louise pentland

Evolving YouTube

Mary2 Comments

A few weeks ago I wrote a response to Louise’s video about YouTube culture which you can read HERE. Since then a lot has taken place on the site I love so much. Yesterday, incase you weren’t aware, my favorite male YouTuber, Connor Franta, quit his collab channel Our 2nd Life (O2L). He made a video that made me cry, not because he was leaving O2L, but because he revealed that he has been unhappy with working on YouTube for six months and it felt to him that it had turned into a job. I think that’s something that’s starting to hit a lot of YouTubers, especially the ones who upload more than once a week.

With gaining over over 4.5 MILLION subscribers in the past year and a half Zoella, or Zoe Sugg is a perfect example of the rapid growth in the YouTube audience. One of my favorite YouTubers named Lex (check her out here) made a video after Vidcon (the largest YouTube convention) revealing some disappointment that it’s a signing instead of meeting and talking to your favorite YouTubers, but what else can you do when 20,000 people buy tickets? Anyway, I’m sorry I’m getting distracted from the point.

The point is when this was a career for most YouTubers they stopped their other jobs when they started getting sponsors and most likely hit 20k subscribers (when you start getting paid per subscriber) not when they hit a million and are most likely making buckets of money. This is different than being an actor or actress in Hollywood though because you don’t have that constant protection. You don’t have someone holding off people at your house, when they ring your doorbell for an hour- Alfie from PointlessBlog tweeted that there were girls outside of Zoe’s apartment for over an hour, that’s not okay. They also aren’t prepared or ready when they go out in public to get mobbed by viewers, the viewers should maybe say hi, and if they aren’t busy ask for a picture, but they shouldn’t stalk their favorites.

This is also different than Hollywood because “the fans” are also the critics and they have a lot more control over the content of what a YouTuber makes rather than what an actor or actress stars in, but they also have a lot of control over a person’s emotions. Personally, I’ve never had to deal with any sort of hate on WordPress from anyone, let alone a complete stranger halfway across the world.  I know Alfie recently was feeling the pressure of this, actually Zoe was too. Alfie was tweeting about how sorry he was about the lack of videos, but he was traveling to visit fans. He can’t please the whole world, and I think that’s what’s expected of YouTubers sometimes. Zoe did a whole month of daily vlogging and the one day was her just basically crying, I don’t think she was throwing herself a pity party or anything, I think she was genuinely upset about how things were going that day. I think the whole new fame thing is a lot to handle for a lot of these people who never intended to have  millions watching their every move.

I really feel and I will never understand the whole sending hate thing. It’s one thing to send hate to a celebrity on TV, they probably aren’t going to see it. They have other problems than a troll commenting on videos that they didn’t put up themselves. YouTubers on the other hand have both problems, they see all of the comments that their viewers post, good and bad, as well as seeing all of the hate that is starting to leak into mainstream media about them. Tanya Burr was on the list for worst dressed at an event, so that sucks, and then she gets to go home to look at the latest comments on her videos and there’s hate. I can’t even imagine what life would be like for them.

When it’s starting to come down to it, I think a lot of the reasons people started to YouTube are fading and it is becoming a job, and a chore to a lot of big YouTubers. That brings me to my last question, how long is this going to last? Let me know what you think in the comments. And just a heads up this is probably going to be my last post about this whole evolving YouTube stuff, I know it’s not that interesting to most people.

XOXO,

Mary.

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YouTube Culture Response

Mary3 Comments

Recently one of my favorite YouTubers, Louise aka Sprinkle of Glitter, did a video on the YouTube culture and ever since it has made me think about the YouTube community, especially the fandoms. If you haven’t seen it, it’s above and this is my response to that so maybe you want to watch it.  Most of the people I watch on YouTube have been there for quite sometime, and I don’t think any of them intended to start that endeavor with the intention to become an internet sensation. Up until now, I would have considered myself a part of the general YouTube fandom, then focusing on the Brit Crew, Connor Franta,  and Troyler. Now, I don’t know if I want to associate myself with that. I used to consider these people role models, but Louise is right, we only see the good parts. I just don’t know what to think any more.

Okay so first and foremost, have you seen any vlogs from Italy or Digitour? Fans are going crazy. People freak out as if these people are One Direction. That’s awesome for them, but that’s not something I would want to do if I ever met my favorite YouTubers, I would want to be able to talk to them. I would want to know them as people more than people on a screen that I see once a week maybe. That’s like a dream of mine, but seriously so impractical looking at where they are now. I wanted to go to things like Digitour, Playlist, and VidCon but now I’m not so sure. I don’t want to wait in line for hours upon hours to wait in line to never get to actually meet people who are in a rush to meet the next person. I want to sit down and talk to them, know them like I feel like I do.

When Louise, Zoe, Alfie, Marcus, Connor, and so many “original” YouTubers mostly were just there for a creative outlet. Some went to college, some had day jobs, and others were trying to figure out their lives. I really think that was good, but somewhere along the lines I think things started to spiral. I’m really curious as to how this happened, I mean everyone knows Jenna Marbles, she’s huge and I think that’s where it started. Then there are collabs, that introduces you to more and more YouTubers. It’s a new generation of celebrities, and no one really expected it. However, is this a fleeting or what? Remember Fred? Well Lucas has his own channel now (to be honest, I haven’t seen any videos) but for a while everyone thought he made it, but his fame vanished almost as quickly as it came.

I believe YouTube is a great outlet for people, and it really gives great exposure to people who are trying to be discovered whether that’s singing/acting/directing or whatever, but really that whole idea has changed. People now go on YouTube to become what is considered  “YouTube” famous. What does that mean now? Every day more and more people are hitting one million subscribers, twitter followers, instagram followers, and Facebook likes, is this what YouTube fame is? I think this goes down into what is fame. As time goes on I think the majority of people really are starting to desire fame. Fame is just what people look for in life, they think that they will not be fulfilled until they are recognized by many. However, I’m getting off topic with my rant on self-fulfilment and fame.

Anyway, I think Louise brought up some really great points and aspects of the YouTube culture, but I also think that it’s not going to change the thoughts of others. There are always gong to be people who base their thoughts and ideas off of others, and I think Louise is a role model to many and that’s not going to change. She’s done videos on body confidence, self harm, love, friendships, giving loads of advice to many people, which I think will always inspire people and motivate them to be better people. When I look at that, does that mean that she is qualified to be role model? I’m not sure. I think more than anything her video made me think about who I should consider an influence in my life, that even includes people on a day to day basis. There’s a lot to consider before calling someone a role model. I do think everyone impacts you and inspires you in different ways. I mean I didn’t just decide to blog one day, it was something I always thought about or wanted to do, but if it wasn’t for one of Caspar Lee’s videos I watched I don’t think I ever would have followed through. I would disagree that she’s not an inspiration, maybe not a role model, but she does say inspiring things and does help so many people, especially young girls gain confidence. I don’t think that’s something anyone should downplay either.

These are just my thoughts on this, let me know what you think about this evolving fame in the comments! I would love to talk to you guys about this. Thanks for reading! I’m sorry I know this might not appeal to everyone either.

XOXO,

Mary.

Girl Power Tag!

Mary3 Comments

I was recently honored to be tagged in the Girl Power Tag by Jona, a beautiful blogger who writes about basic college stuff from fitness and health to funny emails (okay they aren’t meant to be funny) her college sends her to even reviews on beauty products. Jona also takes really good pictures that she puts with her posts, and that just adds to them.  She is a true inspiration to bloggers. Here is her post that will also connect you to her blog, which I highly suggest to everyone http://jona562662.wordpress.com/2014/02/10/girl-power-tag/.

Anyway it was an ironic kind of funny when she tagged me in this because as soon as I read that I was tagged in this (via email, before reading her post) I read my copy of Seventeen Magazine which is what the tag is based off of. So with that random bit of randomness, without further ado I present the Girl Power Tag.

What does girl power mean to you?

To me girl power is being self-confident and not worrying about what people think about you, especially men. It’s empowering when you can be 100% yourself without the constant fear of judgement, and that’s girl power. Be yourself in a situation where it’s hard or you want to conform to someone else’s opinion of you.

What the best advice you can give to girls who want to be powerful?

Be yourself. Don’t try and be Taylor Swift, Hillary Clinton, Miley Cyrus, Michelle Obama, Jennifer Aniston, Tina Fey, the Queen of England, or your mom, be who you are and who you want to be. Just because society loves those people and they’re awesome doesn’t mean that they’ll love you or think you’re awesome when you try and be someone you aren’t. These women became powerful by being themselves and embracing who they were and their own talents.

If you could have one superpower what would it be and how would you use it?

I would without a doubt read people’s minds. I would want to know who really likes me and who wishes I wouldn’t hang around. I hate wasting my time with people who don’t care since I did that most of high school. I want to know what people are really thinking so I know who really cares and who really doesn’t. Plus this would be an advantage when it comes to jobs, tests, and all those things, you would know what the evaluator really wants to hear. I know that kind of contradicts my earlier point, but be yourself once you get the job or you get a perfect test be yourself in a better position. 

What makes you feel powerful?

The one thing that makes me feel really powerful is expressing my opinion and people listening to it and respecting it. I have really strong feelings about certain things sometime (I know super specific) and sharing those and having people listen just makes me feel powerful. Jona also included that the original question was what beauty product makes you feel powerful and to answer that one really quickly I would have to say concealer  because it hides my blemishes and helps me feel more confident which definitely leads to feeling powerful.

Why is it important to have powerful girls as role models?

It’s important to have powerful girls as role models because they give you someone to look up to and aspire to be like. Someone who is powerful and is doing amazing things with their lives are great people to look up to and be inspired by. Powerful women influence our lives because they give us important things to think about and aspire to be. I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the influence of powerful women.

What other young women do you think are powerful and why?

The first two women I am going to mention some of you may not know, but if you know anything about the British YouTube Crew you probably know them. They are Louise and Zoe from Sprinkle of Glitter and Zoella. Not only are they YouTubers but they are also bloggers. Louise is a mom, but she is still super inspiring. She posts on Instagram nearly everyday about her working out for her New Years Resolution and if that’s not inspiring enough she makes videos on how to be body confident and various other subject matter like that. She was actually my inspiration to start blogging for real rather than half ass it.  Zoe is also a huge inspiration because she does talks with Louise where they give advice on topics like college, weight, and other various serious things. I also think that she helps people like myself with anxiety. She is an example of how much you can do when it’s hard to get out of bed.

So for those of you who don’t know them, I would have to say that Miley Cyrus is definitely a powerful woman. She is destroying her previous reputation and even though she’s gone a little crazy she’s still making an impact. She’s being herself and anyone can see that. She is no longer Hannah Montana and she is finally showing the world who she really is.

So that’s it for the tag, I hope you guys liked it. Since I was actually tagged in something for once instead of just doing it, I decided that I should tag some people too! So here it goes, you guys should also check out the blogs! These ladies are super cool and nice and awesome! I hope they enjoy and maybe actually do this, so hint hint ladies, I would like you to do this!

laurenthenerdable

Leaves of Logan

Musings Of Lindsay

Also I think I’m done trivia, unless there are any major protests, it was a failed experiment in my opinion.

XOXO

Mary