Grassroots humanitarianism on YouTube: Ordinary fundraisers,unlikely donors,and global solidarity

Abstract

Social media have become important channels for directing humanitarian communication. Aid organizations increasingly use social networks and simultaneously we have seen the emergence of self-organizing volunteers who take on a variety of humanitarian tasks that previously belonged to institutional agents. The focus of this study is on user-created disaster appeal videos on YouTube, which are a type of citizen communication that occurs in the aftermath of a disaster. Appeal videos aim to raise funds for the disaster victims by acting as intermediaries between humanitarian organizations and the public. The study explores how these appeals try to create solidarity with the plight of disaster victims, and how viewers respond to these appeals from ordinary humanitarians. The article argues that this peer-to-peer moral education may help to get round the distrust of humanitarian organizations and may also be able to cultivate the idea of global solidarity within the everyday lives of YouTube viewers.