You Tubers. I mean, I would imagine that most would be aware of what a You Tuber is nowadays but incase you have indeed been living under a rock for the last 10 years, here is a quick explanation of what exactly a You Tuber is…
The explanation of a You Tuber tends to split todays society in half as the definition can vary between two. For example:
Sourced by the ever so trustworthy Urban Dictionary…
‘SomeoneWhoMakesDefinitions’ defines a YouTuber as “Someone who uploads You Tube videos, particularly someone who has some what of a fan base. Although it can mean anyone in YouTube, it specifically means someone who makes videos.” Whilst, ‘AKACroatalin’, defines a You Tuber as “Someone who posts clips or pontificates on You Tube. Usually a brain-dead nonentity with no friends who is idolised by cretinous preteens who have no life.”
You can make up your own mind.
It may seem surprising that this activity even pays enough to be taken as a full-time job but it is important to understand that the figures vary depending on many different factors. For most You Tube channels, it can take more than a few years before they start seeing a consistent income through the use of online advertising, sponsored brand posts via Instagram and by earning money through their amount of views per video.
British beauty and fashion vlogger, Zoe Sugg, better known as Zoella has an estimated net worth of £2.5 Million as of 2019. She first began her channel in 2009 and currently has almost 5 Million subscribers to her main channel.
According to CelebsNow, You Tube vloggers earn approximately ‘£0.0007 per view’ and Zoella’s channels average out to 22 million clicks per month, resulting to monthly earnings of £15,000. CelebsNow also reported that her written blog Zoella.co.uk makes around £4,000 per month from ads alone, with approximately 7.4 million clicks each month. Zoe & her boyfriend, Alfie Deyes who also happens to be a YouTuber even have their own wax figures in Madame Tussauds, London!
I have actually seen these in real life and I can confirm, they are just as creepy in real life as they are in this picture.
But where is the downfall with all of this? Why should we be worried about young children aspiring to be You Tubers?
Due to the likes of Zoella and many others, you may find that a large amount of young teens today when asked ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’, they will answer ‘A YouTube Star’.
A recent survey by LEGO & Harris to mark the 50th anniversary of the moon landing showed that children were three times more likely to want to become a YouTube Star than an astronaut. Only 11% of 8-12 year olds said that they wanted to work for NASA whilst 29% said they wanted to show their life through content online. Five of the top ten earning You Tubers in 2018 were men who filmed themselves playing video games which results in thousands of young boys having a new ambition – playing video games. This is something that’s widely seen as grim.
“Gone are the days when children dreamed of becoming doctors and nurses – today’s children want to become You Tubers and vloggers,” wrote the Daily Mail in 2017.
And to be honest, I find this is absolutely terrifying! I fully understand that it can be a great outlet for those who flourish when it comes to creativity but we all know how hateful the online world can be and how much of an effect it has on large amount of people’s mental health, especially young people! Some may argue that it’s no different than a child wanting to become a famous athlete, singer or actor but I disagree. People in these jobs can switch off, however, You Tubers & Social Influencers cannot as their life is online.
Children and young teen’s interests no longer lie with getting outside to play with their friends and roll in the mud as quickly as they possibly can, it’s all about getting onto their iPads and iPhones to look up their next You Tube video.
All I can say is that I will forever be thankful that I was born in 1997 and somewhat avoided the deep dark hole of social media at a young age.
Laura Magennis is a final year BSc in Communication Management and Public Relations Student at Ulster University. She can be found on LinkedIn at linked.com/in/laura-magennis-035529157/