As much as I admire efforts to do so, I continue to think that efforts to categorize YouTubers into traditional left/right buckets is somewhat missing the point

With a few notable exceptions, the quantitative studies I've seen on YouTube (along with a few non-academic data projects) have attempted to group creators into far-left/left/right/far-right, or some similar breakdown. This is functionally impossible to do in any accurate way

First, because the cleavages and alliances form around different issues than in electoral politics: SJWs/"idpol", religion vs atheism, conspiracy theorizing, approach to mainstream media. To update the classic saying, YouTube politics makes strange bedfellows

Second, because creators purposefully resist traditional political labels, play with political boundaries, and shift their own political ideals over time. It's a slippery environment *by design*

Third, as I've shown in my own research, the politics of amplification matter just as much as a creator's own professed viewpoints. So creators may shy away from far-right opinions themselves but consistently amplify far-right voices, for example

Fourth, politics on YouTube blends seamlessly with personal allegiances, friendships, and feuds. Individuals become stand-ins for larger political positions that don't naturally fit into left/right categories.

This is also related to how seamlessly politics becomes part of broader internet trends, and how people gravitate to what is or isn't considered "cringe" in any given moment

The most recent study I'm looking at is an illustrative example. Under its "center" label, it includes Mouthy Buddha (an openly alt-right creator), A Voice for Men (a key "men's rights advocate"), and Eric Weinstein (a frequent conspiracy theorist)

This reflects the success of strategic efforts from otherwise far-right creators to call themselves "centrist," & it also shows the extremely wide range of creators that get placed in the same bucket. In this given study, the "center" bucket also includes Politico, CBS, and TED

Anyway, my goal here is not to criticize any individual study, but rather to critique a larger trend in quantitative and political science studies of YouTube, especially because these studies are often given the greatest weight in public discussions