유튜브 ‘사이버렉카’ 채널은 어떻게 악성댓글을 양산하는가? 유튜버 익명성, 규범 동조, 혐오의 반향실 효과를 중심으로

초록

This study focuses on Cyber-Wrecker, which is an emerging type of personalized media contents to produce views and comments by posting videos about celebrity scandals or incidents, and online toxicity it generates. In particular, we analyzed what characteristics of Cyber- Wrecker encouraged toxicity in comments at the video level by selecting four representative Cyber-Wreckers on YouTube, collecting about 290,000 comments on 370 videos from their channels, and classifying malicious comments with an artificial neural network to measure the degree of toxicity production. To do so, we tested research hypotheses drawing upon 1) the structural conditions of YouTubers’ anonymity, 2) normative conformity among users performing grouporiented thoughts and behaviors toward Cyber-Wrecker, and 3) the reinforcement of hate projected on the target of Cyber-Wrecker that stimulated in-group unity and out-group hostility through the echochamber effect. The results showed that anonymous Cyber-Wreckers were more effective in generating toxicity than those that revealed their identities, and that toxicity production increased when the targets of Cyber-Wrecker were socially hated. In other words, Cyber-Wrecker’s sensationalized coverage of celebrities and public figures was effective in increasing toxicity by selecting targets that reflected hate sentiments of our society. On the other hand, overtly malicious videos, such as biased portrayals and mockery, had no significant effect on the production of toxicity. Based on the results, this study sheds light on how Cyber-Wreckers as an emerging online content creator promotes the spread of toxicity and discusses ways to understand and address the growing influence of the personalized media ecosystem, not only at the industrial level but also culturally.

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