The famous Internet platform, YouTube, has been growing in popularity since its inception in 2005. What has really blown up this past year, however, is the craze of “vlogging”, or video blogging.
Many people are familiar with some of the first viral vlogging channels on YouTube – Shane Dawson, Tyler Oakley, the Shaytards – just to name a few. But what makes these everyday people so appealing?
The world of vlogging has gained such a following that vloggers, everyday people making videos in their bedrooms, are becoming internationally known celebrities. Many vloggers have up to 4 million subscribers on their channels, receiving about 500,000 views per video on average. Many of these “Youtubers” are simply young adults in their early to late 20s sharing their lives with the world.
MaryEllen McGann, junior at UIUC, speaks to the popularity of this trend. “Vlogging gives you reality-based content when you want it”. In this way, to some it is preferable to TV in that it is real people, and it is produced in excessive amounts. Many vloggers post 3-4 times a week.
In an article for the Huffington Post, Cenk Uygur, host of a virally popular news Youtube channel, comments on the advantages that YouTube has over television. “Instead of television executives picking talent, which they are notoriously bad at, the market picks the talent,” Uygur said. It’s also where the audience is: everyone under 30 is online. The world is an endless supply of talent and YouTube is an easy outlet to display it.
“Vlogging is so popular because people are looking to follow those who post frequently and have entertaining content,” McGann said. “With YouTube, you get such a variety content between beauty videos and tutorials, humor videos, daily vlogs, fashion videos, advice videos etc”. Essentially, it is exceedingly user friendly.
YouTube has grown into quite a lucrative business for the most successful of vloggers. Though many started out with simple webcams on their desks, many have since upgraded to legitimate lights and cameras. Teens and young adults have dedicated their lives to Youtube, making it their career. How do they get enough views to do this? They create an unyielding fan base.
Viewers become inextricably attached to their Youtubers. They watch a few videos, feel like they actually know them personally, and then want to keep up with their lives – the addiction is born. YouTube is also extremely interactive. Vloggers often answer viewer questions and encourage writing on the comment section.
“If TV is a monologue, then YouTube is a dialogue,” documentarian Benjamin Cook said. Content is often produced based on fan reactions and demand. It is a mutually functioning beast, viewer and producer working together to create the best content.
According to Uygur, the possibility of YouTube overtaking television is not even a possibility; it is a fact. He says, “our kids will ask, ‘What do you mean there were only a certain number of channels on television? Why didn’t people just start their own channels?’” YouTube is limitless in its content and accessibility. “Like it or not” Uygur insists, “YouTube is coming.”