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Caballero-Galvez, Antonio-AlfredoAuthor

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November 22, 2024
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Counterpublics on YouTube: The case of trans communities

Publicated to:Profesional De La Informacion. 28 (6): e280622- - 2019-11-01 28(6), DOI: 10.3145/epi.2019.nov.22

Authors: Tortajada, Iolanda; Caballero-Galvez, Antonio-Alfredo; Willem, Cilia

Affiliations

Univ Rovira & Virgili, Dept Estudis Comunicacio, Av Catalunya 35, Tarragona 43002, Spain - Author

Abstract

The accessibility and democratization of online media has allowed voices to emerge around issues with low visibility. In this study we are looking at the trans community. Whereas publics are generated in mainstream media, counterpublics emerge from the margins, generating alternative spaces for debate and discussion. YouTube has emerged as a space for collaborative learning and participation, breaking the boundaries between public/private and collective/personal. Taking Elsa Ruiz Comica and Alejandro P. E.'s YouTube channels as a case study, we intend to understand how their respective counter-publics are configured, and to analyze their strategies of technological appropriation and activism. Thanks to the debate generated by their videos, these trans youtubers manage to transfer innovative concepts to a wider audience, contributing to the recognition of diverse (sexual) identities, and to the questioning of gender binarism.

Keywords

AudiencAudienceCommunicationCommunicsocial mediaCounterpublicsGenreIdentitIdentityMediaMedia democratizationSocial mediaTransTransgenderTranssexualityYoutube

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Profesional De La Informacion due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2019, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Cultural Studies.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 6.68, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Jul 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-07-07, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 4
  • Scopus: 9

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-07-07:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 16.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 39 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 5.25.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 7 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.