The YouTube phenomenon: YouTube stars eliminating stereotypes in new media

As we move into an Internet generation, most viewers find their entertainment on YouTube, also known as new media. Like any platform, YouTube had their popular content creators and that is how YouTube star” emerged. Most of these “YouTubers” are 20-somethings who have built a following on the Internet based on consistent web-shows they created for their audience members. Ever since Google bought YouTube in 2006, the Google Adsense system allowed users to have ads on their videos to make a percentage of the ad revenue. If their videos were popular enough, they were able to do YouTube as a full-time job and make a living off of the monetization that their videos produced. Out of the top YouTube stars, around 20% of them are Asian Americans. Studies have shown that many Asian Americans spend time on YouTube and the Internet. However, Asian American YouTube stars say that they are popular because they can eliminate stereotypes in YouTube videos. Where as in mainstream media Asian Americans are type-casted as nerds or martial artists, and on YouTube, they can express who they really are. ❧ When YouTube emerged, these YouTube stars were able to talk about more taboo subjects and be who they really were, according to YouTube stars like Timothy De La Ghetto and Just Kidding Films’ Joe Jo and Bart Kwan. They also say that YouTube is the only platform that Asians could get famous at, and they say that because they can control their own content. These are just some of the ways that these YouTubers emerged as the new stars and what defines the “New Media celebrity.”