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BreadTube, also known as LeftTube, is a group of YouTubers who create content, including video essays and livestream, from a leftist political perspective. BreadTube creators usually post videos on YouTube that are discussed on other platform, such as Reddit.[1] The name "BreadTube" is a reference to the anarchist slogan "bread and roses," which advocates for both basic material needs and the pursuit of more meaningful and fulfilling lives.

Many BreadTubers produce videos that critique mainstream media, politics, and culture from a leftist perspective, and offer alternative analyses and solutions to issues such as income inequality, systemic oppression, and environmental degradation.

BreadTube has also been associated with a wider movement of online leftist activism, which has grown in popularity in recent years as a response to the political climate and the rise of far-right activism.

Format[]

BreadTube films usually have a high production value, include theatrical aspects, and last longer than regular YouTube videos. Many are straight counter-arguments to right-wing talking points. Rather than "preaching to the choir," many try to reach out to people who do not already embrace left-wing views. Videos frequently do not end with a firm conclusion, instead enabling viewers to draw their own conclusions from the references. Because BreadTube channels frequently use left-wing and socialist works to support their points, their viewers may be introduced to left-wing philosophy.

History[]

The origin of the term BreadTube can be traced back to Peter Kropotkin's work titled "The Conquest of Bread."[2][3][4] This book outlines the principles of anarcho-communism and provides insights into the functioning of a society based on these ideas.

The origins of the BreadTube phenomenon are not precisely defined, although many BreadTube channels emerged as a response to the rise of anti-social justice warrior and alt-right content during the mid-2010s.[5] By 2018, these separate channels had coalesced into an interconnected community.[6] Among the notable early BreadTubers were Lindsay Ellis, who departed from Channel Awesome in 2015 to establish her own channel following the Gamergate controversy, and Natalie Wynn, who initiated her channel ContraPoints in 2016 as a reaction to the prevailing influence of the alt-right during that period.[3] In an interview conducted in April 2021, Wynn expressed the view that "The alt-right, the manosphere, incels, even the so-called SJW Internet and LeftTube all have a genetic ancestor in New Atheism."[7]

YouTubers considered "BreadTubers"[]

References[]

  1. BreadTube. Reddit.
  2. Roose, Kevin. "A Thorn in YouTube's Side Digs In Even Deeper", The New York Times, February 12, 2020. Retrieved on July 3, 2020. (in en-US) 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Amin, Shaan. "Can the Left Win YouTube?", July 2, 2019. Retrieved on July 3, 2020. 
  4. "Three: Mirror Image", The New York Times, April 30, 2020. Retrieved on July 3, 2020. (in en-US) 
  5. Lee, Alexander Mitchell (March 8, 2021). Meet BreadTube, the YouTube activists trying to beat the far-right at their own game (en). Archived from the original on June 30, 2021. Retrieved on May 27, 2021.
  6. Temporal Frames for Platform Publics: The Platformization of Breadtube (en). AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research (October 5, 2020).
  7. Maughan, Philip (April 14, 2021). The World According to ContraPoints (en). Retrieved on August 3, 2021.


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