In today’s society almost everyone, especially the youth, perceive YouTube as a source of music, movies, television shows, beauty advice, cooking tutorials, and so much more. The massive popularity and convenience to watch quality videos for free has sparked the careers of many Youtube content makers, better known as ‘YouTubers’. Who are these people? What are their stories? The rise of YouTube personalities has been growing to the point where they can be compared to Hollywood celebrites. Forget about the movie premieres, the fashion shows, and the award ceremonies, YouTubers redefine what it means to be a ‘celebrity’ through the accumulation of large fan bases worldwide all from the comfort of their homes.
Since YouTube’s founding in 2005, millions of talented content makers have been putting up their videos for the entire world to see. Some receive little results and some are greatly rewarded by their efforts. One by one, across the globe, these lucky YouTubers every day have been gaining scores of subscribers. Usually just ordinary people with humble backgrounds, they attract the interest of the increasingly influential youth fanbase because they are young themselves. The youth of our generation have an enormous influence on our society’s popular culture. A celebrity’s rise to and decline of fame are determined solely by fans’ interest.
The reactions to this newfound phenomena was mostly positive among the scores of YouTube users. Everyday millions of people continue tune back to their favorite channels and perpetuate YouTubers’ successes. Starting off as timid teens using YouTube as their creative outlet, YouTube personalities’ quick rises to fame can be seen by many viewers as inspiring.
YouTubers are winning entertainment awards, gracing front pages of magazines, hosting radio shows, and making cameos on national television just like any superstar would. Bethany Mota, a beauty and fashion Youtuber, is currently on this season’s Dancing with the Stars and has her own clothing line at Aeropostale. Joey Graceffa, Meghan Camarena (Strawburry17), and Kevin Wu (kevjumba) have been on past seasons of CBS’s The Amazing Race. The most prominent of YouTubers have even been Twitter verified and rewarded with the well-known blue check mark. YouTubers prove to their fanbase that success is indeed possible just by turning a simple hobby into a full-blown career.
Despite the fact that YouTubers deliver quality content for their several million subscribers, major controversies have emerged on whether they are straying from their original intent of making videos or not. For example, British YouTubers such as Zoe Sugg (Zoella), Alfie Deyes (Pointlessblog), and Jonathan and Anna Saccone-Joly (The Saccone-Jolys) are currently managed by Gleam Futures Talent Agency. This agency and others like it, endeavour to maintain picture perfect images of their clients in order to make them presentable in their videos.
In addition, major consumer companies have noticed how much influence these young people have on the masses and have signed deals with them to promote their products. Product promotion is a major part of beauty and fashion channels who often suggest a certain product they like to their subscribers. Ingrid Nilsen (Missglamorazzi), an American beauty and fashion personality, has recently collaborated with beauty company “Yes To” to create the skincare line “Ingrid Nilsen x Yes To Cucumbers/ Blueberries Cleansing Facial Wipes”. Although being a viral YouTube sensation can be a lucrative career, ranging from two million to seventeen million dollars a year, some YouTubers are criticized for creating additional ways to earn more money such as the launches of online stores, makeup brands, and releases of books.
In addition, just like any other social media site, YouTube is susceptible to YouTuber ‘scandals’. A noteworthy case that arose this year centered around British comedy YouTuber Sam Pepper. Famous for prank videos in which he films himself jokingly pranking unsuspecting strangers, Pepper came under fire when several women announced that they have been sexually harassed by Pepper in his videos. These claims were validated when Pepper uploaded a video of him inappropriately touching people’s behinds with a fake hand in public. Receiving lots of backlash and complaints, Pepper quickly took down his video. Although he was never convicted of these crimes by the police, Pepper, who has over two million subscribers, was highly criticized for promoting sexual harassment to his relatively young fanbase. Across the Atlantic, American YouTubers faced similar allegations. Luke Conard, a music-making personality, received lots of unwanted attention when his ex-girlfriends revealed a whole different side to the YouTuber. YouTubers Kristina Horner and Whitney Milam claimed that he was sexually abusive, manipulative, and a cheater. Fellow musician Alex Day faced the same accusations when his ex-girlfriends came forward to speak up against his volatile behavior. Despite that YouTubers put themselves on the Internet daily, viewers only see various ten minute edited clips and do not have an entire insight on these personalities’ private lives.
As YouTube personalities are increasingly becoming more and more successful and recognized around the globe, comments on their videos have gotten extremely judgemental and bitter. Especially for beauty and fashion YouTubers, criticism in comment sections mainly revolve around their supposed inconsiderate flaunting of wealth. Their most popular uploads are ‘haul’ videos. In these videos, a beauty guru would show her viewers what she bought during her latest shopping excursion. For example, on one of Bethany Mota’s haul videos, one could find in the comments section the following: “She never wears any clothes she buys”, and “I can’t wait for the day when [she] realizes that there is more to life than buying new stuff”. While these observations could be true, most comments are mainly based on viewers’ ignorance of YouTuber’s life backgrounds and simply influenced by sentiments of jealousy.
Any mention of achievement to the public is always expected to be attacked by scrutiny and criticism. Negative images aside, the majority of YouTubers are indeed good people at heart. Some use their influence to advocate for humanitarian charities and promote awareness for countless numbers of societal issues. For example, the mental health awareness program Mind has chosen Zoe Sugg as their digital ambassador. Suffering from anxiety herself, Sugg launched her #DontPanicButton campaign to create awareness and support for those who suffer from anxiety and panic attacks. Another YouTuber, Felix Kjellberg (PewDiePie), raised over one million dollars for various charities; for example, he has donated to Water, Save the Children, and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In addition, Tyler Oakley has worked with The Trevor Project, a program that focuses on suicide prevention among LGBTQ young adults.
From instant stardom, to overwhelming support, and not to mention controversies, YouTube personalities have easily taken over social media and the entertainment scene by the storm. Despite the obvious difference between an average viewer and a YouTuber, YouTubers are genuinely normal people who have all begun their careers inside their bedrooms with a single camera. As these personalities become more and more influential to the masses, YouTube surfers and fans worldwide await for their next steps toward becoming the most influential individuals of this modern age.
