As we see YouTubers on the rise in today’s society, their fame has grown, which has allowed some to be invited to big events such as James Charles and Emma Chamberlain, who attended the Met Gala in 2019. The popularity of YouTube creators could open opportunities outside of the platform.  

According to assistant professor at the Hubbard School of Journalism and Mass Communication Diane Cormany, the impact of YouTube has caused people to want to attain a certain lifestyle.

“I would say that it kind of works with what the influencer culture goals contribute to it and influences people wanting to get into that. So people have been able to make them stars using YouTube, it has become kind of a big pop culture influence in itself, people look up to that and want that for themselves frequently,” Cormany said. 

Creating content for YouTube with a group of friends, junior Jalen Witherspoon said the reason for creating content is for the financial and entertainment aspect of it. 

“Because we want to make people interested in our videos that we draw every day. Get money and entertain all the fans,” Witherspoon said. 

Cormany said YouTube is a part of a massive society in which YouTubers are able to make videos that could be shown worldwide. 

“YouTube specifically works within a larger culture that is known as convergence culture, where people kind of create and modify content and share it across multiple different platforms,” Cormany said.  

According to Business Insider, there are more than 1.8 billion users who have access to YouTube. Many users would watch videos uploaded by YouTubers such as David Dobrik, who has over 10 million subscribers. 

Cormany said YouTube will remain popular due to aspects of the platform such as competition and popularity.  

“I don’t see it going away anytime soon. I mean, it is natural for people to shift their focus and attention. You just see that every couple of years some new social media platform grabs everyone’s attention. YouTube really stands on its own in many ways. There is no direct competitor to it,” Cormany said. 

Junior YouTuber Helen Tefera said a number of people go on YouTube for educational purposes rather than entertainment purposes.

“Some people it on about how to cook food and how to speak another language. Mostly I think people see it for fun and to learn things from it,” Tefera said. 

According to Cormany, it has become harder to gain YouTube fame due to the increase of YouTubers and the way YouTube functions. 

“You need to be featured in a way where people will find you. People don’t usually go looking for content that deeply on YouTube, instead they are looking at what’s suggested to them,” Cormany said. “It’s become more difficult to just kind of do whatever you want and get noticed.”

Tefera and Witherspoon are among the many YouTubers that have gained hundreds of subscribers and views. 

Tefera said there is an upsurge of YouTubers for the wealth you can attain from making videos. 

“(Many people become YouTubers) because there’s a lot of people who want to do it for fun or money for everything,” Tefera said.

Cormany said due to the increase in YouTube it has become difficult for channels to gain popularity. 

“YouTube has made it harder to reach that level because of changing algorithms and changing terms of what content will get boosted because in order to get to that level you need to notice,” Cormany said.  

To check out Witherspoon and the rest of their group’s YouTube channel, go to YSN4l. Tefera’s YouTube channel is called Helen Fanta.