Gaining trust: the articulation of transparency by You Tube fashion and beauty content creators

This article proposes a new typology of transparency markers in fashion and beauty You Tube videos. It looks at how online content creators disclose the process of selecting and featuring products in their videos and analyses their discursive performance of transparency. It argues that these content creators employ a mix of routines of transparency, authenticity and independence, which they perform simultaneously, constructing themselves as trustworthy. The article suggests that, although restricted in both their extent and regularity, these tactics are complex and offer a glimpse on some of the processes that shape content in beauty and fashion media, which are not normally acknowledged in the magazine press. The article contributes to a better understanding of the manifestation of transparency in new media forms.