I’m not even halfway through my 20s, and yet I never feel older than when I hear about people making hundreds of thousands of dollars from doing very little online.
It used to be that people would be discovered performing online, and a manager or something would then bring their talents into the real world. One of the most famous examples of these occurrences is Justin Bieber. His manager, Scooter Braun accidentally clicked on one of his YouTube videos, and subsequently signed him.
Another example is nerdy singer Jonathan Coulton, who in 2011 disclosed that he makes about $500,000 a year from his music, though he’s not signed to a record label. In a 2008 interview, he said 40 per cent of his income came from digital downloads. He’s a uniquely 21st century artist: he first came to prominence with his “Thing a Week” series, where he underwent an experiment to see if he could release a song a week for a year online. Eventually his online performances were brought into the real world, with a good chunk of his income coming from performances and merchandise.
But now it seems that a lot of people are getting their income solely from online means, without making the jump to a real world presence. Of course some do, but for many, the Internet isn’t a platform to jumpstart their real world careers – their online content is their career.
Vine stars can get millions of views, a solid income, and fame from posting six second videos. I know nothing about Vine (I’m pretty sure I’ve seen two or three Vines in my life) and I cannot for the life of me fathom how there’s this whole other world where people can become famous for doing really boring things. I’m currently on an article about the 30 most popular Vine stars, and it is not illuminating. Here are some descriptions:
“Along with his friends ... Carter Reynolds makes six-second videos of himself stealing an entire pizza, having a dance party in the car with his mom, and more.”
“KC James does comedy sketches in six-second form. He’s most well-known for his Vines in which he gets hit in the face with different objects.”
One woman quit her job as an assistant teacher and makes six figures shaking her butt on Vine.
I don’t even have any interesting commentary on this phenomenon because I don’t understand it at all. I just wish that I could make six figures for six seconds of work.
There’s another genre of online talent that is a bit unexpected: Christian vloggers (video bloggers). They’re Christian families that share the intimate details of their lives with devoted followers. Something that sounds like it should be wholesome is not without its controversies. Vlogger couple Sam and Nia announced their baby news, and then three days later made a video about the baby’s miscarriage. One day after the second video, they tweeted that their baby gave them 10 million views and brought in 100,000 new followers. Their baby that they just lost. Nia also told People that the baby “served a purpose.” Sam and Nia have been estimated to make at least six figures, while another Christian vlogger couple make over $750,000 a year.
And then there are the classic YouTube stars – PewDiePie, famous for his video game playthroughs, has become a millionaire from playing video games and posting the results. There’s a whole genre called “unboxing” where people take items out of their packaging and sometimes talk about them. YouTube’s highest earner in 2014, with almost $5 million, was an anonymous woman who takes Disney toys out of their packaging.
It seems like it’s impossible to tell what will become popular online. I just hope that someday I unlock the magic formula where I become a millionaire for doing something mundane.
