What Kind of Person is a Youtube Star?

Ben Popper — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 07:00:01 -0400

Franchesca Ramsey and Emily Kim are still working towards their big break, now with a little help from Youtube and the team at Next New Networks.

To understand what it takes to become a Youtube superstar, with millions of followers and opportunities both on and off the web, we took a look at some of the channels with the most subscribers.

Emotion seems to trump intellect and a stream of consciousness, while cleverly edited, is still the lingua franca for popular vloggers.

Let’s start with the local talent. New York comedian Ray William Johnson 3,474,255 subscribers by cracking wise on viral videos that bubble up. He also got so popular among spanish speakers that a whole new video channel got spun out to redo his show en espanol.

" data-medium-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/raywilliamjohnson-e1304334111962.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/raywilliamjohnson-e1304334111962.jpg?w=625" width="150" height="103" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/raywilliamjohnson-e1304334111962.jpg?w=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Ray William Johnson" /> Jody Riveria, aka Venetian Princess, got her start in 2006. Since then she has racked up 1,000,234 subscribers based on her fully costumed parodies of celebrity babes like Britney and Snooki. For those uninterested in pop culture, Riveria also posts vlogs where she just sits in her car talking about shopping for antiques.

" data-medium-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/venetian-princess.png?w=300" data-large-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/venetian-princess.png?w=640" width="150" height="106" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/venetian-princess.png?w=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Venetian Princess" /> Toby Turner, aka Tobuscus, is best known for his “literal revies” of video games, in which he sings along to exactly what he sees during the trailer. With 913,945 subcribers, Turner has also made the jump to Sundance films and was briefly rumored to be seeing iJustine.

" data-medium-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/tobuscus-e1304334181832.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/tobuscus-e1304334181832.jpg?w=625" width="150" height="84" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/tobuscus-e1304334181832.jpg?w=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Tobuscus" /> Phan has been posting tips on how to apply makeup since 2006, becoming the most viewed female Youtuber in the process. Her 1,311,272 subscribers study clips like “Romantic Valentine Look”, “Brighter Larger Looking Eyes”, “Makeup for Glasses”, and “Mysterious Masquerade Look”.

" data-medium-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/michelle-phan2.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/michelle-phan2.jpg?w=500" width="150" height="99" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/michelle-phan2.jpg?w=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Michelle Phan" /> Dawson got his start when he decided to turn videos in to his teachers in place of homework. They eventually ended up online, where Dawson’s channel has racked up 2,467,699 thanks to recurring characters like Sha Nay Nay. Recently he’s begun to work interactive, chose your own adventure elements into his postings.

" data-medium-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/shane-dawson.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/shane-dawson.jpg?w=480" width="150" height="112" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/shane-dawson.jpg?w=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Shane Dawson" /> It all started with a poorly produced spoof on life as a ninja. Since then Ryan Higa, aka NigaHiga, has added 3,605,520 subscribers to his channel, where he parodies celebs and comments on current events.

" data-medium-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/ryan-higa-nigahiga-e1304334236120.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/ryan-higa-nigahiga-e1304334236120.jpg?w=595" width="150" height="138" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/ryan-higa-nigahiga-e1304334236120.jpg?w=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="NigaHiga" /> Justine Ezarik went above and beyond many of the stars here, livecasting her daily activities for many years on a nearly continuous basis. As her fame grew her live channel fell silent, but she still maintains a prodigious output, with videos across five different verticals and appearances on numerous network TV shows.

" data-medium-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/ijustine.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/ijustine.jpg?w=500" width="150" height="112" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/ijustine.jpg?w=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="iJustine" /> Philip Defranco runs his vlog with the most traditional format, almost like a talk radio show. Sxephil has 1,582,660 subscribers and comments on fairly serious issues, by the standards of the internet, like the Zadroga bill.

" data-medium-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/philip-defranco.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/philip-defranco.jpg?w=543" width="150" height="132" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/philip-defranco.jpg?w=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Sxephil" /> My personal favorite, run by rapscallion known only as Damien, this channel involves a lot of angry shouting while playing video games. Watching him pawn noobs while venting his aggression is ACTUALLY as satisfying as doing it yourself.

" data-medium-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/makemebad.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/makemebad.jpg?w=600" width="150" height="112" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/makemebad.jpg?w=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Makemebad" /> Kevin Wu is currently a film student at UC Davis and one of the most popular comedians on Youtube. His 1,517, 305 subscribers have made him the top results for innocuous search terms like “is k…”. Type it is an watch the amazing autofill for yourself.

" data-medium-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/jumba-e1304334550233.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/jumba-e1304334550233.jpg?w=625" width="150" height="112" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/jumba-e1304334550233.jpg?w=150" class="attachment-thumbnail" alt="Kevjumba" />

Betabeat » What Kind of Person is a Youtube Star?

What Kind of Person is a Youtube Star?