We’re all familiar with YouTube, the video-sharing website known for popularizing viral, music and cat videos, among many others. Remembering some of the past videos that we've watched can bring back some of our fondest memories. From our favorite fail videos and the best challenges, over to those amazing covers or even "that weird part" of YouTube, entertainment seems to be limitless on the website we have grown to love.
But today YouTube has become more than just a silly, fun website. It's actually produced some of the biggest rising stars in entertainment today. I'm not just talking famous viral video stars you may already be familiar with like Fred or Rebecca Black, even though they have moved past their early online fame and have developed new, successful careers outside YouTube; people have actually created entire careers out of being YouTubers -- something that had never been done before.
Vloggers like Joey Graceffa have become famous for documenting their lives and publishing it online. Gamers, such as SkyDoesMinecraft (who has even appeared in a Lady Gaga music video), have become well known in the gaming community for their play-throughs and commentary on video games. Beauty Gurus (take Bethany Mota for instance) have flourished on YouTube for their application of beauty products and "How To" or "DIY" lessons, and have often launched fashion or cosmetic lines as well.
When I say that these people have found successful careers on YouTube, I mean it. Posting videos on YouTube may have just been a hobby for these people, but it blossomed into more than they could have ever imagined. The most popular male content creator PewDiePie and the most popular female content creator Jenna Marbles have amassed subscription bases of over 39 and 15 million respectively. Chances are you have probably stumbled upon one of their videos at some point in your life, and this is because their influence is so large and affects such a vast amount of people. Although many refer to themselves as "average people" who happened to catch a lucky break on YouTube, in reality these YouTubers are full-fledged celebrities who are successful because of their comedic, intellectual and production skills.
And these people have also used their branding expertise to expand their careers into other industries. Grace Helbig guest starred on Chelsea Handler's show and now hosts her own comedy talk show "The Grace Helbig Show" on E! Todrick Hall, formerly of "American Idol" and known for creating viral music videos, now has his own MTV show "Todrick" documenting his life. The Fine Brothers have created a show on Nickelodeon as a spin-off of their original YouTube series, React. Josh Elkin of Epic Meal Time is now the host of a Cooking Channel show.
YouTube creators have also made ground in writing. John Green, the author of the popular books "The Fault In Our Stars" and "Paper Towns," actually started out on YouTube alongside his brother. Among the many other YouTubers who have since also written books is Miranda Sings, the Internet character created by Colleen Ballinger Evans known for her outspoken opinions on fame and talent despite herself owning little to none. Her comedy routine, for which she goes on world tours, even gained the attention of Jerry Seinfeld, which led to an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Falon.
Justin Bieber even had his career beginnings on YouTube back in 2007. Since then the music industry has seen its fair share of singers come from YouTube. In recent years, Tori Kelly has managed to make it big after gaining recognition for her acoustic covers. Pentatonix, the a cappella group that won The Sing-Off, avidly post on YouTube and have established themselves in the music industry with their medleys and arrangements, which even won them a Grammy in 2015. Two of the founding members even created their own comedic/musical channel Superfruit. Troye Sivan, an Australian YouTuber has created two CDs, one of which earned praise from Taylor Swift, and has also appeared on a Zedd track.
Other YouTubers have also delved into other industries. Shane Dawson and Smosh, two of the more experienced and most watched channels on YouTube, have both directed their very own films. Tyler Oakley and Zoella, two of the most famous and recognizable YouTube personalities in the world, are on the front cover of this month's issue of Seventeen magazine. Gigi Gorgeous, noted for publicly coming out as a transgender woman on YouTube, acts as an ambassador for the trans community, and comedian and actress Natalie Tran has hosted discussions on important social issues, such as her Asians in Media Talk.
With YouTubers proving themselves to be fully capable of expanding their talents across many different industries, we should all expect many of them to become household names in the near future. Despite this fact, there continue to be people who are ignorant of their cultural impact in today's society. But YouTube personality iJustine summed up the perfect response to those people in her acceptance speech at The Streamy Awards and showed that YouTubers are actually more than simply YouTubers.
"This is for the fans, this is for the viewers, this is for everybody in this room who thought that we were all crazy, and we made a career out of something that we loved and were passionate [for]," she said.
