Beyond Verification| IYKYK: Authenticity of Diasporic Media and Information From Vietnamese YouTube Influencers

Abstract

Digital communications platforms provide a crucial understanding of how community members express authenticity, how broader audiences interpret this authenticity, and the validation or rejection of cultural authenticity. This article examines YouTube channels within the Vietnamese diaspora that cover current events, world news, and American politics, analyzing the strategies they use to build trust with audiences. Through digital ethnography and content analysis of three channels, this study reveals how consumers of Vietnamese diaspora news navigate factual accuracy and cues of authenticity within their distinct community norms to assess trustworthiness. This research highlights multifaceted dimensions of authenticity in ethnic media content and online expectations, considering cultural, social, political, economic, and technical factors that shape media consumption in one such community. It emphasizes the need for nuanced approaches to producing and communicating authentic information amidst information abundance. By bridging human-computer interaction with social and humanistic perspectives, this article advocates interdisciplinary collaborations to address digital authentication challenges, rejecting universalization approaches in favor of recognizing heterogeneity in establishing information authenticity across communities.