ABSTRACT
Congolese refugees in Nairobi, in particular the youth, have recently engaged in the creation of YouTube channels. While some channels existed before the pandemic, this activity has considerably expanded since. This chapter explores this new form of business online that generates income through digital mediation. YouTube channels not only offer a potential way to earn money but also present a mediated social environment that can induce changes in refugees’ everyday lives. The ethnographic case studies indicate that Congolese refugees use these channels to potentially “make a living,” but more importantly, as a “way to exist,” to “make a life”; YouTube as You-to-be as mentioned by one of our interlocutors.
