Influenced by Controversy

The concept of social capital has multiple aspects to it. Oftentimes, people define their worth through their interactions with the people around them. Now more than ever, we are interacting with people online, and deriving more and more meaning and social capital from these interactions.

Many find themselves obsessed with their follower counts and who they are following. If someone’s follower count is less than the number of people they are following, it is seen as having a lower social capital. This is because in most cases, the people who they are following, who are not following them back, are celebrities or companies, who have a higher social capital. It would not be worth their time to follow these people back because they do not have a large following. They would not be gaining any social capital from following them back.

On the other side, those whose follower count is higher than the number of people they follow are often thought of as having a large amount of social capital. This is because they have a large audience and are able to have their content a significant amount of people. In this case, celebrities or companies might be more enticed to follow this person because of their larger audience. Many brands see this as an opportunity to have this person become a spokesperson for them to promote their idea or product.

This begs the question, are those with a large amount of social capital considered modern day celebrities? I think, for the most part, in their own way, yes. Social capital is a big aspect of social media, especially in the age of influencers. Influencers often become brand ambassadors, because a certain company or brand offers to pay them to advertise and represent their brand in order to get more business.

It could be said that brands are exploiting people by getting more business out of people who have a lot of followers on social media. But the influencers are also exploiting the company in order to get more followers and economic capital by agreeing to endorse certain brands. Depending on the situation both parties reap certain benefits from their large social media following.

So how do influencers acquire all of their social capital in the first place?

One example of how this is done it through controversy, a prime example of this aspect of social capital comes from YouTube.

Many Youtubers have a lot of social capital due to their large followings. But what kinds of content lead people to following them in the first place? How did these Youtubers become such dynamic faces in entertainment?

A good example would be the Paul brothers, Logan and Jake. While both brothers got their start on Vine, after the app faded out, they both turned to YouTube in an attempt to maintain and expand their following.

The Paul brothers are somewhat infamous, as they get most of their recognition from being involved in controversies, from Logan recording a video of a dead body in Japan’s suicide forest, to Jake’s Team 10 pranking videos. The Paul brothers are widely regarded as taking things too far, all in the name of getting as many views as possible.

Part of the reason that Jake’s pranks and stunts became so popular is because every single one topped the one that before it. He always went bigger and better than before, generating more conversations as his antics quickly went from annoying to generating genuine legal concerns.

Logan is also full of controversy, from his trip to Japan, the filming of a dead body, and other videos during his trip to the Japan which were highly regarded as disrespectful to the culture and the people as a whole.

These controversies generated a conversation. This made people want to find out more about such crazy figures in the public eye. As their videos became more and more outrageous, the more their follower count went up, and the more news sources reported on them.

In this way, the social media world proves that all conversations, whether positive or negative, are good for helping generate more social capital. The Paul brothers acquire social capital by performing outrageous stunts that their following find hilarious or eye-catching even though the pranks and stunts hurt a lot of people and can be very offensive. However, they continue to cash in on the offensive content they bring to viewers. The more controversial, the more views, and the more likely they will post it online.

This idea of social capital can also be exploited among other YouTubers, like Shane Dawson. Dawson saw a valuable opportunity in the controversies surrounding the Paul brothers, and he took to his channel to create a documentary series spanning several episodes detailing the controversy surrounding Jake Paul, including interviews with Jake himself.

Dawson immediately received millions of views, and his series on Jake Paul became some of his most watched videos of all time. Dawson also features other controversial Youtubers, such as Jeffree Star, Tana Mongeau, and James Charles, in his other series or videos. This furthers the idea that a lot of social capital comes from being able to generate controversy, which in turn generates conversation around the persona or idea that many convey to the public, leading to more subscribers and views.