After the most recent sell out charity match at Wembley raised over £4.7 million for charity its undeniable that the Sidemen and ‘Youtubers’ as a whole have found themselves truly in the mainstream spotlight. Sure, KSI and Logan Paul have been front runners with music, boxing, PRIME (I mean pretty much anything you can name they’ve had a crack) but now influencers and Youtubers as a collective seem to have gained the respect of the mainstream. In a way its slightly patronising to put it like that when in reality its the mainstream companies who are begging them for sponsorships and endorsements but the point is that ‘Youtuber’ seems to have become less of a derogatory term for ridicule and can now rival the prestige of footballers.
Youtube started off with a man at the zoo and quickly became synonymous with high energy video content – popularising the obsession with vlogging that we collectively share today. Of course, you might not post your videos online but any video of you and your friends – capturing a funny moment – it’s all basically the same premise. Just a decade and a half ago this would have seemed not just absurd but outright impossible to be viewed as a career but nowadays its one of the most prestigious and lucrative jobs around. Self-made millionaires like the Sidemen that started with FIFA and Call Of Duty videos in their bedroom now have reality shows and documentaries on Netflix and can sell out the iconic Wembley stadium playing a football match. Millions of teenagers and young adults, me included, have grown up watching and feeling part of the lives of these people through the medium of vlogs, gaming and travel videos and their success is for the most part applauded by all (apart from Joey Barton, he must have missed the nearly £5 million they raised for charity).
So with all this considered, I’m sure you’ll be revisiting some choice language I used in my title with some puzzlement. For some perspective, I’m, and I won’t understate this, an absolutely massive fan of WWE at the moment and it just so happens that Logan Paul is currently on the roster as a WWE superstar. Now, his role has never been as a fan favourite but during his appearance on Monday Night Raw in London his promo was completely drowned out by chants of ‘Youtube Wnker’ (I’m sure you can fill in the blank). What struck me is that the way this is composed uses Youtube as an adjective that is being used pejoratively (in other words being a Youtuber is the reason he is a wnker). In fairness he did spend most of the promo boasting his wealth and calling half the crowd broke, so maybe the latter pant of the chant was fair but why the first bit.
To me, all this implies there is something inherently embarrassing about being a Youtuber, as if you can’t be taken seriously or appreciated as a proper celebrity. This is obviously a ridiculous notion because the majority of our generation idolises Youtubers and obsess over them – seriously go on Tik Tok for 5 minutes and I guarantee you you’ll see a George Clarkey edit. I suppose my point here is just why are we still pretending like influencers and Youtubers aren’t proper celebrities. I can guarantee you more people watch the Sidemen Sunday every week than almost anything on TV nowadays. KSI is even a judge on Britain’s got talent now, which, OK I’ll agree is somewhat questionable – he certainly would fit in on Britain’s got hard workers.
Anyway, let’s accept that Youtubers are the new A-listers and will be for the foreseeable future. They deserve their platforms and more often than not use them to do a bit of good so let’s just cut them some slack. Apart from Jeremy Lynch, he really is a wanker.
postmodernpassion.blog 