The year was 1927. Philo Taylor Farnsworth, who ironically lived without electricity for most of his childhood, was the first person to successfully establish what we now know as the television (insert oohs and aahs here). It took the world by storm, to say the least. The television eventually came to surpass the radio in the competition of preferred entertainment. And, for most of us millennials, the television has contributed to a huge portion of our childhoods. What would life have been like without the infectious Rugrats theme song and painfully relatable tales of adolescence through the eyes of Lizzie McGuire? For us, it is hard to imagine. But believe it or not, there is an entirely new generation growing up without those things we hold near and dear and, instead, are finding recreation in something else. The new form of television? YouTube.
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Likes, views, and subscribers – all the makings of a new YouTube celebrity. YouTubers, the endearing name given to people who post video content to the website, are entertaining their audiences in the same way as any Real Housewives of (Insert City Here) or Netflix documentary, with the difference being that YouTube is free! (Aside from the monthly Wi-Fi costs that mostly everyone forgets about, but you get the idea.) No costs. No commitment. No worries. That is the magic in YouTube. Viewers subscribe to what they truly enjoy, and it is just as easy to subscribe as it is to unsubscribe if you get a little bored.
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Most young adults are no strangers to names like Jenna Marbles, Tyler Oakley or Miranda Sings. These YouTubers are just a few of the people earning their livelihoods from simply making videos. Not to imply that filming and editing videos on a regular basis is easy, but these YouTubers are, in essence, able to support themselves by doing something they may have just started for fun. To make it even better, their viewers do not have to give anything up in return except for a “thumbs up” and a few minutes of their time. This win-win situation, which is rarely found nowadays, is what originally brought YouTube so much success and continues to do so today.
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The array of possibilities available to successful YouTubers does not just end on the Internet. Many have broken out of the mold of your laptop and are now appearing in national bookstores, clothing stores and even cosmetic shops. Earlier this year, comedian Grace Helbig stepped in front in of E! Network cameras to film her own TV show. In addition to this, some family vloggers on the video-sharing site, such as Gabe Babe TV, can now be seen on television commercials shown nationwide.
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When it comes to the battle of YouTube vs. television, which comes out on top? Although YouTube is massively popular, TV shows like Scandal and The Vampire Diaries still have viewers at the edge of their seats weekly. That is a quality that YouTube, and even Netflix, does not necessarily have. But will the costs ever outweigh the rewards?
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Television is not necessarily a thing of the past, but YouTube is most definitely a thing of the future. With viral videos sprouting up like weeds and a new YouTube sensation born every day, will the entertainment in television form start to become obsolete? Stay tuned.