Abigail Thorn: I came out as trans and made headlines bbc.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bbc.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
BreadTube: Meet the left-wing YouTubers who are trying to beat the far-right at its own game
By making videos on the same topics as the far-right, BreadTubers are hijacking YouTube’s algorithm. YouTuber Natalie Wynn’s ContraPoints is among the leading channels for BreadTube content. | Author Provided
YouTube has gained a reputation for facilitating far-right radicalisation and spreading antisocial ideas.
However, in an interesting twist, the same subversive, comedic, satiric and ironic tactics used by far-right internet figures are now being countered by a group of left-wing YouTubers known as “BreadTube”.
By making videos on the same topics as the far-right, BreadTube videos essentially hijack Youtube’s algorithm by getting recommended to viewers who consume far-right content. BreadTubers want to pop YouTube’s political bubbles to create space for deradicalisation.
Meet BreadTube, the YouTube activists trying to beat the far-right at their own game theconversation.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theconversation.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Like many, I watch more than my fair share of videos on YouTube, usually going between various cooking programs, music videos, and the occasional restoration video. Then, every so often, I ll wander through some of the videos that may be recommended to me.
Such was the case recently, when the site recommended I watch an episode of Philosophy Tube titled Identity: A Trans Coming Out Story.
I wasn t entirely sure what I was in for, as the presenter a fairly typical-looking British fellow started to discuss Audre Lorde s groundbreaking A New Spelling of My Name, comparing and contrasting it with Rene Descartes philosophical statement, I think, therefore I am. I really did not know where this was going.