Youtube - Online platform phenomenon

Youtube - A digital video platform phenomenon

YouTube is an online digital video platform that was founded back in 2005. It allows for the sharing of various forms of video content including art, music, comedy, news and drama. It has experienced a huge rate of growth since its year of construction with YouTube stating that “1 billion unique users were now visiting the video-sharing website every month” (Huffington Post, 2013). These 1 billion people tune into the various, popular YouTube channels where content creators, also known as YouTubers, release weekly or daily videos in order to entertain their audience. Currently the highest subscribed YouTuber is PewDiePie, whose number of subscribers just sits under 57 million, and with YouTube’s growth, the level of stardom that these content creators experience is one, which could be likened to that of a rock star. However with this celebrity status, YouTubers also tend to have a level of power over their audience, most specifically those with over a million subscribers and depending the YouTuber themselves, this power could used in positive or negative ways.

When benefiting their own personal gain, many YouTubers often use their level of power to prompt the audience to purchase merchandise, share the video and give it the thumbs up. This in turn creates a level of revenue that allows many popular content creators to earn a living, and with the audience often fully engaged with a particular YouTube channel, they happily adhere to the request. This request is often always made in the conclusion of the video.

The level of power that a YouTuber can have is often based on the age group that tune into their videos. When looking at YouTubers with an older audience, content creators tend to not have a high amount of power over their audience. However when looking at YouTubers, such as Jake Paul (9 million subscribers), whose audience are in their early teens, the level power that can be seen is much larger. With such a young growing audience, many YouTubers are idolised and this in turn provides them with the tools necessary to have a level of control over their audience.

With YouTube constantly growing, and new celebrities being created, the level power that content creators have over their audience is only going to grow.

Huffington Post. (2013). Youtube Stats: Site has 1 billion active users each month. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/youtube-stats_n_2922543.html