{{Short description|Group of left-wing YouTubers}} {{for|the bakeware|Bread tube}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}'''BreadTube''', also called '''LeftTube''', is a loose and informal group of online personalities who create video content, including video essays and livestreams, from socialist, social democratic, communist, anarchist, and other left-wing perspectives.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=Alexander|first=Julia|date=January 31, 2020|title=Carlos Maza is back on YouTube and ready to fight|url=https://www.theverge.com/tech/2020/1/31/21112724/carlos-maza-steven-crowder-vox-youtube-harassment-policies-breadtube|access-date=July 3, 2020|website=The Verge|language=en|archive-date=July 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731142040/https://www.theverge.com/tech/2020/1/31/21112724/carlos-maza-steven-crowder-vox-youtube-harassment-policies-breadtube|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":11">{{Cite web|date=January 13, 2020|title=Youtube: Auf der anderen Seite die linken Influencer|url=https://blog.zeit.de/teilchen/2020/01/13/youtube-influencer-linke-social-media/|access-date=July 3, 2020|website=Die Zeit|language=de-DE|archive-date=July 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703235442/https://blog.zeit.de/teilchen/2020/01/13/youtube-influencer-linke-social-media/|url-status=live|last=Koenigsdorff|first=Simon|trans-title=On the other side of YouTube}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Citarella|first=Joshua|date=September 12, 2020|title=Marxist memes for TikTok teens: can the internet radicalize teenagers for the left?|url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/12/marxist-memes-tiktok-teens-radical-left|url-status=live|access-date=August 8, 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200912105738/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/12/marxist-memes-tiktok-teens-radical-left |archive-date=September 12, 2020 }}</ref> BreadTube creators generally post videos on YouTube that are discussed on other online platforms, such as Reddit.<ref name=TripleC>{{Cite journal|last1=Kuznetsov|first1=Dmitry|last2=Ismangil|first2=Milan|date=January 13, 2020|title=YouTube as Praxis? On BreadTube and the Digital Propagation of Socialist Thought|url=https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/1128|journal=TripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique|language=en-US|volume=18|issue=1|pages=204–218|doi=10.31269/triplec.v18i1.1128|issn=1726-670X|doi-access=free|access-date=July 3, 2020|archive-date=July 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703232456/https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/1128|url-status=live}}</ref> Many BreadTube content creators are crowdfunded, and their channels often serve as introductions to left-wing politics for young viewers.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book|last=Fuchs|first=Christian|url=|title=Social Media: A Critical Introduction|publisher=SAGE Publications|year=2021|isbn=978-1-5297-5274-8|edition=3rd|pages=199–200}}</ref> BreadTube creators align with collectivist modes of governance, while opposing the alt-right and far-right.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Cotter |first=Kelley |date=2022-03-18 |title=Practical knowledge of algorithms: The case of BreadTube |journal=New Media & Society |language=en |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=2131–2150 |doi=10.1177/14614448221081802 |issn=1461-4448 |s2cid=247560346 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
==Origin== {{Image frame|width=297|content=x160px x160px|caption=Lindsay Ellis (left) and ContraPoints (right), early BreadTubers}}
The term ''BreadTube'' derives from Peter Kropotkin's ''The Conquest of Bread'',<ref>{{Cite news|title=A Thorn in YouTube's Side Digs In Even Deeper|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/technology/carlos-maza-youtube-vox.html|access-date=July 3, 2020|website=The New York Times|date=February 12, 2020|language=en-US|archive-date=February 12, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212171333/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/technology/carlos-maza-youtube-vox.html|url-status=live|last1=Roose|first1=Kevin}}</ref><ref name=amin>{{Cite magazine|last=Amin|first=Shaan|date=July 2, 2019|title=Can the Left Win YouTube?|magazine=The New Republic|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/154399/can-left-win-youtube|access-date=July 3, 2020|issn=0028-6583|archive-date=July 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200704131345/https://newrepublic.com/article/154399/can-left-win-youtube|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite podcast |url=https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/three-mirror-image/id1507423923?i=1000473190030 |title=Three: Mirror Image |website=Rabbit Hole |publisher=The New York Times |last=Roose |first=Kevin |date=April 30, 2020 |access-date=July 3, 2020}}</ref> a book explaining how to achieve anarchist communism and how an anarchist-communism society would function. Many BreadTube channels started in an effort to combat anti-social justice warrior and alt-right content that gained traction in the mid-2010s.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=Alexander Mitchell|date=March 8, 2021|title=Meet BreadTube, the YouTube activists trying to beat the far-right at their own game|url=http://theconversation.com/meet-breadtube-the-youtube-activists-trying-to-beat-the-far-right-at-their-own-game-156125|url-status=live|access-date=May 27, 2021|website=The Conversation|language=en|archive-date=June 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630232257/https://theconversation.com/meet-breadtube-the-youtube-activists-trying-to-beat-the-far-right-at-their-own-game-156125}}</ref><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last1=Mniestri|first1=Aikaterini|last2=Gekker|first2=Alex|title=Temporal Frames for Platform Publics: The Platformization of Breadtube|date=October 5, 2020|url=https://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/spir/article/view/11281|journal=AoIR Selected Papers of Internet Research|language=en|doi=10.5210/spir.v2020i0.11281|s2cid=225166989|issn=2162-3317|doi-access=free|access-date=November 19, 2021|archive-date=November 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211119133105/https://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/spir/article/view/11281|url-status=live}}</ref> By 2018, these individual channels had formed an interconnected community.<ref name=":7" /> Two prominent early BreadTubers were Lindsay Ellis, who left Channel Awesome in 2015 to start her own channel in response to the Gamergate controversy, and Natalie Wynn, who started her channel, ContraPoints, in 2016 in response to the alt-right's online dominance at the time.<ref name="amin" /> In an April 2021 interview, Wynn said, "The alt-right, the manosphere, incels, even the so-called SJW Internet and LeftTube all have a genetic ancestor in New Atheism."<ref>{{Cite web|last=Maughan|first=Philip|date=April 14, 2021|title=The World According to ContraPoints|url=https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/contrapoints-natalie-wynn-interview/|access-date=August 3, 2021|website=Highsnobiety|language=en|archive-date=February 25, 2026|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/bvzxY}}</ref>
== Format == BreadTube videos are often noted for their high production values and theatrical elements, running longer than many other YouTube videos.<ref name=":6">{{cite web |last=Williams |first=Wil |date=June 1, 2021 |title=The video essays that spawned an entire YouTube genre |url=https://www.polygon.com/22417320/best-video-essays-youtube-history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210811131717/https://www.polygon.com/22417320/best-video-essays-youtube-history |archive-date=August 11, 2021 |accessdate=August 11, 2021 |work=Polygon}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Somos |first=Christy |date=October 25, 2019 |title=Dismantling the 'Alt-Right Playbook': YouTuber explains how online radicalization works |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/article/dismantling-the-alt-right-playbook-youtuber-explains-how-online-radicalization-works/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215011000/https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/dismantling-the-alt-right-playbook-youtuber-explains-how-online-radicalization-works-1.4655174 |archive-date=February 15, 2020 |access-date=July 3, 2020 |website=CTVNews |language=en}}</ref> Many of them respond to right-wing talking points.<ref name="TripleC" /> Some sources indicate that right-wing and cyberlibertarian creators frequently take antagonistic stances toward political opponents, while many BreadTubers focus on analyzing and interpreting opposing arguments, sometimes incorporating elements of subversion, humor, or, in the words of Wynn, "seduction".<ref name="TripleC" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Cross|first=Katherine|date=August 24, 2018|title=The Oscar Wilde of YouTube fights the alt-right with decadence and seduction|url=https://www.theverge.com/tech/2018/8/24/17689090/contrapoints-youtube-natalie-wynn|access-date=August 18, 2021|website=The Verge|language=en|archive-date=February 11, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211220210/https://www.theverge.com/tech/2018/8/24/17689090/contrapoints-youtube-natalie-wynn|url-status=live}}</ref> Many BreadTubers aim to reach audiences beyond those who already hold left-wing viewpoints rather than merely "preach to the choir".<ref name="TripleC" /> Their videos often offer no definitive conclusions; instead, viewers are encouraged to interpret the presented material themselves.<ref name="TripleC" /> Because many BreadTube channels reference left-wing and socialist texts, some viewers encounter these ideas for the first time that way.<ref name=":5" /> According to Kelley Cotter, infighting is common in the BreadTube community. Cotter attributes that to "the community hosting a spectrum of beliefs, ranging from social democratic to Maoist".<ref name=":8" />
== Channels == <!-- Please do not include examples without a reliable, independent source --> {{Image frame|width=313|content=x160px x160px|caption=Hbomberguy (left) and Abigail Thorn (right), commonly described as BreadTubers}}
The vast majority of BreadTube content is in English, and most BreadTubers are American or British.<ref name=":11" /> The term is informal and often disputed, as there are no agreed-upon criteria for inclusion. According to ''The New Republic'', in 2019, the five people most commonly mentioned as examples were the aforementioned Natalie Wynn and Lindsay Ellis, along with Harry Brewis (Hbomberguy), Abigail Thorn (Philosophy Tube), and Shaun, while Kat Blaque and Anita Sarkeesian are cited as significant influences;<ref name=":3" /><ref name=amin/> Ian Danskin (aka Innuendo Studios),<ref name=":1" /> Hasan Piker,<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":02">{{Cite web|last=Ellingham|first=Miles|date=January 17, 2021|title=The rise of BreadTube: The battle for the soul of the internet|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/long-reads/breadtube-gamergate-twitch-online-politics-streamers-b1765156.html|url-access=subscription|url-status=live|access-date=September 20, 2021|website=The Independent|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117051617/https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/long-reads/breadtube-gamergate-twitch-online-politics-streamers-b1765156.html |archive-date=January 17, 2021 }}</ref> Vaush,<ref name=":02" /> and Destiny<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite news |last=Roose |first=Kevin |date=June 8, 2019 |title=The Making of a YouTube Radical (Published 2019) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/08/technology/youtube-radical.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210522212633/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/08/technology/youtube-radical.html |archive-date=May 22, 2021 |access-date=June 2, 2021 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> have also been said to be BreadTubers. However, some of these people, including Ellis,<ref>{{Cite tweet|number=1326207223077335041|user=thelindsayellis|title=Someone tell this person that breadtube isn't a thing.|author=Lindsay Ellis|author-link=Lindsay Ellis|date=November 10, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424043657/https://twitter.com/thelindsayellis/status/1326207223077335041|archive-date=April 24, 2021|url-status=dead}}</ref> Shaun,<ref>{{Cite tweet|number=1242617649193979905|user=shaun_vids|title=do not send me messages about 'breadtube' drama. or 'breadtube' generally. its a fake group with arbitrary, subjective membership|author=Shaun|author-link=Shaun (YouTuber)|date=March 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210311185227/https://twitter.com/shaun_vids/status/1242617649193979905|archive-date=March 11, 2021|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Wynn,<ref>{{Cite tweet|number=1364059709456711680|user=ContraPoints|title=I encourage my audience to drop the label 'BreadTube'.|author=Natalie Wynn|author-link=ContraPoints|date=February 23, 2021|archive-date=April 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424042710/https://twitter.com/ContraPoints/status/1364059709456711680|url-status=live}}</ref> have rejected the label.
Amid the 2018 presidential elections in Brazil, left channels became popular in the country.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |last=Camarano |first=Arthur Corrêa |date=May 3, 2023 |title=A esquerda que não teme dizer seu nome na internet |url=https://blogfca.pucminas.br/colab/influenciadores-comunistas-na-internet/ |access-date=April 29, 2026 |website=Colab |language=pt-BR|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260429110250/https://blogfca.pucminas.br/colab/influenciadores-comunistas-na-internet/|archive-date=April 29, 2026|trans-title=The left that is not afraid to say its name on the internet}}</ref> Among them are Pirulla, Clayson Felizola, Felipe Neto, Henry Bugalho, Sabrina Fernandes (Teze Onze), Carlito Neto (O Historiador), Cauê Moura, PC Siqueira, Samuel Borelli, Galãs Feios, Meteoro Brasil, Saia da Matrix, Tiago Santineli, Eduardo Moreira (Instituto Conhecimento Liberta), Plantão Brasil, Tiago Pavinatto,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Caetano |first=Guilherme |last2=Gomes |first2=Bianca |date=October 15, 2023 |title=Dos títulos apelativos à bandeira do Brasil, youtubers de esquerda crescem com o uso da estética bolsonarista |url=https://oglobo.globo.com/blogs/sonar-a-escuta-das-redes/post/2023/10/dos-titulos-apelativos-a-bandeira-do-brasil-youtubers-de-esquerda-crescem-com-o-uso-da-estetica-bolsonarista.ghtml |access-date=April 29, 2026 |website=O Globo |language=pt-br|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260430064341/https://oglobo.globo.com/blogs/sonar-a-escuta-das-redes/post/2023/10/dos-titulos-apelativos-a-bandeira-do-brasil-youtubers-de-esquerda-crescem-com-o-uso-da-estetica-bolsonarista.ghtml|archive-date=April 30, 2026|trans-title=From the titles appealing to the flag of Brazil, left-wing YouTubers grow up with the use of the Bolsonarist aesthetic}}</ref> Jones Manoel, Laura Sabino, Humberto Matos,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cordeiro |first=Tiago |date=September 1, 2020 |title=Quem são os "influencers" de esquerda que levam o marxismo para as redes sociais |url=https://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/ideias/quem-sao-os-influencers-de-esquerda-que-levam-o-marxismo-para-as-redes-sociais/ |access-date=April 29, 2026 |website=Gazeta do Povo |language=pt-BR|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260429135238/https://www.gazetadopovo.com.br/ideias/quem-sao-os-influencers-de-esquerda-que-levam-o-marxismo-para-as-redes-sociais/|archive-date=April 29, 2026|trans-title=Who are the left-wing “influencers” that take Marxism to social media}}</ref> Dimitra Vulcana (Doutora Drag), John Mateus, Lucas Machado, Thiago Torres (Chavoso da USP), Roju Soares, Rebecca Gaia, Zamiliano Frossard (Revolushow),<ref>{{Cite news |title=Os bastidores do Boteco Comunista, a live de youtubers de esquerda |url=https://tab.uol.com.br/noticias/redacao/2021/05/10/os-bastidores-do-boteco-comunista-a-live-de-jovens-youtubers-de-esquerda.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240128004851/https://tab.uol.com.br/noticias/redacao/2021/05/10/os-bastidores-do-boteco-comunista-a-live-de-jovens-youtubers-de-esquerda.htm |archive-date=January 28, 2024 |access-date=April 29, 2026 |work=UOL |language=pt-BR|last=Sayuri|first=Juliana|date=October 5, 2021|trans-title=Behind the scenes of the Communist Boteco, the live of left-wing YouTubers}}</ref> Inteligência Ltda.,<ref name=":10">{{Cite web |last=Gaglioni |first=Cesar |date=December 28, 2023 |title=A onda de influenciadores comunistas nas redes |url=https://www.nexojornal.com.br/expresso/2022/09/03/a-onda-de-influenciadores-comunistas-nas-redes |access-date=April 29, 2026 |website=Nexo Jornal |language=pt-br|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260429053556/https://www.nexojornal.com.br/expresso/2022/09/03/a-onda-de-influenciadores-comunistas-nas-redes|archive-date=April 29, 2026|trans-title=The wave of communist influencers in the networks}}</ref> Senhorita Bira,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gonzalez |first=Mariana |title=Senhorita Bira: da prostituição às aulas de sociologia no YouTube |url=https://www.uol.com.br/universa/noticias/redacao/2020/10/17/jovem-ensina-sociologia-unindo-o-que-aprendeu-da-academia-a-prostituicao.htm |access-date=April 29, 2026 |website=UOL |language=pt-br|date=October 17, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260430065456/https://www.uol.com.br/universa/noticias/redacao/2020/10/17/jovem-ensina-sociologia-unindo-o-que-aprendeu-da-academia-a-prostituicao.htm|archive-date=April 30, 2026|trans-title=Miss Bira: from prostitution to sociology classes on YouTube}}</ref> Thiago Guimarães (Ora Thiago),<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bastos |first=Márcio |date=May 10, 2020 |title=Conheça Thiago Guimarães, youtuber que une cultura pop, humor, política e filosofia |url=https://jc.ne10.uol.com.br/cultura/2020/05/5608695-conheca-thiago-guimaraes--youtuber-que-une-cultura-pop--humor--politica-e-filosofia.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240128010006/https://jc.ne10.uol.com.br/cultura/2020/05/5608695-conheca-thiago-guimaraes--youtuber-que-une-cultura-pop--humor--politica-e-filosofia.html |archive-date=January 28, 2024 |access-date=April 29, 2026 |work=JC |language=pt-BR|trans-title=Meet Thiago Guimarães, youtuber who unites pop culture, humor, politics and philosophy}}</ref> Rita von Hunty,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Conheça Rita von Hunty, a drag queen que ensina sociologia no YouTube |url=https://claudia.abril.com.br/sua-vida/conheca-rita-von-hunty-a-drag-queen-que-ensina-sociologia-no-youtube/ |access-date=April 29, 2026 |website=CLAUDIA |language=pt-BR |via=Editora Abril|date=October 20, 2019|last=Paiva|first=Letícia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260430163900/https://claudia.abril.com.br/sua-vida/conheca-rita-von-hunty-a-drag-queen-que-ensina-sociologia-no-youtube/|archive-date=April 30, 2026|trans-title=Meet Rita von Hunty, the drag queen who teaches sociology on YouTube}}</ref> Soberana TV,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Paulo |first=São |date=December 14, 2022 |title=A situação da classe trabalhadora na internet |url=https://averdade.org.br/2022/12/a-situacao-da-classe-trabalhadora-na-internet/ |access-date=April 29, 2026 |website=Jornal A Verdade |language=pt-BR|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20260315051903/https://averdade.org.br/2022/12/a-situacao-da-classe-trabalhadora-na-internet/|archive-date=March 15, 2026|trans-title=The situation of the working class on the internet}}</ref> and Orientação Marxista (do Gustavo Machado). Some members of Soberana TV are João Carvalho and Ian Neves.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":9" />
== Reception == According to ''The Conversation'', as of 2021, BreadTube content creators "receive tens of millions of views a month and have been increasingly referenced in media and academia as a case study in deradicalisation."<ref name=":0" /> According to ''The Independent'', BreadTube "commentators have been trying, quite successfully, to intervene in the right-wing recruitment narrative – lifting viewers out of the rabbit-hole, or, at least, shifting them over to a new one."<ref name=":02" /> Kevin Roose wrote in ''The New York Times'' that BreadTube creators employ a method he referred to as a kind of "algorithmic hijacking":<ref name=":4" /> they focus on the same topics content creators with right-wing politics discuss to get their videos recommended to the same people consuming right-wing or far-right videos,<ref name=":4" /> thereby exposing a wider audience to their perspectives.<ref name="TripleC" />
=== Criticism === As a black BreadTuber, Kat Blaque has criticized the scarcity of them and argues the valuation of her work depends on white audiences. BreadTuber Kyle Kulinski (Secular Talk) has said that infighting in the community has made it "politically impotent and ineffectual".<ref name=":8" />
==See also== *Alt-right pipeline
== References == {{reflist|30em}}
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