Who was the first YouTuber?
An online celebrity or influencer known as a “YouTuber” creates videos for the YouTube video-sharing website and often uploads them to their own YouTube channel.
Microcelebrities are often used to describe influential YouTubers. Microcelebrities don’t seem to be a part of the established and lucrative system of celebrity culture because YouTube is largely seen as a bottom-up social media video platform; instead, they appear self-governed and independent.
The YouTube personalities took the top five spots in the ranking, with the YouTube duo Smosh coming in as the most influential, according to a 2014 study by the University of Southern California that asked 13 to 18-year-olds in the United States whether 10 traditional celebrities or 10 YouTube celebrities were more influential. In 2015, it was replicated, and the top six positions were taken by six YouTubers.
The influence of YouTubers has spread outside of the platform as well. Some have dabbled with mainstream media, including Liza Koshy, who, among other things, hosted the Nickelodeon show Double Dare’s reboot and appeared in the
Because of this amount of influence, Robert Hovden proposed the development of a new index to assess a person’s output and impact on YouTube that is comparable to the g-index and h-index.
The first YouTuber and the most successful YouTubers will be covered in this article.
Who was the first YouTuber?
Jawed Karim, who also founded YouTube, was the first YouTuber.
3years ago, LIVE, 846 points, Rating.
Jawed Karim uploaded the first YouTube video on April 23, 2005. The video, titled “Me at the Zoo,” showed Karim addressing the camera while in front of an elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo “Okay, so we are standing in front of the elephants.”
“The fact that these guys have extraordinarily lengthy trunks is cool, and that’s cool.” That is essentially all that needs to be said. The video has had 106 million views, 3.7 million upvotes, and 7,576,000 comments since it was uploaded.

YouTube Cashflow
YouTubers use Google AdSense as a source of income. Additionally, they can increase their income by selling merchandise, offering affiliate connections, and obtaining third-party subscriptions through websites like Patreon. Corporate sponsors have been attracted to popular channels, and they pay to be featured in the videos.
There was no way to monetize videos on YouTube in its early years. The majority of the site’s content was created by amateurs as a hobby, with no intention of profiting from it. Participatory video commercials, which were videos in and of themselves and provided visitors the chance to access unique material by clicking on the ad, were the first kind of targeted advertising on the website.
The possibility for YouTubers to become rich and famous as a result of their popularity on the platform significantly rose during the 2010s. Business Insider was thought to have earned the most on YouTube in 2009 as of December 2010.
List of 10 Successful YouTubers
In the past ten years, YouTube has developed significantly, becoming a site where creators may make money, start their professions, and become internet celebrities.
Ten years ago, NigaHiga, Fred, and KevJumba were among the most well-known YouTube creators. Today, PewDiePie and Dude Perfect dominate the platform.
A staggering 24 hours of footage were being uploaded to the video-sharing website YouTube every minute at the start of the decade. More than 500 hours per minute are now being produced on average.
Since 2007, when YouTube made it possible for video makers to monetize their work, the website has developed into a place where individuals can find recognition and notoriety outside of the conventional channels. Tens of millions of people now follow celebrities like Pew DiePie, Logan and Jake Paul, and David Dobrik on social media, devouring their work.
The most well-known stars were different ten years ago, when YouTube was still a relatively young platform. Shane Dawson and Philip DeFranco are two creators who are still active on YouTube today, but other well-known content producers have left the site.
Here are the top 10 YouTubers at the start of the decade and what they’re currently up to.
What The Buck Show
AKA: Michael Buckley
Type of video: Buckley once presented “What the Buck!?,” a well-liked YouTube program that disseminated news about celebrities and pop culture while injecting humor, satire, and snark.
present location: Buckley is now a life coach (you can apply to be coached by him on his website). In 2017, he published a book aimed at parents who don’t “understand” the The The attractiveness of YouTube to children. More recently, he has resumed posting YouTube videos, including vlogs about his family and being a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Venetian Princess
AKA: Jodie-Amy Rivera
Type of video: Rivera, also known as the “Venetian Princess,” was admired for her funny parodies of classic songs from the ’70s and ’80s, such as “7 Things (Guys Don’t Have to Do)” and “I Kissed a Girl – Elderly Remix.” Up until 2012, she had the most female subscribers on YouTube.
Where they are now: Rivera’s well-known VenetianPrincess parodies and spoofs came to a stop in 2014, but she revived her YouTube channel in 2019 to post sincere renditions of songs and vlogs from her everyday life. She also has a daughter, who is shown in Instagram photos.
Dave Days
AKA: Dave Colditz
Type of video: Like Venetian Princess, Dave Colditz rose to fame through the release of his own albums as well as his pop-punk covers and parodies of other songs from popular culture. Because of the popularity of his channel, Miley Cyrus made a cameo appearance in the music video for his song “Last Song.”
Present location: It appears that Colditz has kept up his independent music career by sporadically posting covers and parodies to his YouTube page and to music streaming services during the past few years. In addition, Colditz runs a free online course called “Musician.” In Song For Life, where he instructs aspiring musicians on how to succeed in the music business,
KevJumba
AKA: Kevin Wu
Wu was an early comedy vlogger on YouTube who acquired popularity and laughter by telling anecdotes and addressing the camera. His videos frequently referenced Asian-American stereotypes and were full of ironic humor about themselves.
Present location: Wu abruptly vanished from YouTube in 2013 so that he could go back to school and re-engage with Buddhism. After a nearly deadly vehicle accident in 2015, he revived his YouTube account in 2017 with a new name: “Kev.”
Wu hasn’t uploaded anything to YouTube, and his Twitter account looks to be suspended. Since then, Wu has kept a more private existence and said he is “working on” himself during a rare appearance on a podcast produced by another well-known YouTuber, Ryan Higa, in the middle of 2019.
Ray William Johnson
Type of video: Ray William Johnson, who only started his YouTube channel in 2009, shot to stardom in under a year thanks to his “Equals Three” YouTube series. Johnson played a key role in developing the well-known “response” video format on YouTube, where he provided analysis on trending videos.
What’s happening now: In 2015, Johnson ceased producing “Equals Three” and other popular programs, which caused his popularity to decline. Through 2018, he continued to vlog on YouTube and posted some songs under the alias “Fat Damon.” Johnson, though, has since switched to
SXEPHIL
Philip DeFranco/YouTube
AKA: Philip DeFranco
Type of video: DeFranco has been a legitimate news anchor for YouTube for ten years, providing summaries of headlines on both lighthearted and serious topics (such as celebrity rumors) as well as politics).
Where they are now: Formerly known as “sxephil,” DeFranco’s popularity on YouTube has increased dramatically over the past ten years. He has developed his work into a full-fledged news network, which now includes the website Rogue Rocket and the YouTube news program SourceFed. DeFranco has two young children and is currently married to former YouTuber LinzLoves.
ShaneDawsonTV
Dawson’s early work consisted of quick comedic sketches in which he would dress up as various characters and don wigs and accents. Many of these characters, like Shanay (referred to as a “ghetto girl”), “Barb the Lesbian,” and mobster S-Deezy, were attacked for appropriating harmful stereotypes about people of color and other minority groups.
Present location: Over the past ten years, Dawson’s YouTube presence has evolved and matured, and it has been more than three years since he last updated his ShaneDawsonTV account. Shane Dawson has switched to producing multi-part documentary series about conspiracy theories and the lives of YouTube stars like Tana Mongeau, Jake Paul, and Eugenia Cooney on his channel of the same name.
Additionally, in 2015, Dawson came out as bisexual. In 2019, she became engaged to fellow YouTuber Ryland Adams.
Smosh
AKA: Ian Hecox & Anthony Padilla.
Type of video: In the early days of YouTube, the comedy team known as “Smosh” was responsible for some of the most well-known and widely-shared comedic skits.
Where They Are Now: Since the two original Smosh creators left the company, a number of regular cast members have joined, creating and appearing in comedy material for Smosh and its several spinoff channels. Anthony Padilla, one of the Smosh creators, departed the channel in June 2017.
Early in 2019, Mythical Entertainment, a business run by the YouTube stars Rhett & Link, purchased the Smosh name.
FRED
AKA: Lucas Cruikshank.
As the dysfunctional six-year-old youtuber with a high-pitched voice known online as Fred Figglehorn, Cruikshank made humorous movies in which he told viewers about his life and performed commonplace tasks.
Where they are now: Since 2015, Cruikshank hasn’t uploaded anything to that YouTube account. They ceased making stuff with Fred in 2014. Cruikshank is still active on YouTube, although he now appears in vlogs and comedic videos as himself under the name “Lucas.” In 2016, Cruikshank came out as gay.
NigaHiga
AKA: Ryan Higa
Higa was well-known for his comedic routines, which frequently mimicked how-to and commercial forms and were produced with the help of three buddies and a camera of unusually poor quality. Between 2009 and 2011, he held the record for the longest continuous streak of subscribers (677 days), a milestone that has only been surpassed by PewDiePie.
Where they are now: Higa continues to make comedic sketches and parodies for YouTube on both his primary channel, NigaHiga, and his other channel, HigaTV. A weekly podcast called “Off the Pill,” which Higa also started in 2018, has featured notable YouTubers, K-pop celebrities, and presidential contender Andrew Yang.
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