The rise of YouTubers – how will traditional TV fight back?
10 years later and more than 1 billion users, YouTube has become a staple of every online user's diet. The platform has also opened the door for individuals to become celebrities in their own right, with over 300 hours of video uploaded per minute. And have you ever heard of PewDiePie? They have over 36 million subscribers. To put that into perspective, DSTV had a South African subscriber base of just over 5 million last year, and it's allegedly declining. – Stuart Lowman
By *Daniel Schmidt
One of my favourite people is a YouTuber. Her name is Zoella and she has over 8 million subscribers on her channel, simply for her ability to brighten a person's day. She's worked hard at making her channel a place where people can watch while relaxing, learning and being inspired. Her fans adore her – she's everybody's friend and many people's hero.
Heroes are not new, but to understand why people worship them is to delve a bit deeper into the human psyche. People have always admired others and it happens for various reasons. It's a vital part of the human experience, which has a darker side in modern day celebrity worship. It wasn't strange to have a hero in ancient times. Military men were idolised for their strength – defenders of their people in times of war. Sport had the power to pull the people of Rome together and they assembled in hordes to watch the gladiators, warriors who were revered for ability in armed combat.
Fast forward to the 20th century. Sport is far less brutal but is still acted out in an arena full of spectators, where the accomplishments of regular men can rapidly transform them into superstars. The experience is not exclusive to athletes. At some point a celebrity culture is born and the exploits of film stars, singers, dancers and other luminaries bring them devoted fan bases.
Sometime after 2000, reality TV becomes a mainstream trend and grows into an immensely popular genre. Talent is no longer a prerequisite to enormous fame and the ratings for 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians' soar through the roof. Something amazing happens in 2005 though: YouTube is born. It's a free online platform that enables personal video uploads. It empowers people to distribute and showcase motion picture material. Those who catch on to it are able to use creativity to change what people can watch every day – it's the start of what I believe to be a "broadcast content revolution".
I say this because people still love TV, but over time YouTube has changed the way we think about broadcast. More interestingly, it laid down a brand new set of ground rules for the road to fame.
How is YouTube different from TV?
There are three main differences between YouTube and television: choice, quality and community.
Choice – TV audiences consume what's on offer by the media conglomerates, YouTube users decide which channels they want to subscribe to. The self-governing nature of the web means that there is no shortage of content but much like television, only the entertaining stuff catches on.
Quality – Our parents warned us about the dangers of television. Reality producers are creating all the distortions and variations of "reality" that the masses enjoy becoming embroiled in. Most of the drama and personal conflict isn't real, but everybody loves a good scandal. YouTube viewers engage with educational content more regularly than those glued to the TV, where glamour and materialism offer a form of escape. One man's trash is another man's treasure, but I'd be willing to bet that the dumbing down of the Y generation is more likely to happen in front of the tele than on the internet.
Community – YouTubers put hard work and dedication into building their channels and although many of them do it to earn a living through Adsense, they use view counts and user comments to discern which content their viewership is most interested in. As a result, they create environments that their communities enjoy, where each video adds value and meaning. Independent YouTubers are also not protecting other corporate interests, which means their subscribers are served with content there is no need to censor in any way.
How has YouTube changed celebrity culture?
Celebrities create channels on YouTube, but so do ordinary people. YouTube has given these ordinary folk a voice and it turns out that the public absolutely wants to hear from them. If you think the lines between YouTube and reality fame are blurred, you may be onto something. For the most part though, YouTube videos are personal creations that come from a real place, while there's no denying reality shows are concocted and staged.
Celebrity worship as a disorder hasn't changed. People are still overly involved with the details of celebrities' personal lives. Tabloid newspapers will still fly off the shelves when a scandal breaks, but YouTube has changed the formula to becoming a celeb. It was the YouTubers who bent the rules – they created their own celebrities by using one of the oldest known arts: storytelling. Their communities are so devoted there's no question of their success – Felix Kjellberg, Jenna Marbles and Ryan Higa, some of the best storytellers, have over 65 million subscribers between them.
With the rise of social media, was this to be expected?
To untangle technology and online media would be problematic in and of itself, but these two components will probably become even more convoluted with celebrity status over the next ten years.
The staggering success that YouTube celebs have found in the last decade paints the picture of a world where online communities have broken the dominance of televised media. It's a story of hope in a world of "reality" drama, where someone from an ordinary background can find success through being articulate and entertaining.
A hero should be someone who simply found a better way, who led through innovation and helped the advancement of their community. Social media is all about community and there were bound to be stories of heroes and hope. Over the next 10 years, if the guidelines for fame are broken once more, will we ever see a channel epitomise the transition the way YouTube has?
Top 10 independent YouTubers (by subscriber count)
PewDiePie – 36,694,901
HolaSoyGerman – 22,208,349
Smosh – 20,425,547
Jenna Marbles – 15,067,003
nigahiga – 14,380,462
The Fine Bros – 12,338,744
Ray William Johnson – 10,801,766
VEGETTA777 – 9,712,541
Shane Dawson – 6,562,200
TheWillyrex – 6,816,963
* Daniel Schmidt is from Mark 1