Hashtag: Witchcraft. Being a Witch as a Lifestyle in Social Media

Since the broad introduction of the Internet in the 1990s, online connections have played a significant role in the Pagan and Witchcraft community worldwide, first via forums and currently viasocial media outlets. This paper focuses on being a Witch as a lifestyle, as presented in YouTube, and examines monetizing online presence in the context of contemporary Witchcraft. Using Kozinets’ (2010) netnography and Stebbins’ (1997) approach to lifestyle, I study the online presence of two Polish content creators, @Paranormalia and @idzys. Content analysis of their uploads reveals a few elements of lifestyle that can be incorporated by the viewers. Both creators explore similar themes, mostly educational videos on everything occult and videos elaborating on practical aspects of being a Witch in the 21st century. By creating content and displaying "Witchy aesthetic," Natalia and Idżys share their lifestyles, becoming certain kinds of authorities and monetizing their online presence in various ways