Global South Creator Cultures

Global South Creator Cultures situates creator labour within the geographic specificities of nation-states and examines the working conditions of social media creators and the geographical challenges of their work, offering a four-part conceptual framework for studying creator cultures.

Tugce Bidav is Lecturer in Digital Labour and Marketing in the Department of Digital Humanities at King's College London, UK. She holds a PhD in Media Studies from Maynooth University, Ireland (2023). Her research interests include platforms and cultural production, media and creative labour, and platform work. She has published on issues related to creator cultures in leading journals such as Social Media + Society and International Journal of Cultural Studies. She is on the founding editorial board of Sage's new journal Platforms & Society. Smith Mehta is Assistant Professor in the Center for Media and Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen, Netherlands. He holds a PhD in Creative Industries from Queensland University of Technology, Australia (2021). He is the author of the book The New Screen Ecology in India (2023) and has published on issues related to creative labour in leading international peer-reviewed journals. Smith has previously worked at Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd as a content development executive.

Introduction Tugce Bidav and Smith Mehta Chapter 1 Rural Creators, Digital Labour, and Platform Visibility in South India Srikanth Nayaka Chapter 2 The Relational Work of Turkish Youtubers: Negotiating Money and Affective Bonding with the Audience Elif Birced Chapter 3 Engagement Campaigns in Brazil: Digital Influencers and Visibility Labour on Instagram Issaaf Karwahi Chapter 4 Creators at Work: Navigating Dual Careers in the Chilean Platform Economy Karis K. Wilson and Arturo Arriagada Chapter 5 From TV to Online Freelancing: Pakistani Creator Labour at the Intersection of Mass Media and Platform Cultures Elliot Montpellier Chapter 6 From Fraught Politics to Influencer Ethics: Patriotism, Spirituality, and Survival in Nigerian Creator Cultures Jaana Serres Chapter 7 Feminist Activist-Creator Practices of Exposing: Navigating Gender Hate, Algorithmic Moderation, and State Regulation in Hong Kong Cecilia Ka Hei Wong Chapter 8 When Platform Becomes Landlords: Algorithmic Gentrification and the Structural Displacement of Kuaishou's Jiazu Creators Xiaoting Yu Conclusion Tugce Bidav and Smith Mehta