Being a Cyber Celebrity: Making it big on YouTube

Since the birth of television, humanity has held a special fascination with its entertainment superstars. The same is true today, but the constellations are changing. As the popularity of paid television subscriptions declines in favour of online programming, the type of star we admire on our laptop screens is shifting. Move over, Hollywood: today’s celebrities are posting YouTube clips and video chatting with fans. Some are even children—minute millionaires—with worldwide followings. Ready to quit your day job and buy a better webcam? Hold up just a minute—the medium isn’t all fun and online games.

The Billion-Dollar Brainchild

When YouTube masterminds Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim formally launched the video-sharing website in the spring of 2005, the former PayPal employees likely weren’t expecting its exponential rise to fortune. By late 2006, the trio was already negotiating the site’s $1.7 billion sale to Google. The rest, as they say, is virtual history. Today, YouTube’s reach is worldwide, with more than 1 billion users watching over 3 billion hours of video content from 88 countries every month. An estimated 300 hours of video are uploaded every minute. The platform is accessed through hundreds of millions of devices and is one of the highest ranked search engines in the world.

To use the site, individuals need only create an account (called a channel) with a unique user name to begin uploading videos. While the first YouTube videos were amateur at best, today’s YouTube successors have evolved to deliver higher-quality content on thousands of subjects, including comedy, gaming demonstrations, relationship advice, and tutorials on music, makeup and everything in between. A common post is the video blog, or vlog. Video loggers (-vloggers) star in short, entertaining clips where they discuss any number of topics to entice viewers. The system operates something like television, with people posting original material on their channels in order to attract subscribers, who are then notified when new material is released.

In May 2007, YouTube launched the Partner Program, a system that allows content -creators to profit from their material by linking them with advertisers. The implications were huge: the medium could now deliver millions of active viewers to advertisers instantly. Partners with the most subscribers and video views were rewarded with more advertising dollars, and within a year the distributors of the first truly successful viral videos were reportedly pulling in six figures.

Star Status

The name Jenna Marbles may not ring fam-iliar to the less internet-savvy among us, but the thirty-year-old entertainer is a shining example of the possibilities of viral fame. In 2010, she released a humorous two-and-a-half-minute, self-chastising video entitled “How to Trick People Into Thinking You’re Good Looking.” Within a week, the video had been viewed five million times. That number has since soared to over 65 million and opened up a world of opportunity for the popular vlogger, who now has over 16 million subscribers and runs the top female–directed YouTube channel of all time. Marbles now hosts a podcast, has her own line of dog toys based on the pets she lovingly features on her show and has the financial freedom to pick and choose among an eager group of sponsors who want to peddle their products to her devoted fan base.

It is this level of success that has more and more dynamic personalities, like University of Alberta student Ashley Hackman, reaching for the cybernetic stars. The self-taught makeup artist started her YouTube career at a mere twelve years old because “I was bored, and I liked attention, and YouTube seemed like the right place to be in.” The awkward videos of her youth have since been removed, but the twenty-year-old is far from finished. Since beginning to take YouTube’s potential more seriously a few years ago, Hackman has attracted nearly 217,000 subscribers under her screen name, Ashley Elizabeth. She addresses a range of content: in one video, she performs an impressive makeup tutorial or discusses relationship and consent issues; in another, she reviews sexy bedroom toys or recounts entertaining stories about recent dating disasters. Her videos are peppered with cheeky profanity and her excitement about the products she endorses is palpable. She is personable and, most importantly for the medium, authentic. Unlike the highly fictitious world of modern television, YouTube stars succeed by being honest and relatable, actively engaging their audiences. This focus on viewer interaction is the reason that some of YouTube’s earliest breakout stars—comedy duo Smosh, beauty guru Michelle Phan, and LGBT activist Tyler Oakley, to name a few—have been able to build subscriber bases of loyal fans that span a decade. There’s longevity in the cards, if you play them well; that’s what vloggers like Ashley Elizabeth are after.

“Honestly I will ride it as long as it will let me. I’m at the point right now where I’m saying yes to whatever I can. Whatever’s thrown my way, I’m excited to try.”

And there are opportunities, many of them, for creators who are able to harness the average eight-second attention span of today’s viewers and keep them returning to their channels, over and over again. There are so many artists, musicians, singers, comedians, performers and personalities trying to make a name for themselves online that talent scouts now scour YouTube to find the next big breakout stars. A number of modern musical sensations (ever heard of Justin Bieber?) have netted record contracts from large-scale labels after being discovered on the site. Some entertainers, like comedian Grace -Helbig, transition to mainstream television with shows of their own. Others feature in their own full-length movies or documentaries, which are often showcased at film festivals or released for a download fee. Vloggers now take part in YouTube awards ceremonies and conventions, where they celebrate each other’s successes, share ideas, work on new projects and help promote each other’s channels in an environment of collaboration and support.

Every Day I’m Hustlin’…

That support is necessary in an industry that can take up a lot of time without a lot of payback. While it’s true that media moguls like Jenna Marbles reportedly earn more money than they could ever spend, the reality is that smaller channels like Hackman’s—despite having followers that number in the hundreds of thousands—require a lot of persistence to turn profits. “This is definitely not an easy job where someone can just sit in front of a computer and see thousands of dollars roll in,” says Hackman. Many people believe that hosts receive huge advertising bonuses as soon as a video does nominally well, but for someone of Hackman’s status, that amount is akin to “paying off a couple of monthly bills, or putting gas in your car.” For one video, she estimates making somewhere between one and seven dollars per thousand views—after Google takes its heavily criticised 45% cut of the revenue. The amount left can vary from a few hundred to $2000 on a really good month, if she’s able to get great advertisers.

The quest for a regular income has other obstacles as well: the constant growth of the site means creators must compete to get their videos seen by viewers who are already inundated with material. Successful vloggers work full-time (often with few days off) to produce unique videos on a regular basis in order to grow their networks. It can take over a year to build a solid subscriber base on YouTube; once there, it takes a constant presence to keep expectant fans entertained. Despite all this effort, YouTubers who plan, film, star in, edit and market all their own content still get paid pennies compared to their TV-star counterparts. There are also restrictions on what type of content can be monetized: it must be free of copyrighted music and must be deemed “advertiser-friendly.” This excludes sexually suggestive content and humour, violence, profanity, material promoting drug use, and “controversial or sensitive subjects and events, including subjects related to war, political conflicts, natural disasters and tragedies.” The latter point especially has online critics concerned about YouTube promoting censorship by primarily rewarding “entertainment fluff.”

When asked how financially reliable a successful YouTube channel is, Hackman laughs,

“Not at all. It’s the most unreliable thing ever.”

Like many content creators, most of her money actually comes from outside sponsorships and special events, such as live shows. This is where YouTube really thrives. Through the careful development of the Ashley Elizabeth brand, Hackman has been able to establish herself with sponsors like Clinique, who either send her free products to mention on her shows or pay her a set rate to do a dedicated product video. She promotes her channel on other social media platforms and directs her fan base to revenue-generating sites outside of YouTube, like Patreon.com. The crowd-funding website allows fans to make one-time donations or pledge monthly amounts in exchange for more interactive member benefits, such as becoming a pen pal, getting a monthly Skype call and accessing patron-only videos. She is, of course, always on the lookout for potential sponsors, approaching them about as often as they approach her. “I really have to go and hunt for my money,” explains Hackman.

“You have to hunt for companies that are valuable for you and for your channel, for things that you and your audience are all going to respond to. It’s not an easy job. It’s a super fun, exciting, wonderful job, but you do have to work hard. You have to find a balance between selling out and earning a living.”

Little Screen Superstars

Attract an audience, build a brand, make creative videos and secure sponsors. Those are the keys to success, right? That depends. Sometimes, all you need is an adorable face and a dedicated parent. More and more children are tuning into YouTube, and the results are fascinating, if not a little startling. While the web host offers specialized children’s programming on channels like the Mother Goose Club, many kids are primarily engaged by what they can really relate to—other kids. Some of these pint-sized video stars are so successful that they’re paying for college years before starting primary school. In his popular videos, four-year-old Ryan of Ryan’s Toy Reviews unboxes trendy toys and plays with them in front of the camera, adding his own delightful commentary. It’s enough to captivate the attention of 4 million subscribers, most of them three to seven years old. In his highest-ranking video, Ryan cracks open a giant surprise egg full of planes, cars and other toys for kids—the clip has been viewed over 500 million times. Ryan isn’t the only child making millions on the Internet; there are children leading baking classes, reviewing their favourite candy or just playing with their brothers and sisters in front of the camera; together they garner billions of views from people around the world. It’s a phenomenon that has many parents wondering how they can support the online activities of their children and teenagers while also keeping them safe.

Technically, the minimum age for hosting a YouTube channel is thirteen-years-old, but it’s easy for preteens to skirt the requirements and create channels of their own. Posting a video is simple; nowadays, all you need is a cellphone. A few years ago, a disturbing trend emerged where thousands of teenaged and pre-pubescent girls posted online videos of themselves, asking Internet strangers “Am I pretty?” A quick glance at the comments will have any parent wishing they could send their children back to the Internet’s dark ages. Cyber-bullying, also referred to as trolling, is online harassment that can be particularly vindictive due to the anonymity of its perpetrators. Young people and adults are equally vulnerable to targeted harassment: In 2012, celebrated sex educator Laci Green had to temporarily disable her account after receiving serious threats. To help prevent harassment, parents can access a number of online tutorials and resources to make Internet activity safer for their children. A quick Google search of “How to make YouTube safe for kids” yields tens of thousands of results, and the new YouTube Kids app for mobile devices now offers a wider selection of screened content and improved parental controls. Communicating with kids about safe Internet use and the possible repercussions of posting personal material online is exceptionally important, as is working with them on their channels and enabling features like Safety Mode. With the right information and support from their parents, kids just like twelve-year-old Hackman can make a career of being creative online.  t8n

Humble Beginnings

The idea for YouTube originated at a dinner party, after its creators were having difficulty finding certain videos online. What were they looking for? Janet Jackson’s infamous Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction and footage of the devastating 2004 tsunami.

“This is definitely not an easy job where someone can just sit in front of a computer and see thousands of dollars roll in.”

—Ashley Hackman

Play it Safe

Check out the following resources for more information on YouTube’s Safe Mode and ways to make YouTube safer for kids.

https://turbofuture.com/internet/How-to-Help-Your-Kids-Create-a-Smart-and-Safe-YouTube-Account

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/a-parents-ultimate-guide-to-youtube#

“I really have to go and hunt for my money. You have to hunt for companies that are valuable for you and for your channel, for things that you and your audience are all going to respond to. It’s not an easy job. It’s a super fun, exciting, wonderful job, but you do have to work hard. You have to find a balance between selling out and earning a living.”

–Ashley Elizabeth, Vlogger