How are the Public Housing Projects represented on Social Media? Socioeconomic Status and Stereotypes in YouTube videos of New York Neighborhoods

Abstract

While there is extensive research on how people perceive neighborhoods, there is less on how people represent each other on social media. This project focuses on how socioeconomic status and neighborhoods are shown on YouTube videos, examining the use of positive representations or negative stereotypes. There have been many studies that provide information on how neighborhood inequality negatively affects people and communities, but research rarely asks how people perceive neighborhood inequality. The proposed methods consist of using content analysis and random sampling of videos on social media to help analyze my research question through the data presented. By using these methods, it will provide a deeper understanding of the lifestyles, behaviors, decisions, and actions of residents from low-income neighborhoods, and how they differ and contribute to an individual’s perception.