All of us by now are extremely familiar with YouTube. It's our go-to destination for everything from music videos to short clips from our favorite late night TV shows to cute cat videos. YouTube has a plethora of content for everyone to dive into and it has only been growing since its inception in 2006.
According to YouTube, every day, people watch millions of hours of YouTube content, and now, people under the age of 35 watch YouTube more than they watch any one cable network. Statistics from a review of YouTube report that 128 million unique viewers log onto YouTube in the U.S. alone every month and there are reports that for people under the age of 35, traditional TV viewership is down by over 20 percent. It looks like YouTube is replacing traditional television as the main source of entertainment in the younger half of the U.S. population, but why?
For anyone that watches YouTube regularly, the answer is obvious; the enormous array of content. No matter what it is you are interested in watching, I promise there is a YouTube channel dedicated to it, with the most popular channels being gaming personalities, talk show segments, and VEVO channels. But what is so attractive about this type of media? The answer is its inclusive nature. Our generation is obsessed with interaction with others in any social media form. The same reason people enjoy posting 12 selfies a week on Instagram is the same reason why people love YouTube. You get to interact with the celebrities of these sites by viewing their photos/videos, profiles/channels, and participating in their comment sections. Celebrities on social media platforms, which YouTube is in a broad sense, seem more personable and able to be connected with than actors on traditional TV mediums. You can comment on a YouTube video and it's possible that they might respond to you, especially so if it's a small channel. If you sent a letter or message to a typical celebrity, they are much less likely to respond.
In the area of YouTube celebrities (who got famous on YouTube, not famous artists or TV show hosts), they also seem much more like the viewers themselves. They appear as an approachable standard. Many popular YouTube stars started off filming low quality videos by themselves or with friends just for fun, and that appeals to viewers because they used to be just like everyone else until they followed their passion and got discovered. This is the attractive quality of YouTube and why it's on the same playing field as Instagram as a social medium. If you can just produce something unique, funny, or creative yourself, then it's possible that you could become an internet celebrity also. It is because of this that our generation is so obsessed with YouTube because the celebrities represent real people that their viewers can relate to, who are also producing quality content regularly that their viewers can enjoy.
