Audiences in the digital ecosystem become active actors in public discussions by providing engagement, expressiveness, and collaboration in the digital space. Audiences play a crucial role in shaping algorithms based on their consumption patterns and information needs. Digital media commodifies audiences by utilizing attention as a commodity. In addition, Audiences indirectly work by receiving and distributing content in digital media, including podcast content. Podcasts are an alternative digital media that provides freedom of discussion in the digital space. In Indonesia, podcasts are often dominated by political information from celebrities, especially on YouTube. Celebrities upload political podcasts on YouTube based on consumption patterns that match the characteristics of the audience. This article aims to examine how the characteristics of the audience contribute to giving space for public discussion, which is now dominated by political celebrities in podcast media. This study adopts the theory of audience labor by Fisher (2015), focusing on the audience as a commodity that works under the influence of media algorithms and as gatekeepers. This research uses a phenomenological method to investigate the characteristics of the audience. The findings indicate that the audience tends to have characteristics of consuming viral and sensational content. This characteristic is a form of audience labour that is commodified by political celebrities. Furthermore, the audience works as a gatekeeper in controlling information flows. It’s caused, political celebrities have come to dominate YouTube podcasts, thereby displacing the original purpose of the podcast as an alternative digital media.

Authors:
Utari Fatma Dewi, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Elmariestya Ardelia, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia

About the Presenter(s)
Utari Fatma Dewi is a master's student in Communication Science at Gadjah Mada University of Indonesia since 2024, and has an interest in Digital Media Communication.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Friday Schedule

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