Are YouTubers changing how people come out?

The online world has become a huge platform for young people. In particular there is a growing successful community of what have come to be known as ‘YouTubers’, people who make their living through posting material on the video sharing site. Zoe Sugg, Tanya Burr, Pixi Woo, are among many beauty gurus who make YouTube videos about make-up, fashion and lifestyle. Both Tanya Burr and Zoe Sugg also have daily vlogs which show their ordinary lives as do the SacconeJoly’s a family – mum, dad, two young children – of ‘daily vloggers’, who invite you to ‘be part of their journey. What is apparent amongst all of these videos is the embedded taken-for-granted nature of heterosexuality, yet, as Akile Ahmet shows in this post, YouTube also provides spaces for other ways of being.

This week, YouTuber Ingrid Nilsen uploaded a video and tweeted, like diver Tom Daley before her, she had ‘something I want you to know':

https://twitter.com/ingridnilsen

Although other YouTubers have ‘come out’ in the past via the channel, such as Tyler Oakley, and Troye Sivan. Ingrid is the first woman to have done so.

Ingrid received over 1 million views of her video in less then 24 hours of posting. For many LGBT young women, the world of beauty blogging and vlogging is not representative of their identities. This is a huge step forward. It also reminds us of and draws on other celebrities such as Tom Daley who used YouTube to come out. Daley received an overwhelmingly positive reaction as has Caitlyn Jenner. Headlines such as ‘YouTube sensation Ingrid Nilsen just came out of the closet people and you will cry smiling watching this video’ from TeenVogue magazine send out a strong message. Are we now seeing a decline homophobia as McMormack has argued in his work?

As our previous posts have discussed, these YouTubers have a unique way of entering our lives and being seen as ‘ordinary’ and relatable. By coming out Ingrid may have helped to open up new ways of being a woman…