This chapter presents “brokerage” as a lens to critically examine how digital narratives, online performativity, and platform-specific strategies reflect how ordinary and marginalised individuals navigate the terrain of neoliberal economies and postcolonial structures in social media platforms such as YouTube. These individuals are afforded with “speaking positions” (Gajjala, 2013) to represent, curate, and broadcast their everyday experiences and harness aspirations and dreams. Yet, making visible these personalised experiences, as shaped by invisible and broader hierarchical structures, reflect anxieties, struggles and constant negotiations in the digital and contemporary society.

This chapter is divided into several sections. First, we discuss the sociological literature on the traditions of brokerage. This approach enables us to engage with the process, politics, and dynamics of brokerage in facilitating social, economic, and political aspirations and interactions. Secondly, we discuss how brokering can be understood in the digital context and highlight how social media influencers enact the process of brokerage. Their presence as “real people” and their performances contribute to affective engagement among audiences, as reflected in user feedback through views, shares, and subscriptions. Further, we situate the discussion in the context of YouTube, noting its key affordances, business model, and data governance mechanisms. This approach allows us to articulate the principles and practices of neoliberal social conditions online. Thirdly, we approach the discussion on digital practices through a postcolonial lens, situating the historical, economic, political, and socio-technological forces that influence performativity in digital spaces. We outline how brokerage takes place in several key areas of investigation – bleached skin, interracial intimacy, world-class labour, and progressive governance.