Let’s play a fun game. It’s guess who has more Twitter followers. Simple, right? Let’s begin. First off, Aaron Paul of “Breaking Bad” versus YouTuber PewDiePie. If you guessed the Internet guy, then you’d be right. Alright, how about adorable munchkin Ellen Page vs. YouTube celebrity iJustine? iJustine has three times as many followers.
This is fun! Let’s do one more. My spirit animal and role model Joesph Gordon-Levitt versus Jenna Marbles, who makes “poignant” (read: pretty dumb) observations about the differences between men and women on YouTube. If you guess wrong this time, then you’re an idiot, because there’s a pattern. Jenna Marbles has 3 million followers to JGL’s 2.1 million.
Now, if you could go to dinner with either Aaron Paul, Ellen Page and JGL or PewDiePie, iJustine and Jenna Marbles, you probably wouldn’t think twice, right? Obviously you go with the celebrities.
But wait, who are the celebrities here?
Shouldn’t over a million followers represent talent, ability, something? And aren’t we at an age where the Internet is just as important as television, film and print (and maybe more)?
Let me continue on that thought because the evidence is everywhere. Let’s start with Netflix, which almost stole “Breaking Bad”’s prequel show “Better Call Saul” from its parent network AMC and also won awards with original shows “House of Cards” and “Orange Is The New Black.”
Next, look at sports website Bleacher Report (known for their awful slideshow articles and opinionated articles) which stole famed NBA reported Howard Beck from The New York Times to become their lead reporter. And finally, PewDiePie, who has 13.5 million subscribers on YouTube. He plays horror and comedy video games and uses weird voices and still has more viewers than “Modern Family” (12.7 million) or “Duck Dynasty” (12.4 million [side note: WUT]).
The Internet’s power is limitless and all encompassing. The benefits YouTubers get is they’re able to broadcast to a global audience along with giving their viewers a chance to watch their videos one their own schedule. Some YouTube videos are similar in story structure to television and films, but most of them (at least the popular ones) are video game walkthroughs, makeup tutorials, quick comedy skits, vlogs and drunk cooking shows.
So maybe that’s why I don’t feel so bad that I don’t really think of YouTube “stars” as celebrities. Sure, some of them do have real talent, but their fame is less impressive because anyone can enter their platform. And sure, some YouTube stars have more Twitter followers than movie stars, but they’re also more involved in the platform and know how important it is for their brand. What’s half a million followers to Ellen Page who is consistently getting starring roles in movies and rolling in Canadian dollars and waffles (assumption)?
And that’s not to say these YouTubers can’t be true celebrities. Some of them are already consistently featured on commercial, (like DailyGrace’s Grace Helbig who stars in a few Lowe’s commercials), work with settled stars that have created their own YouTube channels, (Rainn Wilson with SoulPancake and Felicia Day with Geek & Sundry), and they work with each other on podcasts, Vines and of course YouTube videos to cross-promote their own endeavors.
Now I don’t bring this whole thing up for no reason. A few weeks ago at my restaurant, I served a customer who I recognized from a pretty popular YouTube series. He was not a creator or star but was a pretty funny panelist and I had no idea whether I should approach him about it or not. And then I thought about this whole article that I hadn’t written yet and I knew not to bring it up.
I guess in the end, before you ask for a picture or an autograph from an Internet celebrity, you have to ask yourself, “Would any of my friends give a shit about this?” Most likely no. But do take a picture with Aaron Paul. He seems like a cool guy.
Email mvoloshin@wisc.edu to tell Michael know your feelings about Interweb celebs.
