What is so special about Youtube to you and why do so many people like it?

As technology has developed, especially since the creation and availability of the internet, it has cast a shadow over traditional methods of communication. The telephone over took telegrams, text messages clambered above phone calls, emails triumphed over SMS’ and now blogging and video blogging has made email a thing of the past.

The introduction of widely available methods of communication has made media production via the internet hugely easier and more popular. YouTube provides a, very large, corner of the internet where users can view vlogs, virals, missed TV programmes, movie trailers, highlights of television, music videos and so much more. It allows up-and-coming musicians to be heard, and hopefully picked up by a record deal. It serves as an outlet for teen angst, with many teenagers [and older], ranting about their daily lives. It heralds as a form of communication with channels being set up solely for keeping in touch with peers and finally it offers a home to the many fandoms surrounding contemporary ‘fads’.
Firstly we have the entertainment side of YouTube. We have the comedians who rack up huge numbers of subscribers, people who are so interested in the progress of the ‘youtuber’ [a user of YouTube] that they make a conscious decision to be notified when they post a new video. In the comedy section of YouTube the most popular youtuber is Smosh, with a whopping 435, 451 subscribers [in comparison to my miniscule 25]. What makes them so popular? Who knows....it might be their hilarious parody videos, the most famous being their version of the Pokemon theme song, so popular it has been featured in a few TV programmes, including the news. It could be their other comedy sketches or simply the fact that they are two fairly young, fairly good-looking guys, who love making people laugh. Whatever they are doing....they are doing it right. Another high-flyer in the comedy section is Fred. Fred is a teenager who has decided to make spoof vlogs posing as a 6year old [basically he has changed his pitch a bit on his audios and tries to use the dialogue of a child]. He has taken on the persona of his character completely, even down to the lack of information about the actor himself. Now, personally, I don’t particularly see the humour of this type of video....but I seem to be in a huge minority.  With 310, 062 subscribers he is the 3rd most popular comedian of all time. Coming up closely behind Fred is the Whatthebuckshow, this comedic mock celeb-gossip commentary, hosted by Michael Buckley, is chaotic, highly energised and completely hilarious [most of the time]. I love Michael Buckley, he seems to be perpetually in a fantastic mood, and bouncing around with far too much energy. Personally, I don’t watch every episode of the whatthebuckshow, but when I do his sharp and witty comedy makes for a great watch. He comments on the big celebrity gossip of the week, usually with scathing satire and over-the-top enthusiasm, the latter I have come to realise is a natural part of his personality.

Another aspect of YouTube is that it gives unsigned musicians an opportunity to show off their talents, whether they are looking for recognition or whether they just like playing music. An example is DaveDays, who has gained a huge fanbase via YouTube. His covers of songs, like ‘Lollipop’ by Lil’ Wayne, put a new spin on popular and well-known tracks. He has also incorporated comedy into some of his videos, with his ongoing theme about his obsession with
Miley Cyrus being a main comedic reference.  Another hugely successful musician is TayZonday. Tay’s fame is due to the viral success of his song ‘Chocolate Rain’. Some find this song amusing, and there have been many parodies carried out in its honour. However, no matter what people think of his uniquely deep voice, it has brought him great success, with the song even being featured in a special edition advert for Pepsi.

YouTube was also the birthplace of vlogging. Vlogging is the replacement of blogging. Blogging comes in the form of an online journal. You make an account, start your journal, and write about your day, what you have been up to, fangirl about the latest development in your fandom and basically keep everyone up-to-date with your life. Blogs come in the form of various websites including LiveJournal, DeadJournal, blogspot.com etc. However one day someone had the idea to blog via a video. This video blogging, or vlogging, has fast become a huge trend in the internet world. One of the most famous vloggers of her day was LonelyGirl15. LonelyGirl15 was seemingly about a young teenager named Bree. Her videos consisted of vlogs about her daily life. However this all changed when it turned out that she was in fact an actress, her channel now produces episodes of an ongoing online drama series. Other well-known vloggers around YouTube include Daxflame, who typically posts his vlogs from the same chair in the same room [there have even been ‘enquiries’ into whether he is who he says he is, or if he is an actor], the vlogbrothers who I will say more about later and finally TylerOakley, Tyler is one of the 5AwesomeGays [another channel which I will discuss further later] and tends to produce a mixture of funny and controversial videos on his personal channel. An example would be his recent ‘Christianity in a Nutshell’ which simplified the religion of Christianity down. Everything he said about the religion was true, but just in a massively simplified form, and for this many have suggested he was attacking the faith. However he has carried on producing fantastic videos and most have a serious and realistic message in them. He is one of my subscriptions and I find his videos easy to watch and very memorable. Vlogs can be about anything, one of the most notable features of a vlog is that it is unrehearsed. The topic can range from likes [NoMoreMarbles is famed for her Twilight-related vlogs] to opinions [rhymingwithoranges’ vlogs are politically orientated] to just about anything [My vlogs are about whatever comes to mind at the point of filming].

One of the foremost reasons that YouTube is such a hit is because it makes communication with people from across the globe simple and one of it’s primary functions seems to be keeping in touch with people. Very recently, mainly this year, there has been a large number of collaboration channels [different to collab videos] being created. The channel that started it all is the vlogbrothers...namely their brotherhood 2.0 project. They decided to communicate for one entire year using textless communication only. Hank and John Green decided to create the channel, post 1 video a day, 5 days a week, alternating between the two of them. This project was revolutionary and has sparked a craze. Their videos provided comedy and laughter, but more importantly a look into the relationship of 2 brothers trying to cope with textless communication. There is a whole fandom created around the brothers, consisting of the self named ‘Nerd-fighters’ [who, contrary to some misunderstandings, don’t fight nerds, they fight for nerds.]. Nerd-Fighters are people who are proud to be themselves [or, as the brothers put it, instead of being made up of tissues and cells and organs, like other humans, nerd-fighters are made entirely of awesome], nerd-fighters work to decrease world-suck and to create a generally nicer atmosphere. The vlogbrothers have made it okay, even cool, to like reading, to wear glasses, to have poufy hair, to like star wars and harry potter.  All the things that make up a nerd, and are negative to some, are fantastically awesome to a nerd-fighter. They also have a catchphrase ‘DFTBA’ [‘Don’t forget to be awesome’] which is widely used over the internet.

One of the vlogbrothers most prominent successors is the FiveAwesomeGirls, even though there are many other FiveAwesome... channels, the fiveawesomegirls were the first. The FiveAwesomeGirls [5AG] are made up of Kristina, Lauren, Kayley, Hayley and Liane. They are five friends from across the US who created the channel to keep in touch easily and to get to know each other. They all have things in common, one of the most notable being their love of Harry Potter. They each post a video weekly on their chosen day, they pose questions and challenges, and generally talk about their daily lives. A similar channel is the 5AwesomeGuys [made up of Alan, Charlie, Alex, Todd and Johnny], who are the male version of the 5awesomegirls. Furthermore we have the 5AwesomeGays [made up of Andy, Korey, Stevie, Joe and Tyler], who are 5 gay males who do exactly the same thing. If you go looking on YouTube you can also find – 5AwesomeMidWesterners, 5AwesomeTwilighters, 7AwesomeNerdfighters, 5Awesome, 5AwesomePeople, FiveAwesomeJs, FiveAwesomeBrits, FiveAwesomenoobs and so many more. There are also a huge variety that don’t start with 5awesome.

An important question that we must ask ourselves is why exactly is YouTube so popular with millions of people? There has got to be something that sets it apart from all the other websites out there. I think one of the most appealing factors about YouTube is that it enables you to reach out to people miles and miles away from the comfort, and safety, of your own home. What sets this particular method of doing that apart from the others, like LiveJournal and other internet forums, is that you have a face to put with the words. There is an actual person, which makes it feel a whole lot more sociable to a lot of people. Also a lot of people feel safer seeing who they are talking to instead of just seeing the words, because with text it could be anyone. One of the joys of YouTube is that it can lead to so much more. It can serve as a place to advertise gatherings, where you can actually meet the people you would only normally see through a screen. For example I am attending my first YouTube gathering this weekend, which has been organised by Kayley from the 5AG, Alex from 5AG and also MissxRojas. Initially I was wary, I had never been to a gathering and I had no one to go with, and so I was nervous to present myself to everyone and hope to be accepted. But after to talking to some of my YouTube friends, I released that that is what I do every time I post a new video. I put myself out there and hope that I won’t be shot down in flames, but it’s a lot easier to do when there is a computer screen between you and the potential rejection. After I finally decided to go, I have been finding myself increasingly excited and I can’t wait to meet the people I watch every day. Youtube provides bridges to new people which help create new friendships. I know that many of the people on YouTube have formed bonds with people that are so strong and that they consider each other true friends.