Youtube is serious (part 2)

There is serious power in having so many people see what goes out on Youtube. Billions of people watch Youtube each year, and 6 billion hours of video are watched each month. The amount of people you can reach is truly staggering. Last post I talked about the charity aspects that can come from the power of Youtube. This post I’d like to talk about how the power of Youtube has been used monetarily and as a catalyst for social change.

With such a large amount of people visiting the website, ad companies pay huge sums of money to have their advertisements shown. Many people may not think too much of these ads, but they accumulate quite a bit of money. Every person who has a moderately successful, viewing-wise, account can obtain amounts of money. There are many accounts and channels out there that are currently pulling in six-figure salaries. This is huge to the regular people who have mass appeal and can draw in huge amounts of money. The 1.7 million Lonely Island makes probably isn’t a huge deal for Justin Timberlake, but for Pewdiepie who was just a normal Swedish guy, the 6.1 million he’s made is amazingly life-changing.

The amount of views that come through Youtube also make it ideal for advertising small businesses. These companies can get some needed publicity through Youtube and other social platforms. The huge amount of popularity is also extremely important in the music industry. I talked last post about Justin Bieber’s rise to fame. Just think of all the other stars who owe their popularity, and wealth, to Youtube. A huge example is Psy. He had the most popular video ever on Youtube “Gangnam Style”. He became extremely wealthy, famous, had many endorsements and appeared all over popular media, and kind of a household name.

 

Youtube isn’t just for monetary gain though. There are many, many, videos out on Youtube advocating certain social changes. This can go from blogs like Sxephil (who also makes 1.7 million) where he discusses his views on politics and pop culture, to religious foundations, and all the way up to the head of state himself. Yes, social media was considered a huge impact to the 2008 presidential election that put Barack Obama into the Oval Office. This included a vigorous campaign on Youtube for his presidency. Was Youtube the decider in the 2008 election, we may not know. However, it did make a substantial in favor of Obama.

So yeah, even if all the amazing charity efforts in the last post couldn’t convince you that Youtube has serious influence on the world. I hope that this showed you the vast potential that Youtube represents, and as a fascinating example of social mobility, one of the things that makes America great. Oh, and by the way, if you were amazed by their million dollar salaries, you have to realize that that figure is before merchandise, licensing, and sponsorships which are huge components to the income they derive. Thanks for reading.