I didn't realize until this past week, but online influencers have had a huge impact on my life. I'm talking about YouTubers and Bloggers here. Back when I was in seventh grade, I discovered YouTube for the first time. And there was something about it that dazzled me. Everything these people were saying was so inspiring to me. I didn't idolize them, per say, but they were definitely role models for me.
I remember before I was allowed to actually make a YouTube account and subscribe to creators, I had my mental list of channels I would check up on daily. It was always in the same order, every time. And I had their uploading schedules basically memorized. I knew their intros and greetings by heart, and looked forward to coming home from school or practice and watching them. But to me, it didn't feel like watching, it felt like greeting a good friend. One who I could expect the same, "Hey guys!" from every time.
The other day I was scrolling through all my subscriptions to people, and as I clicked on a few of my old favorite videos, I remembered little details about them. I also came to the realization that I had incorporated a lot of their things into my life, even today. Let me give you an example. So if you swivel your head around my room, you can almost play one of those "find the hidden object" games you see in the backs of magazines, or nowadays on SnapChat Discover. Starting from left to right, you see my bedside table. On it perches a tissue box, hand lotion, hand sanitizer, chapstick, a picture frame, a coaster, my planner, and a lamp. Nothing too special, right? Well what you wouldn't know is that the lotion on there is actually Daisy by Marc Jacobs. When my aunt asked me what I wanted for Christmas a few years back, I answered that I had heard that the fragrance Daisy was really nice. I had actually seen Meredith Foster talk about it in one of her favorites videos. The hand sanitizer is Bath and Body Works, which is funny because I didn't even know what that was until the infamous Black Friday Hauls videos came around with the 2 for $20 steals. Now, I shop there all the time for my hand sanitizer and hand soap needs. Next is the chapstick, which is a Zoella lip balm. Don't think I need much explaining there. The picture frame contains a Polaroid picture, and, as you probably guessed, I was inspired to get by Bethany Mota. My planner is (big surprise) the 2017 Blogilates planner. My coaster is actually a DIY by LaurDIY (another YouTuber). So literally 6/8 objects on just my BEDSIDE TABLE alone are connected to YouTubers.
I could go on like that for every section of my room, but we'd be here for a while. And that's not the point of this post. The point is that kids in this generation are growing up with new types of role models and leaders in their lives. YouTube has been around since 2009, so a lot of college students have grown up with YouTube as a driving force in their lives. For me, it's given me company when I didn't have very many friends. The people on there have inspired me to read new books, throw outdoor camping parties, and even start this blog.
If the generations before us had, to name a few, Audrey Hepburn, Dolly Parton, and Madonna, we have Zoe Sugg, Lilly Sing, PewDiePie, Roman Atwood, Dan Howell, Meredith Foster, Liza Koshy, and many more. I guess the main difference between the aspect of role models "then and now" is how personal these people in the limelight get. We have mainstream celebrities, but YouTubers' and Bloggers' jobs is to share a part of themselves. To put themselves out there. What they are known for is being themselves, which was often not the case back then. I'll be interested to see if this is a factor in shaping the next leaders of the world, making them more open and honest; more empathetic. Guess I'll get back to you on that one in thirty or so years. Hope you enjoyed this more introspective piece :)