YouTube Famous!

Have you been on YouTube? I am sure you have. Did you enjoy it? What did you watch? A Cat video? A how to do something video? Do you follow a YouTuber? Today the answer to these questions is mostly a big Yes. YouTube has revolutionized our lives, changing the idea of entertainment and creating a community of artists that can produce not only what the viewers desire but also what they think would be fun, creating gross challenges to fun activities that ask for viewer participation. This new medium has also created various stars - YouTube stars – as we like to call them, e.g. Tyler Oakley, Grace Helbig, Hannah Hart, Joey Graceffa and so on. So what made these YouTubers popular? How did this medium come into existence and what has it done for the world? Read on as we try to discover some answers.

YouTube came into being in 2005 as a website where people could share their videos and thoughts on whatever they like. Today it has turned into a name that almost everyone is aware of and is often used as a search engine to find anything from music to videos on how to fix your car. As the medium became popular, so did the many people who started making videos. Most popular YouTubers today have been a part of the YouTube video production since 2005, slowly building up the community of viewers and subscribers. These YouTubers get paid for the number of views they receive and through the merchandise that they sell, turning their names and channels into brands. These are regular individuals that started out with a passion to entertain or share what they care about and YouTube has given them them the platform to support themselves financially as they do what they love.

But has YouTube also created value for the community besides entertainment? Yes it has. YouTube has been used by various people to bring awareness in communities about topics such a bullying in schools, hate crimes, LGBT causes, animal rights and so on. Many people have used the platform to spread word about funding a special project, e.g. Tyler Oakley – one of the most popular YouTubers - raises money for LGBT support group, The Trevor Project, each year on his birthday. He raised more than $500,000 for the organization during the fundraiser. Many similar projects have brought light to social issues in our communities and rose funding to support charity organization working to solve these issues.

Today YouTube has become a popular medium for sharing videos. It has done well for the art community, providing it a platform to produce what they desire and be their authentic selves. It has also given the viewer a chance to share their opinion on what they like to watch and what they wish to see improved. It has also become a way of raising awareness in the community about social, political and economic issues, dissipating knowledge to common man and raising funds for charities. So the next time you’re on YouTube, think of all the good things it has created and share a video if you are passionate about something.