“Green” Social Capital: YouTube and Beyond
The concept of social capital is very interesting to me, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because my perception of weak and strong ties is slightly warped or that I don’t entirely believe that trust is different online and offline. I have online relationships with a few actors and musicians, who probably have a decent amount of social capital, and it’s strange to be friends with people who have so many weak ties, but to be a strong tie yourself. These online friendships have all been realized in in-person spaces and have proved to me that (at least for me and my friends), trust is not any different online and offline. I know it isn’t the same for everyone, but for me, who I am online is who I am in person, and the people I am friends with who have large followings also are similar both online and offline.
Hank and John Green are two individuals with lots of social capital that immediately come to my mind. Depending on who you are, you may recognize their names from their novels, the shows Crash Course and SciShow on YouTube, or, if you’re a parent, as the reason your daughter was obsessed with The Fault in Our Stars in 2014. The Green Brothers have been active online since 2007, gaining popularity with “Brotherhood 2.0,” an online project where they communicated with each other via videos posted online.
Nowadays, they are still actively posting to their YouTube channel Vlogbrothers, and both Hank and John have taken to TikTok. The brothers have accumulated 3.42M subscribers on their shared YouTube channel, and 8.1M across each of their respective TikTok accounts. The brothers collaborate with PBS via their educational media company Complexly and have collaborated in the past with their fan community, Nerdfighteria. The span of their social capital varies by platform. On social media platforms such as Twitter and Tumblr, John Green has had a larger following than his brother over the years, primarily due to the height of those platforms’ popularity coinciding with the releases of his most popular novels (and then their film adaptations). Within the past few years, Hank has become exceedingly popular on TikTok, most likely due to the platform’s main demographic recognizing him from SciShow. Much of his content on the app is educational, with the majority of his videos being replies to users’ comments asking questions they want to know about a variety of topics. Since one of their main priorities as online creators is education, their reciprocity to their audience is that information itself.
Recently, it seems like if you have a large amount of social capital and a large online presence but do not have “celebrity” status worldwide, you are automatically categorized as an influencer. Which may be true for some. However, I think there are levels to being an “influencer,” just based on the definition of the word as one who influences others. I would consider Hank and John to be educational influencers. Their work (other than their writing) exists almost entirely online, and while they may not be the most famous people ever, they still have a presence that is fairly worldwide and provides them with a lot of social capital.
I also find it interesting that influencers seem to be looked down upon a bit and are often considered untrustworthy. If we consider Hank and John influencers, the argument that all influencers are untrustworthy online falls short. I would say that Hank and John are two of the most reliable influencers currently creating content. They are New York Times Bestselling authors, their videos are used in school classrooms nationwide, and they collaborate with PBS, a network that has been heralded for decades for its impactful educational content. Their social capital and the ties they have to reputable sources give them a lot more credibility than other individuals who may create content online.
The correlation between social capital and trust is something that I think the Green Brothers’ online presence reflects. I find it so interesting how much trust people put in individuals due to the number of people who may follow them. And with the rise of influencer culture the question of how social capital is evolving is raised. What will social capital look like in ten years if everyone has large amounts of it?
Sources:
https://www.hankandjohn.com/who-we-are/
