In this work-in-progress study, we examine the reliability, validity, and generalizability of YouTube video blogs (henceforth, vlogs) as a medium for archiving autoethnographic data, including personal experiences, memories, and cultural practices. To illustrate this, we use the case study of the second author’s YouTube vlogs, which document her lived experiences as a PhD student.

Autoethnography is a qualitative methodology that analyzes the self (auto-) within cultural contexts (ethno-) through the act of writing (-graphy). Emerging in the 1970s, it aims at more personal and aesthetic modes of inquiry (Adams et al. 2021). Autoethnography extensively involves deeply personal storytelling and expressions, making it ideal for exploring cultural phenomena, human mindwork, memories, and experiences unreachable via positivism (Yan / Poole 2024; McPhail-Bell / Redman-MacLaren 2019; Richards 2015; Stanley 2014).

Data creation plays a key role in autoethnographical research. Current practices in autoethnography remain predominantly text-based, including journaling, field notes, artefact analysis, thematic analysis, description, conversational engagement, etc. (Adams et al. 2021; Poulos 2021; Musgrave 2019). However, following the method’s essential resistance to common traditional academic writing, autoethnographic researchers have expanded the archiving media to include visual art, drama, performance studies, music, dance, film, etc (Adams et al. 2021; Musgrave 2019).

As digital humanities are pushing the boundaries of research methodology, autoethnography is no exception. Emails, SMS, comments on social media, and self- recorded videos help diversify sources of materials for autoethnographic contemplation. Audio-visual social media platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, TikTok, etc., are highly promising in helping autoethnographical researchers track their daily life more thoroughly and efficiently (Kenedy 2021; Adams et al. 2021). However, as these platforms did not appear until the late 2000s, few studies have been done using audio- visual social media as a platform for sourcing.

From an archival science perspective, social media platforms share key characteristics with audiovisual archives. However, not every collection of audiovisual data qualifies as an archive, since specific criteria must be met (Millar 2017; Edmondson 2016). UNESCO's Memory of the World project posits that audiovisual archives must be structured to prioritise both preservation and accessibility (Edmondson 2016: 23). Preservation begins with obtaining a copy of the work that is as faithful as possible to its most complete and authoritative original. It encompasses everything required to guarantee that an audiovisual document remains permanently accessible, with its integrity kept as fully intact as possible (Edmondson 2016).

Therefore, the aim of this digital humanities research is to investigate YouTube's role as a potent digital archive, demonstrating the platform's ability to store and share personal memories globally. Through that, we expect to demonstrate the medium’s strengths and limitations through its application in an autoethnographic study. Finally, it argues for broader adoption of audiovisual social platforms as archival media in future autoethnographic research and for further investigation into their methodological use. With these goals in mind, the study aims to answer this research question: How do YouTube self-recorded vlogs fit in the epistemological, representational, and ethical considerations of a typical autoethnographical medium?

Theoretically, to assess the trustworthiness and rigour of self-recorded YouTube vlogs, we adopted a framework proposed by Ellis, Adams & Bochner (2011). We selected this framework because it counters positivist objectivity through reflexivity, positioning the researcher as an active participant rather than a bystander. By embracing personal vulnerability and specificity, it bridges individual experience with broader social contexts. Furthermore, its focus on both written and oral storytelling makes it a good option for narrative-heavy research compared to art-based approaches.

Specifically, this framework recontextualises the conventional instrument assessment categories of reliability, validity, and generalizability, which are commonly used in quantitative research, to better fit in the qualitative context. In autoethnography, these dimensions are as follows.

(1) Reliability is concerned with whether the narrator has truly experienced the events of the narrative. Researchers usually rely on snapshots of emails, personal notes, text messages, and other physical artefacts. In the digital world, audio-visual media like YouTube vlogs could ensure reliability by vividly capturing an event as it happens.

(2) Validity means the expression of verisimilitude through coherent and continuous narrative structure, thereby evoking powerful feelings and connecting the audience to the researcher's subjective world.

(3) Generalizability is the transferability to the readers or watchers, who validate the study by determining if the specific story resonates with their own experience or illuminates unfamiliar cultural processes. In social media, this can be facilitated by the platform features of comments, reactions, and group chats.

To further evaluate the use of YouTube vlogs as an autoethnographical archive, we will look into a case study, which is the YouTube vlogs of the second author of this study. She is a doctoral student in digital humanities at an English university, hailing from a Global South country. The second author consistently records and uploads a vlog (edited and thus, curated) about anything PhD-related onto YouTube every (other) week. She plans to maintain this routine until the second author’s viva voce in late 2027.

This case study may reveal the strengths and shortcomings of YouTube vlogs as an archiving medium; specifically, vlogging provides a broad spectrum of storytelling, utilising non-verbal elements and creative curation.

However, this autobiographical memory is inherently susceptible to bias, which may lead to self-censorship and performative self-awareness designed to maintain a coherent and positive sense of self (Storm / Soares 2024). Additionally, sponsorship dynamics on YouTube may introduce more complexity to the construction of an autoethnographic archive. Also, long-term sustainability of social media platforms as spaces for preservation and accessibility remains an open question, as they are prone to shutdown and data loss. The researchers acknowledge these considerations as part of the analysis.

With this study, we expect the findings to prove the rigour of YouTube vlogs as an autoethnography archiving medium, solidifying the understanding of qualitative research vis-à-vis quantitative studies. The case study, which shows both the affordances and limitations of this method, may open new avenues for further application and future research. In an increasingly digital world, audio-visual social media platforms like YouTube are not just ephemeral spaces, but invaluable, living archives that facilitate the storage and study of contemporary cultural fabrics and personal memories.