Xavier Hans Anak Henry Apex

Abstract

This study explores the creation of hobby-centric videos as advocacy by Gen Z for challenging online toxic behaviours on YouTube. Through various research on Gen Z demographics and YouTube, it is found that hobby-centric videos facilitate creative expressions, a sense of community, and promote positive culture within the platform. Through the unique features YouTube provide where both the audio and visual elements merge, Gen Z individuals utilise online civility and share personal experiences to oppose against toxic behaviours online. Through examples of content related to fashion, gaming and vlogging, this study illustrates how Gen Z users participate in advocacy by embedding messages of respect and inclusivity within hobby-centric videos.

Introduction

In today’s world, billions of hours are spent on YouTube videos by young consumers, specifically within the Generation Z demographic, from watching gaming videos to listening to music (Duffett, 2020). Moreover, this demographic not only utilizes this platform merely for passive entertainment, but also engages in participatory culture, where they contribute to the content through the sharing of ideas and creativity (Chau, 2010). Within the platform YouTube, users are increasingly establishing their identities through hobbies by displaying their talents and skills in their niche online, thus demonstrating the significance of visual communication for Gen Z individuals in today’s digital age, and this identity encourages creators to ensure their online communities are safeguarded because there are some individuals utilizing YouTube to foster toxic behavior by spreading inappropriate comments, such as vulgar languages and negative comments towards particular social groups (Alshamrani et al., 2020). For this reason, “advocacy” becomes essential, where users engage themselves in challenging harmful or toxic narratives to create a positive culture where respect and a sense of community is fostered in online spaces. Therefore, this conference paper explores the creation of hobby-centric videos on YouTube by Gen Z plays a key role in advocacy that contributes to nurturing a positive culture by opposing toxic behavior online.

Firstly, it is crucial to comprehend how Gen Z individuals establish their identity on YouTube. As argued by Cunningham and Craig (2017), YouTube is used as an online space for delivering content that is authentic and building a sense of community. For instance, gameplay, DIY beauty, and vlogging as content formats allow creators to demonstrate their personalities and authorize audiences to make comments (Cunningham & Craig, 2017). This exemplifies authenticity in visual content and a sense of community that aids in bolstering relationships between audiences and creators. However, videos on YouTube by Gen Z individuals that illustrate authenticity are mainly hobby centric. According to Vuletić & Krnjaić (2019), hobbies are essential among adolescents because they allow for development in proficiency and dignity by facilitating creative expressions. In the context of YouTube videos, creators present their passions through a variety of content genres such as travelling, fashion and music, allow for self-expressions through their exhibition of distinctive skills online. Furthermore, the relationship between identity and experience is reinforced by the features made available in the platform, YouTube, transcending merely streaming content, providing opportunities for audience engagement and hobby-centric videos. For example, the comment section contributes to users providing feedback and for fostering conversations regarding particular topics. Another subsequent example is livestreaming, facilitating a community and presence through engagement with the creator in real-time through live conversations (Wohn et al., 2018). To demonstrate further, immersion is offered, as it is driven by both the audio and video when livestreaming, which advances further than traditional media. (Wohn et al., 2018). These features highlight the shift from passive consumption to active consumption in video content on YouTube, leading to the creation of a space where hobby-based identities are continuously disseminated, resulting in an environment that is driven by the dynamic engagement between creators and audiences.

Creating video content on YouTube can be an influential tool for advocacy through both the platform’s audio and visual elements, thus creating possibilities for complex messages to be articulated effectively. As argued by Mardhatilah et al. (2023), interactive media produces a greater extent of in-depth responses involving cognition, leading to an increase in consumer engagement. This aligns with Gen Z traits as audio-visual stimuli provided by YouTube to create immersive narratives for memorable experiences. For example, the production of videos demonstrating different body sizes in various outfits by creators who are fashion enthusiasts. These types of videos help to dismantle stereotypes about certain clothing is only suited to “ideal” body size and contributes to self-acceptance by advocating for body diversity. This aids in building a community with shared experiences fostered by the creators’ conveyed messages, leading to audiences providing support for body positivity. Subsequently, there is a surge in hobby-centric video content creation challenging social issues by Gen Z individuals. One of them involves gaming communities, where creators foster inclusive gameplay by reinforcing good etiquette where all types of gamers feel welcomed. Another one would be music artists incorporating compelling lyrics advocating for progressive societal change, which is evident in songs by Gen Z artists like Billie Eilish, where she conveys messages of drug addiction and mental health. These examples demonstrate democratic innovations, which is referred to the procedures for increasing influence, participation, and deliberation by reconceptualizing and redefining citizens’ roles within the governance processes (Elstub & Escobar, 2019). In the context of Gen Z content creators, YouTube provides opportunities for social issues to be mitigated. When compared to old media, features on YouTube like the comment sections allow users to communicate (Lange, 2007), thus leading to a greater significance of discussion regarding social issues. The embedding of authenticity in hobby-centric videos performs as an influential tool for advocacy, given that proficiency helps boost the video’s credibility. According to Nunes et al. (2021), proficiency is regarded as the perception of the provider being skilled in his or her expertise or craftmanship. What is even more significant is that the research identified proficiency as one of the crucial components for authenticity, particularly for consumers preferring products that provide emotional responses through the craftmanship of the provider (Nunes et al., 2021). In the context of hobby-centric videos, Gen Z creators incorporating proficiency when exchanging experiences in their passion with their audiences leads to an increase in confidence between them, thus resulting in an advocacy that is more persuasive and effective.

Meanwhile, YouTube allows forms of online toxic behaviours to be propagated, although the platform’s purpose is to contribute to distribution of content and building a sense of community. The research by Alshamrani et al. (2020) indicates that among the types of toxic behaviour online on YouTube are comments that are obscene and promoting identity hate. Obscene comments are usually made by users intentionally wanting to create offence, thus leading to the breaching both societal and personal boundaries, such as making vulgarities (Revi, 2014). In contrast, identity hate comments are described as communications that are targeted towards a group or person based on their background, particularly religion, race, gender and ethnicity (Perea et al., 2023). This demonstrates the influence of these behaviours on Gen Z audiences, mainly those that seek socialisation and identity expression within the platform by narrowing the involvement and engagement in online spaces. However, Gen Z creators have implemented diverse approaches to counteract toxic behaviours through hobby-centric videos, one of which is through “online civility”. According to Harrison and Polizzi (2021), online civility is described as the utilization of the internet to maintain a respectful online environment by reinforcing constructive interactions to prevent harassment and abuse from occurring. Through the establishment of community guidelines, video comments incorporating civil discussions act as vital tools to respond to negative criticism, thus leading to a reduced number of toxic behaviours. On the other hand, the incorporation of sharing personal experiences regarding their hobbies is also one of the approaches implemented by Gen Z creators. As argued by Duffett (2020), multiple viewpoints are introduced to audiences when personal experiences are shared with them, thus resulting in an environment where toxic behaviours are challenged, reinforcing a positive online space. Apart from just preventing the various forms of toxic behaviours, these approaches also establish an online space where mutual respect exists when audiences are influenced to foster a positive participation.

The prevalence of hobby-centric videos by Gen Z individuals on YouTube is shaping the online environment, through which they foster a community where inclusivity exists, thus resulting in a positive environment. According to Bouchillon (2025), diminished prejudice and increased understanding among individuals from diverse backgrounds are bolstered through relationships concentrated around shared passions by nonpolitical social media groups. Likewise, when Gen Z incorporate nonpolitical elements into their hobby-centric videos, audiences tend to participate more in interactions that cultivates civility and respect, thus reducing the possibility of toxic behaviours to emerge by encouraging for collaborative bonds centred around shared passions. There is an evolution of cultural shifts where social challenges are managed in virtual environments, resulting from Gen Z’s use of hobby-centric videos for advocacy. When Gen Z individuals incorporate messages of social concerns within the content of their passions online, audiences’ viewpoints are reformed into thinking inclusivity and empathy as being regularized within the online community. Research by Pressgrove et al. (2021) indicates that advocacy messages distributed through various types of persuasive forms such as being straightforward or humour appeal to audiences to be involved in mitigating social issues, which is evident in the creation of Gen Z hobby-centric videos, thus leading to greater engagement levels in eliminating toxic behaviours. Aside from that, the effects of advocacy messages embedded within the content significantly increases as the relationship between the audiences and creators is strengthened built on authenticity. While hobby-centric videos have potential in delivering advocacy messages, they also demonstrate limitations within YouTube. One of the limitations illustrated is that the content is only catered to users with similar interests resulting from the echo chambers formed by the platform’s algorithms, thus preventing the impact to reach a wider audience (Brown et al., 2022). In addition to that, results from advocacy messages are always varying due to the continuous changing of audiences’ perception. According to Liao (2023), public perception of altruistic behaviour is highly influenced by mass media news, particularly with reference to the engagement levels by individuals within such behaviours. Similarly, the impact of advocacy messages within hobby-centric videos also depends on the inconsistency of audiences’ perceptions, thus counteracting online toxic behaviours is not always possible. Beyond that, there are potentials for hobby-centric videos to be utilised as advocacy messages in the future. One of them is through participatory democracy, enabling users to partake in discussions regarding social and politics issues, and allow advocacy communications within the public sphere (Kim, 2009).  This approach aligns with the Gen Z demographic as they are categorised as digital natives, thus they can incorporate collaborative innovations within their hobby-centric videos to challenge against toxic behaviours to create a positive culture. For instance, they can establish a Q&A session within YouTube’s comment section to address societal concerns where audiences can provide response to mitigate against toxic behaviour online.

Conclusion
Ultimately, the creation of hobby-centric videos on YouTube by Gen Z play a key role in advocacy that contributes to nurturing a positive culture by opposing toxic behavior online. Through the incorporation of authenticity within their videos, this facilitates an environment where audiences participate in purposeful engagement in building a sense of community, where audiences from different backgrounds come together. Besides that, the features of livestream and comment section within YouTube provide opportunities for Gen Z creators to oppose toxic behaviors beyond just expressing their individualism by involving in online civility, thus encouraging respect and inclusivity. While there are limitations for advocacy messages to be distributed to a wide audience due to the echo chambers created by YouTube algorithms and the continuous evolution of audiences’ perceptions, Gen Z individuals are still committed to embedding advocacy messages within their passions for long-term impacts. Through participatory democracy, they can build collaborative innovations that foster empathy within online spaces. Lastly, Gen Z individuals’ approach to advocacy within hobby-centric videos reshape YouTube as a platform for addressing societal concerns, transcending solely on entertainment.

References

Alshamrani, S., Abuhamad, M., Abusnaina, A.A., & Mohaisen, D.A. (2020). Investigating Online Toxicity in Users Interactions with the Mainstream Media Channels on YouTube. International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management.

https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2699/paper39.pdf

Bouchillon, B. C. (2025). Anything but Politics: Connectedness in Networked Social Groups for Addressing Prejudice. Social Science Computer Review.

https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393251320059

Brown, M. A., Bisbee, J., Lai, A., Bonneau, R., Nagler, J., & Tucker, J. A. (2022). Echo Chambers, Rabbit Holes, and Algorithmic Bias: How YouTube recommends content to real users. SSRN Electronic Journal. 

https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4114905

Chau, C. (2010). YouTube as a participatory culture. New Directions for Youth Development, 2010(128), 65–74.

https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.376

Cunningham, S., & Craig, D. (2017). Being “really real” on YouTube: authenticity, community and brand culture in social media entertainment. Media International Australia, 164(1), 71–81.

https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878×17709098

Duffett, R. (2020). The YouTube Marketing Communication Effect on Cognitive, Affective and Behavioural Attitudes among Generation Z Consumers. Sustainability, 12(12), 5075.

https://doi.org/10.3390/su12125075

Elstub, S., & Escobar, O. (2019). Defining and Typologising Democratic Innovations. In Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks. 

https://doi.org/10.4337/9781786433862.00009

Harrison, T., & Polizzi, G. (2021). (In)civility and adolescents’ moral decision making online: drawing on moral theory to advance digital citizenship education. Education and Information Technologies, 27(3), 3277–3297. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-021-10710-0

Kim, G. (2009). The Future of YouTube: Critical Reflections on YouTube Users’ Discussion over Its Future. InterActions UCLA Journal of Education and Information Studies, 5(2).

https://doi.org/10.5070/d452000651

Lange, P. G. (2007). Publicly Private and Privately Public: Social Networking on YouTube. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), 361–380.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2007.00400.x

Liao, C. (2023). Exploring the Influence of Public Perception of Mass Media Usage and Attitudes towards Mass Media News on Altruistic Behavior. Behavioral Sciences, 13(8), 621. 

https://doi.org/10.3390/bs13080621

Mardhatilah, D., Omar, A., Thurasamy, R., & Juniarti, R. P. (2023). Digital Consumer Engagement: Examining the impact of audio and visual stimuli exposure in social media. Information Management and Business Review, 15(4(SI)I), 94–108. 

https://doi.org/10.22610/imbr.v15i4(si)i.3580

Nunes, J. C., Ordanini, A., & Giambastiani, G. (2021). The concept of authenticity: what it means to consumers. Journal of Marketing, 85(4), 1–20. 

https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242921997081

Perera, S., Meedin, N., Caldera, M., Perera, I., & Ahangama, S. (2023). A comparative study of the characteristics of hate speech propagators and their behaviours over Twitter social media platform. Heliyon, 9(8), e19097.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19097

Pressgrove, G., McKeever, R., & Collins, E. (2021). Effectiveness of persuasive frames in advocacy videos. Public Relations Review, 47(4), 102060. 

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pubrev.2021.102060

Revi, R. (2015). Understanding obscenity and offensive humour: What’s funny?. The European Journal of Humour Research, 2(3), 98-114.

https://doi.org/10.7592/EJHR2014.2.3.revi

Vuletić, T., & Krnjaić, Z. (2019). Adolescents’ hobbies and their well-being. In Proceedings of the XXV Scientific Conference Empirical Studies in Psychology (pp. 1-10). Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344948892_Adolescents’_Hobbies_and_Their_Well-Being

Wohn, D. Y., Freeman, G. Z., & McLaughlin, C. (2018). Explaining viewers’ emotional, instrumental, and financial support provision for live streamers. In Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-14). ACM.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3174048