User:Jamiesparkle/Popularity of YouTube Stars

Popularity:

The popularity of YouTube happened quite quickly. YouTube first got its domain name on February 14th, 2005. However, the website did not have people posting videos until November 2005. As early as 2007, television programs Today Tonight and a Current Affair both broadcasted stories about the most popular clips on YouTube for that year. On New Year’s eve, the producers knew that they would have to provide television that was captivating. The television anchors described YouTube as “amazing, embarrassing, and sometimes downright dangerous moments around the world, and a launching platform for many new stars.”  However, it also had received negative connotations of bring described as “as a threat to media dominance and civil order, and, more recently, as a bona fide mainstream, if somewhat unruly and under-regulated, medium in its own.”  Forbes Magazine also commented that YouTube has, “become a hotbed of narcissism, a library of obscure television, a natural home for short-form comedy, a propaganda tool, a front in the copyright wars, a microcosm of democracy (and its shortcomings).”. The creators realized that YouTube was not simply a place to upload videos and share them. More and more people are posting videos everyday. When YouTube first came into existence the creators would only allow videos to be 10 minutes. People were continually requesting to allow more view time for their videos. According to Joshua Siegel, a YouTube product manager said on July 31st, 2010 that, “without question, the No. 1 requested feature by our creators is to upload videos longer than 10 minutes.”

How they became successful:

Many people today have viewed or posted videos on YouTube. While some videos on YouTube have gained international fame, there is no definitive formula for creating such a video. One of the first YouTube videos that became popular overseas was a video by user MRirian. Her video was simple. She would just stare into the camera and occasionally wave. For some reason, though this is seemingly unremarkable, her video became popular very quickly and got so a vast amount of media attention that media outlets were reaching out to her. She gained 80,000 subscribers and soon after posed in a bikini for Weekly Playboy. Another example that many people may be familiar with is Justin Bieber. He started off in a small town in Canada and had made a few videos of himself performing. He was discovered by his present manager, Scooter Braun who soon introduced him to Usher, which led him to a producer, L.A. Reid. Since then, Bieber has become the pop sensation that he is today.

Characteristics of YouTube Personalities:

A YouTube personality is one that becomes famous and popular and is well known by a large audience. For one to become famous or well-known on YouTube, one has to brand and market themselves. According to Eric Bradlow, a co-director at Wharton Interactive Media Intiative, “developing a personal "brand" can be as important for a financial advisor as for a rock musician.”  From this statement, one can learn that marketing is important for everyone and through YouTube one can do that. People that have posted videos on YouTube and have become successful have done so through engaging viewers. They would engage with their viewers by commenting and talking to them through their videos and YouTube pages. Also, this could be through other social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. These people not only want millions of viewers but they want them to continue to watch. YouTube’s ever-increasing popularity has given more attention to YouTube but has made it more difficult to find videos that are of good quality. Only so many of them can attain fame and popularity. As a result YouTube and Google have come up with the idea of the Creator Institute.