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What is your guys' take on popular Youtube vloggers?

Caramel

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Hi everyone,

(I'm new! If you're interested I would be honored if you read my introduction here)


So I've been meaning to ask this for a while but never had a forum account to do so:


Many of you will probably be familiar with the "Paul brothers" (Logan Paul, Jake Paul) and other popular Youtube vloggers like Ricegum, Fouseytube, etc.
The past 2-3 years these people have started generating millions of dollars from their Youtube vlogs. Some generate even more from their merchandise, though I want to focus on the vlogging aspect.

In my opinion vlogging is just another form of entertainment (and as we know entertainment sells) but if we compare the value their line of work provides compared to the money they earn, it's way out of proportion.
I feel like vlogging has become so incredibly popular because it enables teenagers to experience a rich and crazy life without actually getting up and fighting for it themselves.


What is your guys' take on these people making millions off of vlogging and basically catering to a teenage crowd? Do you think their line of work deserves the income they have?

The reason I'm asking is because I take it there are different opinions regarding whether the work you do should add value for it to be worth the income it generates or not.
 
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Fox

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What is your guys' take on these people making millions off of vlogging and basically catering to a teenage crowd?
Do you think their line of work deserves the income they have?

It is a free market with zero barrier to entry. There is no "deserve" - they set their own income through hard work.
 

Caramel

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Fads fade.

You're right! But I wonder whether vlogging is a fad? It might as well be the new TV.

It is a free market with zero barrier to entry. There is no "deserve" - they set their own income through hard work.

Sure, and hard work deserves repayment. But when you look at the value their work provides as opposed to the income they earn, what are your thoughts?
 
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jpanarra

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Yeah, I wouldnt call youtube a fad at this point. I'm starting to watch more and more youtube more than I do tv because I'm watching stuff that I want to watch and learn.

Also the opporunity to make money on youtube is there, but the control is not because one day they might find one of your videos not meeting their code of conduct for any reason and stop you from earning money all together...
 

jon.a

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Yeah, I wouldnt call youtube a fad at this point. I'm starting to watch more and more youtube more than I do tv because I'm watching stuff that I want to watch and learn.

Also the opporunity to make money on youtube is there, but the control is not because one day they might find one of your videos not meeting their code of conduct for any reason and stop you from earning money all together...
Not youtube, entertainment VLOGs. I watch youtube to see how to do stuff too.

The last one was how to get the serpentine belt off our truck.
Looked at it a fiddled for ten minutes, F*ck.
Two minutes on youtube, done.
 

Fox

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Sure, and hard work deserves repayment. But when you look at the value their work provides as opposed to the income they earn, what are your thoughts?

From what I know about him he has built a massive loyal following, made his own tribe, has consistent entertaining content (to their tastes), and has linked in with a lot of brands, other content producers and channels. For those who follow him I am sure there is a lot of value. I think his content sucks but I am not the target audience.

You are thinking of value in terms of practical products or services. Value is whatever people assign to it. For one person value might be a medieval fantasy festival, for another it could be a stamp collection book.

Again there is no barrier to entry on this. Someone didn't force all these kids to watch these shows and spend money on tshirts.
He created something people found valuable and is now monetizing it. Doesn't matter if you don't find it anyway useful.
 
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Echizen

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Fads fade.
Yeah, that's the definition :rofl:

Do you think their line of work deserves the income they have?
I just found this vlogger Logan Paul recently and yes he deserves his income. He worked hard like any successfull entrepreneur, for a long time. Those guys don't care that fads fade because they jump on the new wave before the last one crash on the sand (Vine->Facebook/Insta/Snap & Youtube->...). I don't like the content but I think it's a better entertainment than tv.
 

Caramel

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Someone didn't force all these kids to watch these shows and spend money on tshirts.
He created something people found valuable and is now monetizing it. Doesn't matter if you don't find it anyway useful.

That makes sense, my definition of value is always focused on whether something has any use to someone, but I suppose you could see a certain value in entertainment / being entertained.
 

Fox

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Think of value in terms of attention also. If something had a lot of attention, for whatever reason, there is value there (and most likely money also).

Recent similar examples would be Pokemon, vlogging, fidget spinners, and hack journalists/political commentary people. Certain level would love these niches while other hate them - they all make money though.
 
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SquatchMan

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That makes sense, my definition of value is always focused on whether something has any use to someone, but I suppose you could see a certain value in entertainment / being entertained.

Hollywood, sports, and videogames are 100+ billion dollar industries for a reason.
 

Xavier X

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I don't see vlogging disappearing anytime soon.
With more and more people ditching traditional TV subscriptions for Youtube subscriptions, you can bet that's the future.

Personally, I don't follow any vlogs.
However, the same way "reality tv" entertains millions on TV (and won't go away), is how vlogs entertain millions.

Entertainment is one of those "starving artist" to exponential returns industries.

So, while there's no barrier to entry, if you feel those teenagers and adults haven't earned their millions.. then try it.
That's when you'd realize just how much they've truly earned it.

I think your time would be better spent figuring out where to pitch your own tent to service this entertainment migration.
Rather than waste it pondering if or not the successful ones have earned their keep.
 

Mr.Rob

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It's interesting to think about. YouTube doesn't pay based on value provided to the consumer they pay based on the value a YouTube personality provides to YouTube the company, which sells advertising. Thus value is measured in viewership, subscriptions, etc.

What gets the highest viewership/subscriptions? --> Whatever the mass consumer demographic considers valuable. In this case teenagers that want to be instantly entertained for your example.

That's why a self-development channel with profound and enlightening ideas that changes people's lives will never be able to monetize like a large entertainment personality (and do note that if your subscriber base is less than 500,000 your making chump change on YouTube - for reference Tony Robbins, the biggest self-development personality of all time has 335,937 subscribers as of the time of this post).
 
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Ninjakid

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I think it's really dumb when people are like "this person doesn't deserve to make X amount of money."

Like for example, I saw this one comment where this dude said, "I'm a huge fan of Lewis Hamilton, but I don't think he deserves to make a hundred million pounds just for driving a car."

Ummm really? How about F*ck your opinion and no one gives a shit? He's a professional who Mercedes has decided is worth a hundred million pounds a year.

Now as for the Paul brothers, I have no love for them, and barely knew who they were until a month ago. But they found a niche and a way to make money for it. That's that. Good for them.
 

Caramel

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I think your time would be better spent figuring out where to pitch your own tent to service this entertainment migration.
Rather than waste it pondering if or not the successful ones have earned their keep.

Maybe I didn't word myself correctly to trigger that response, though I do appreciate and agree.

The sole question I was asking is what your take is on the value they provide as opposed to the money they earn.

My opinion was based on the way I interpreted "value", A definition I'm able to broaden now thanks to the replies @Fox gave earlier on in this thread.

I don't actively ponder over their success and whether they deserve it or not but I do think it makes for an interesting conversation. Some people have a more strict view of what it means to provide value than others, I think.
 

Denim Chicken

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People look at youtubers like they fell into fortune a$$ backwards. It takes dedication and work and sacrifice to make a following of 10k followers let alone millions. If millions of people are subscribed to your content then you're doing something right. It means you don't buy influencers to advertise for your new launch, you ARE the influencer.

Value is subjective. I do not value Kim Kardashian or anything related to that show and yet, it has value to other people. If people pay attention to what you say or do, you are worth something because attention = advertising.
 
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safff

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Hi everyone,

The reason I'm asking is because I take it there are different opinions regarding whether the work you do should add value for it to be worth the income it generates or not.
I think you may be looking at value from the wrong perspective.

These guys rake in huge audiences and to sponsors/advertisers/anyone with a product, that is a HUGE value.
 

The-J

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Some of those vloggers are brilliant businesspeople who have used their Youtube channels and audiences to create brands selling products, writing books (some best sellers), doing speaking engagements, starring in movies, creating production studios, and many more.

Youtube isn't Fastlane (despite being a potential BIG earner, the biggest Youtubers could be earning 8 figures a year on ad revenue and sponsorships alone) but the audience and the brand certainly can be.
 

Iammelissamoore

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To be honest, I believe it depends on what exactly, I'm not into YouTube for any and everything, just like jon.a, I like YT for the diy's and I also like the access to documentaries and the like; however, YT, while it may seem as a simple thing, in most cases follow process as mentioned in TMF to a point.

When a lot of us on the user-end look at a video, we see a fancy published video; what we don't see - well at least for the ones who bring great content, is the countless hours of set-up, filming, retakes, editing, sound engineering (of some type) etc.

YT changed television on the whole - the gatekeepers of broadcasting networks were cast on the sidelines; there are shows that made it to mainstream television and big screens which began as docu/tele-series on YT. A lot of people who pitched ideas here and there that were rejected, found an outlet on YT, as for the ones who make it or not, well, it boils down to what content they present. How do they inspire us to be better? How do they keep us informed about particular topics meaningful to us? How do they make our lives better via their content generally? That's the make or break, and I know your question was posted more along the lines of vloggers; but, to be quite honest, in order to give me a daily/weekly/monthly video log of "your" life, not only must I really overstand what your 'brand' is about, but , your video log must help me, and others alike, get ahead in life with solutions.
 
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buildingbetter

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I don't think it's a case of people experiencing the vlogger's lifestyle without working for it. I think in a lot of cases it's actually motivating the viewer to pursue that lifestyle themselves by giving them a more tangible idea of where they could be. I'm not a fan of any of the people you mentioned though because I don't think they're motivating people to do something positive.

I do like Superwoman's vlogs and I've seen some Gary Vee too. There's a lot less 'do it for the vlog'/scandal/clickbait and more talk about hard work, loving what you do and the reality of running a business.
 

PetePreneur

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What is your guys' take on these people making millions off of vlogging and basically catering to a teenage crowd? Do you think their line of work deserves the income they have?

The reason I'm asking is because I take it there are different opinions regarding whether the work you do should add value for it to be worth the income it generates or not.

Things are worth what the market determines. If a load of people like watching the vlogs, then that's people that can be advertised to- Same as professional sports. The reason basketball players get paid more than badminton players is because more people watch it, therefore more advertising revenue. It's not always to do with skill directly. People obviously find these people more interesting than the thousands of vlogs out there, so they deserve every penny.

Fads fade.

This specific niche of travelling based vlogs might die off, but vlogs overall won't. People will never get bored of people.
 

Gigi Rodgers

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I don't think it's a case of people experiencing the vlogger's lifestyle without working for it. I think in a lot of cases it's actually motivating the viewer to pursue that lifestyle themselves by giving them a more tangible idea of where they could be. I'm not a fan of any of the people you mentioned though because I don't think they're motivating people to do something positive.

I do like Superwoman's vlogs and I've seen some Gary Vee too. There's a lot less 'do it for the vlog'/scandal/clickbait and more talk about hard work, loving what you do and the reality of running a business.

Yass!!! My main "shows" are Gary Vee, Superwoman (who is just brilliant), and Roberto Blake.
Then I watch "the news" to keep up with the world going down the toilet. Eh...

But those 3 are my NBC, ABC, and CBS.
I don't even own a tv. What for?

And this isn't a fad. As long as people are providing value - whether it's actionable or in entertainment - it's not going anywhere.
 
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buildingbetter

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Yass!!! My main "shows" are Gary Vee, Superwoman (who is just brilliant), and Roberto Blake.
Then I watch "the news" to keep up with the world going down the toilet. Eh...

But those 3 are my NBC, ABC, and CBS.
I don't even own a tv. What for?

And this isn't a fad. As long as people are providing value - whether it's actionable or in entertainment - it's not going anywhere.

100% agree. I wish Superwoman were able to include more aspects of her business in her vlogs because the bits she does include are really interesting. I even bought her book. I couldn't name one TV celebrity who I would 'follow' to another product like that. I think that's why I'm always surprised by the Youtubers who are so intent on transitioning to mainstream media. They have so much more control over their business in the digital 'world'. Thanks for mentioning Roberto Blake. I hadn't heard of him before.

Vlogging should be the reality TV of the internet but it isn't necessarily. Maybe controversial but I think 99% of reality TV is trash. The trashy vlogging definitely exists (the Pauls fall into that in my opinion) but there's also something that doesn't really exist in reality TV which is vloggers that manage to be part informational documentary too. The trashy vloggers deserve their money as much as Jersey Shore (a matter of opinion). The other kind of vlogger deserve their money and more.

I think Youtubers, especially those that are a 'one man band', are really impressive because there's so much that goes into doing it as a job rather than as a hobby. Networking, seeking out/negotiating sponsorships, social media, editing, merch (especially if they're fulfilling orders themselves), graphic design... It's also easy to forget that some of the people juggling all of that are kids who may not have even graduated high school yet, never mind had some kind of business experience.
 

Caramel

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Things are worth what the market determines. If a load of people like watching the vlogs, then that's people that can be advertised to- Same as professional sports. The reason basketball players get paid more than badminton players is because more people watch it, therefore more advertising revenue.

This is actually a great way to describe it. I feel like a fool for not realizing how these people, as vloggers/entertainers are able to create value for other companies by pretty much being a marketing machine themselves. Thanks for the insight!
 

PetePreneur

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This is actually a great way to describe it. I feel like a fool for not realizing how these people, as vloggers/entertainers are able to create value for other companies by pretty much being a marketing machine themselves. Thanks for the insight!

It's all in those eyeballs :eyes:.
 
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