Os processos educacionais no contexto da cultura digital: um estudo de caso do canal do Youtuber Felipe Neto

Abstract

The present research aims to analyze the educational processes generated within the scope of digital culture, especially those promoted and constituted by the YouTuber Felipe Neto. The investigation was guided by the following question: How can YouTube impact the process of socialization and human formation, given that this platform presents itself as a media device focused on entertainment content committed to market engagement metrics? The sample corpus was made up of the persona Felipe Neto, as a businessman and digital influencer, and the audiovisual material published, between 2018 and 2020, on his YouTube channel. In the study sample, 370 videos were inspected (138 related to the Minecraft game and 232 entertainment), with 05 of these videos (1 Minecraft game and 4 entertainment) selected and subjected to statistical analysis of engagement metrics (views, likes, comments and running time) from YouTube. The results of the study demonstrate that Felipe Neto, a digital influencer, has an extreme ability to convince the public that follows him, using a narrative strategy that establishes trust and provides a sense of belonging. Behind the scenes, this internet professional has a specialized team, made up of several qualified professionals - from scriptwriters to editors - who provide support and guarantee audience and monetization metrics, producing videos, managing channel engagement, using strategies of marketing to ensure the adhesion of sponsors, brands, advertisers, among others. The study shows that businessman Felipe Neto charted a professional path not limited only to monetizing his channel and gaining millions of followers. When dealing with controversial topics, with a political and/or ideological bias, his channel began to be accompanied by disaffection, legal proceedings, criminal complaints, fake news, and threats. Content generated by the influencer's channel is characterized as merchandise that instrumentalizes the imagination of men and women. It is a technical product that, through entertainment, produces representative images of a persona that uses various resources from the cultural industry to guarantee the visibility of itself, because it is from its existence, verified by the other who sees it, that its persona becomes a desirable object, a profitable commodity. By producing consumer goods, the channel satisfies its users who, in a way, are at the mercy of this persona. Such dependence is crossed by affections, personal preferences and sympathies, however, in such a context, the user is just a consumer who appropriates produced content, since he ignores his own subjectivity and clings to that of others. Therefore, it is clear that businessman Felipe Neto's main objective on his channel is not to educate, but rather to entertain his audience, following the logic of the market and capital. This finding suggests that the educational content produced there does not encourage its followers to react critically to the problematic social issues they face in their lives and witness in their surroundings.