanish TV series broadcast in 2013 by the three most popular mainstream national TV networks in Spain (Telecinco, Antena 3 and La1). These videos were classified according to the (apparent) gender of their uploaders, their indicators of popularity (number of views, likes, dislikes, comments, and channel subscribers), and the nature of their content (their inclusion of original material with respect to the content broadcast on TV). In addition, the YouTube and TV audiences of the five most popular TV series in 2013 (according to audience share) were examined and compared according to gender. The analysis provided some unexpected results: despite women constituted the majority of the series’ TV audience, male audiences showed greater activity on YouTube around the videos related to such series. Moreover, while men uploaded more videos and scored higher in views and popularity indicators in the video-sharing social network, the videos created by women, comparatively, generated more comments.