Name: Aili Middleton
Age: 19
Major: Communication
Hobbies: Traveling, movies, shopping, baking, reading…
HCUSC: When and why did you choose to become a YouTuber?
AM: I started my YouTube channel in November 2012, so I’ve been making videos for just over 3 years now. I was obsessed with watching beauty gurus on YouTube, and I was inspired me to start my own channel. I was interested in makeup and fashion so I thought it would be cool to make videos of my own. I also had an interest in filmmaking so it was a fun creative outlet for me to experiment with filming and editing. It was definitely scary at first, and I was terrified of people at my school finding out. Now, three years later, I’m so happy I was brave enough back then to take that leap of faith and try something new.
HCUSC: What is your YouTube channel about?
AM: Right now my channel is a mix of beauty, fashion, and lifestyle videos. I’m currently on a bit of a hiatus because I’ve been busy with college, and I’m taking some time to rethink the direction of my channel.
HCUSC: What do you think is the trend on Youtube?
AM: I feel like YouTube is becoming oversaturated with the same types of videos, and I’ve heard a lot of people complain that a lot of the popular “beauty gurus” seem to have blended into the same person. It’s easy to see the trends of what types of videos gain the most views–DIYs and life hacks, room decor, comedy videos, morning routines, expectations vs. reality, etc. These videos have been done over and over again, and it’s the same type of video every time. Original content, like creative lookbooks, and more personal videos get less traction and so I think people have started to move away from creating this type of content. Even hauls and makeup tutorials aren’t as popular anymore, at least not in the way they were a few years ago. I admire the YouTubers who have stayed true to their unique style and continue to put out original and meaningful content, because I think that’s harder to do these days when YouTube seems to be less about sharing your life and more about superficiality.
At the same time, I’ve definitely been influenced by these trends, and lately I’ve been unsatisfied with my video content because I feel like I’m not making videos for the right reasons anymore. It’s incredibly easy to fall victim to the pressures of creating content that you know will be popular, as opposed to content that you genuinely are passionate about. It’s a constant struggle between wanting to do your own thing and wanting to please your audience. Even if you’re not in it for the numbers, you still want people to watch your content and give you feedback. That’s why you’re putting yourself out there in the world. So it’s tempting to make videos that you know will get a lot of views, just because people are searching for them more–for example, I’ve definitely noticed a difference in the popularity of my DIY videos versus more personal videos like me opening up my 2015 memory jar. The memory jar video definitely shows more of my personality and it allowed me to share bits of my life with my viewers, but it didn’t do nearly as well as my DIY videos in terms of the view count and subscriber engagement (comments and likes). That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it can discourage people who want to focus primarily on building and growing their audience.
HCUSC: There are so many Youtubers in this world, how do you manage to distinguish yourself from the others?
AM: It’s definitely hard, and like I said I’m having a bit of an “identity crisis” with my channel. (lol) I want to move away from beauty and fashion and focus more on lifestyle and things like self love, motivation, and advice. That’s not to say that I won’t make beauty and fashion videos anymore–I’m still passionate about both–but I don’t want that to be all my channel’s about, because it’s definitely not what I’m all about. I feel like the best way to distinguish yourself in the community is to be authentic. As cliche as that sounds, offering something that is unique and different from what is already out there will give people a reason to come back to your channel, and you’ll be able to form a connection with your viewers. Engaging with your audience is probably the most rewarding part of the whole experience, and that’s hard to do if you’re making videos that are the same as what everyone else is doing.
HCUSC: Any suggestions for those who want to start a YouTube channel?
AM: One thing I’ve learned is to not care so much about the numbers (views and subscriber count) because someone could have 50,000 subscribers and have a loyal and highly engaged audience, and then someone could have 300,000 subscribers and barely interact with their viewers. Another important thing to keep in mind when you want to grow your audience is to find the right balance between videos that you want to make and videos that are popular, so for example you could make a morning routine but put your own twist on it, or do a DIY video featuring new and interesting project ideas instead of the ones you always see on Pinterest. It’s important to focus on building an audience while still staying true to yourself.