[Political Fandom]⑦ Coexisting with Fandom... Political YouTube Making 'Eok' Sounds

Producing Only What Supporters Want to Hear
Directly Linked to Revenue from Super Chats
Sometimes Targeted by Cancel Culture Based on Tendencies

Editor's Note'Fandom' has become an indispensable presence in Korean politics. There is even talk that fandoms dominate politics. The Democratic Party actively utilizes fandom as a political asset, following former President Moon Jae-in and former leader Lee Jae-myung. Newly appointed People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon also secured party leadership centered around fandom. However, fandoms are also criticized for exhibiting extreme behavior that causes political polarization and expands conflicts. We have diagnosed and analyzed the realities and reasons behind fandom politics and examined the possibilities for change. ① "Han Dong-hoon is a tool" "Lee Jae-myung is qualified" ② Activities expanding beyond online and offline to YouTube and media ③ Buying books to raise lawyer fees and relay support on SNS ④ 'Jaemyung's Village' with many numbers vs. 'Withhooni' with high views ⑤ Supporters worried about 'fandom fear' ⑥ Politicians suffering from fandom ⑦ Political YouTube channels making 'billion'-level earnings

Political YouTube channels that deliver biased political news to fandoms have been found to receive substantial donations from supporters of each faction. While fandoms welcome the biased political interpretations of these channels, they also exhibit so-called 'cancel culture' behavior by unsubscribing and not watching when factional division is a concern.

According to the YouTube analytics site Playboard, the total amount of Super Chat donations to news and political YouTube channels ranked 1st to 10th in the first half of this year was approximately 812.37 million KRW. This means supporters from each faction send about 135.39 million KRW monthly to these political YouTube channels. Considering donations received through separate accounts that are not subject to VAT taxation like Super Chat, the revenue earned by political YouTube channels is estimated to be even larger.

The YouTube channel that received the most Super Chat donations in the first half of this year was 'Kim Eo-jun's Humility is Difficult News Factory' (News Factory), earning about 152.36 million KRW. The period with the highest amount was April this year, when it received 56.69 million KRW. Not only News Factory but other political YouTube channels also see election seasons as a 'golden time,' with significantly increased earnings. The total Super Chat amounts for political YouTube channels ranked 1st to 10th in March and April this year were approximately 173.87 million KRW and 170.25 million KRW respectively, both higher than the average Super Chat amount for the first half of the year.

Political YouTube channels rapidly growing alongside People Power Party leader Han Dong-hoon also stand out. For example, 'Yoon PD TV' ranked 6th among political YouTube channels last month, receiving about 6.46 million KRW in Super Chat donations. This channel also led a flower wreath support event near the National Assembly in April, installing wreaths to cheer for Leader Han. Yoon PD TV began attracting fandom attention ahead of the general election along with Leader Han. The Super Chat donations Yoon PD TV received in February, March, and April were 1.61 million KRW, 4.63 million KRW, and 4.82 million KRW respectively. In January, it did not even receive 700,000 KRW in donations and did not rank within the top 100. Subscribers, which were around 13,000 in July last year, surged to about 64,000 by July this year.

These channels typically produce content that fandoms want. Pro-Democratic Party political YouTube channels produce content critical of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration while being favorable toward former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung. News Factory covered the case of Corporal Chae's death in 22 out of 33 broadcasts aired from the opening of the 22nd National Assembly on May 30 to June 15. Additionally, content related to Lee's judicial risks, such as prosecution issues, was covered 14 times during the same period, and issues related to First Lady Kim Keon-hee and the Korea Communications Commission were covered 7 times each. Regarding Lee's judicial risk content, the channel prominently claimed that the court did not accept the testimony of former Gyeonggi Peace Deputy Governor Lee Hwa-young and biasedly trusted only the testimony of former Ssangbangwool Group Chairman Kim Seong-tae.

Professor Yoo Seung-hyun of Hanyang University Graduate School of Media and Communication explained, "Extreme supporters feel political efficacy on YouTube, where they can listen only to the information they want. Unlike traditional media, the real-time broadcast format allows two-way communication, which also helps foster political efficacy."

In May, a post criticizing YouTuber 'Roppongi Kim Professor' was uploaded on the fan cafe 'Jaemyeong's Village' of former Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung. /Source=Jaemyeong's Village

Conversely, political YouTube channels also become targets of 'cancel culture.' Cancel culture refers to the act of unsubscribing from subscription-based content that does not align with one's views. While cancel culture was generally directed at celebrities, it has begun to appear in the political YouTube domain as well.

A case in point is the progressive political YouTube channel 'Roppongi Professor Kim.' This channel continuously criticized non-Lee Jae-myung faction politicians, claiming that former President Moon Jae-in and President Yoon Seok-yeol are on the same side. After the approval of the arrest warrant for former leader Lee in September last year and the ensuing 'watermelon controversy,' the channel's subscribers increased by 6,000 to reach 322,000. However, as internal opinions that Roppongi Professor Kim caused factional division continued to be raised, the operator of Jaemyung's Village forcibly expelled subscribers who defended the channel. On the 12th of last month, a notice was issued banning the posting of any content related to Roppongi Professor Kim and 14 other political YouTube channels.

Since YouTube has already established itself as a political public sphere, there are calls to reform the system to enhance its positive functions. Professor Yoo said, "It is true that confirmation bias and fake news are problems of political YouTube. However, since it is developing into a form of public sphere different from traditional media, institutional improvements such as assigning public responsibility are necessary."