YouTubers don’t earn their money
Photo credit: Storm Wells
October 5, 2019
America has paved the way for entertainers in the media for decades, and we continue to break barriers as we move further into the future. The most prominent entertainers at the moment that teens and young adults connect with are YouTubers. But, in reality, they are just scammers giving people just enough content to keep them interested.
YouTubers get paid way too much for what they do — which is close to nothing. They are a bunch of relentless kids who moved out to California and, with dumb luck, make more money than they know what to do with. According to Social Blade and Seventeen, Emma Chamberlain is a YouTuber that vlogs about her day with over eight million subscribers and makes about an estimated $6,000 a day. She makes over $2 million a year through endorsements with companies like Curology and Hollister. David Dobrik, with the help of his “Vlog Squad” friends, has over 13 million subscribers, along with five million from his second account. Dobrik makes an estimated $8 million per year, according to Youtube Society, with his friends doing dumb stuff — from anything stupid to just plain humiliating.
Then there’s the well known PewDiePie, who makes videos ranging from vlogs to podcasts, that makes an estimated amount of over $11 million a year, according to Vlogger Gear. When it comes to subscribers, he has a whopping 101 million and counting, according to SocialBlade. Pewdiepie, despite his many subscribers, has been a source of controversy over the years. According to CNN Entertainment, Disney backed out of a deal with him because he paid two men to hold up a sign that had a racial slur against Jewish people.
Once YouTubers gain a certain amount of recognition through their subscribers, YouTube then allows them to start making money off of advertisements. The more views they get, the more ads get added onto their channel, which means even more money, according to Ars Technica.
Unlike the majority of YouTubers, doctors make an average of $329,000 a year, according to TheStreet. It takes four years to get a bachelors degree, another four years for medical school and, depending on the profession, three to seven years in residency. They go to school for a majority of their lives and I don’t know about you, but I would like the person who is supposed to save my life in any case to get paid more than an 18-year-old YouTuber who drinks seven coffees a day and is #relatable.
The influence YouTubers have on society is truly sickening. The second you go onto any social media platform, one of their faces pops up and, let me tell you, it’s neverending. If I see Emma Chamberlain go on vacation for the fifth time this year, and post photos with the same dry poses as always, just so she can throw it in our faces that she’s on vacation again, I will literally scream.
When David Dobrik and Liza Koshy, who is also a well known YouTuber, broke up, Twitter went up in flames. Girls were crying like they had just witnessed a massacre, all because these two people who give no real contribution to society broke up. A couple years after David broke up with Liza, his vlog buddies made a video about Jason Nash who was also dating another famous YouTuber, Trisha Paytas. In it, they basically said how they made stupid money off the views of the breakup video. They finessed their viewers and they don’t care.
I think it’s safe to say that YouTubers have put pyramid schemes to shame. They’ve basically said “Hello world. We are here to brainwash you and take your money in ways you could never fathom and, even though you know you’re being scammed, you won’t care.”
I’m not saying that all YouTubers are out for your money, because there are YouTubers out there that actually care for their fans and contribute to society. It should be noted that YouTuber Zoella has done charity work for vaccinations for babies in Uganda, mental health, cancer and strokes. YouTubers like Emma Blackery and Carrie Hope Fletcher donated their hair for cancer associations, according to Media.
Since people have learned their way around the system, they have imprinted themselves on everything possible. We’re openly giving them our money for some mediocre content. They’ve already taken over. But, if we all come to our senses, we could bring all their so-called careers down and bring class back to the entertainment world.
Yes • Jul 17, 2022 at 7:47 pm
I’d like to point out another thing too, people who deserve wealth will never get so rich, you know why? Same reason there are so few richest women in the world because they donate their money to repair this world that evil selfish people have ruined. Personally for example (not saying I deserve money but just as an example) if I had that kinda money I’d donate a chunk and make a lab that works on finding ways to regenerates organs that are damaged like kidneys and make a factory that is fully green and harmless for the environment to make eco-safe vegan products too to fund a charity that saves animals. Or pay an area that uses a lot of electricity to change into solar energy (permanently making the place safe from the nature and everyone and providing way more electricity than they need). See? People who deserve wealth will never stay so rich unless if they were making a lot of money at the same time. which is not good cause it’s those people who use money in the right ways so they’re the ones who deserve having more money because they will just benefit the world. They won’t buy themselves 20 different luxury villas and 20 different luxury cars to brag about them .
Millennial • Jul 17, 2022 at 7:41 pm
I fully agree with you. And I’m a millennial. I actually tried to be positive about the gen Z but I kept hearing it from everyone how concerning gen Z is when it comes to failing to know what’s worth what and their indifference towards justice and superficiality. Soon, I’m seeing it for myself how true that is to the point that now I look down on most gen Zs especially the ones who blindly even tryhard to defend their foul attitude and failure to comprehend facts and life. I fully agree with all you said in your well written article. I was horrified to see the comments of these big fat rich YouTubers with these brainless autistic-like braindead kids stating “Markiplier is an angel this world cannot contain” “Pewdiepie is the most based person ever” “Oh ma gaht, can we just appreciate how he does the ultimate self sacrifice to post videos x times per week all for us and our sake, he is truly the god and savior and must be granted more power in this world” etc.! See how concerning it is?! The same kids never said any words like that and never celebrated or idolized those who save lives, liberate those in unfair situations, childrens rights activists, animal rights activists, vegan activists, nature rangers, medical staff and doctors, firefighters, police forces, etc. and I’m sure never even thanked their own mothers like that with such ridiculous claims! And this superficial ignorant clueless blind narcissistic self-approving little kids soon want to take over the world and then imagine what disasters will ensue. This ridiculous revolting unfair millionaire-making YouTube needs already has done plenty of damage to the world from getting insane amounts of money and hence power to the absolute wrong people like Paul brothers, rapists, greedy clueless kids, etc. to making all kids now just wanting money and fame without any thoughts of “well will I deserve it when I got nothing real or healing to offer the world”. Now ask any kid, they no longer think university or learning is for them, they all say they want to move to LA and become a “rich famous YouTuber” which is a disaster on its own when knowledge and being a decent respectable human being gets sacrificed for money and fame. For very few channels I’d say it’s justified such as Scishow and channels of animal shelters and animal rescues and those about specialized fields like medical ones or those that teach and encourage planting trees since they do both contribute actual knowledge to the world and could use the money earned to boost their contributions even more and expand their helpful services. But channels on playing games, competitive eating or eating huge amounts of food, vlogs, fake hacks, etc. absolutely no. Even Markiplier that has done a lot of charities don’t deserve that much money to be purchasing a 4 million house and already be wealthier than even notable filmmakers! He still just sits on a chair and acts silly while playing games that anyone can do and gets paid like that! And then there are the destructive ones too like Pewdiepie that literally teaches his young blind followers to be silly and act as autistic as he is while being disrespectful to everyone! I saw his video lately where he flew to Japan on his private jet for his dogs (yes we all need our pets to be safe and with us while flying, why should he gets the special treatment all because he cusses at games and makes senseless remarks while playing games?! there are people who are trying to move their multiple pets or sick pets to another country bu they can’t because they don’t get their own private jets! Where is the justice in that?! His pugs aren’t any more precious than any other animals on this planet and real fur parents are willing to even die for their pets but because they weren’t paid crazy like that they can’t ensure safety for their pets while moving.) and it was fully disturbing how many lil gen Z blind braindead ignorant kids were saying “you have worked so hard for this and we are proud you were paid what you deserved after all the work”!!!! What work?! Sitting and playing a game?! I’ve made videos too (not for YT) and it’s one of the easiest things to do and compared to a real job, it takes NO time or money. Markiplier’s days are full of just gaming, playing with his pets and getting massaged and working out … I know actual heroes in third world countries who never get to have a massage or an hour of working out like they like to and never even got enough money to be able to adopt the pets they always wished they could adopt! Where is the justice in that?! The gen Z has done a great job so far being an epitome of anti-justice blinded-superficiality and so far is a real concern. I’m extremely revolted by seeing rich YouTubers that are not doing anything real for this world or getting overpaid for nothing. This kind of injustice is exactly what makes many people lose motivation to have respectable or legal or real jobs or to gain knowledge in this world when all they see is the wrong people winning everything they ever wanted and the people who deserve to get showered by wealth and fame and recognition are basically buried and suffocated in people’s ignorance and unfairness. That certainly stopped me from becoming a doctor too when I saw the majority of these people don’t even deserve me staying up all night to try to save them when they go to the ER when the same people would put a braindead autistic foul boy like Pewdiepie or some crazy-lucky gamer like Markiplier or the disastrous Paul brothers before me and a society that acts like a doctor has volunteered to have their life ruined or lose their lives for ignorant and blind and unfair people out there. That’s why suicides are also so high among medical teams. Corona has killed many of them worldwide too, but “let’s not compensate their insane hardships and losses and let’s not reward them and act like it’s due for them to be treated unhumanely and instead pour more millions of money into Pewdiepie and Markiplier and other YouTuber’s pockets” (to prove what a vile unfair lost cause the human race is and demonstrate how it has made this world into a living hellhole).
John Smith • Mar 8, 2021 at 3:14 pm
Down with you tubers I am all for it. “Oh my gosh it’s so much work to post 4-5 times a week “ go ahead call me a boomer it’s hilarious I am a millennial and so entertained by gen z’s terrible come back of “boomer” yes there are people older and wiser than you. And scum like pewdipie should be banned from YouTube. He is an anti Semitic piece of garbage that mindless young gamers watch and are “entertained” by.
bailey • Feb 18, 2021 at 9:58 am
y’all are calling the writer boomer but the whole point is the YouTubers are not contributing in any real way and are ONLY supporting and pushing forward consumerism. Yall are blinded by yalls prejudice of older generations, but yall are stupid asf. The whole reason why yall are like yall are is because you look up to influencers. Take a step back, none of yall are gunna get rich like pewdie. Get your dreams out of your heads and get into STEM fields or HR if you wanna make money.
All entertainment that makes money, sports included, make so much money because of ads. Those ads push consumerism and the YouTubers are making money off consumers…all of you poor ass people that suck up their content while wondering how youre going to feed yourself tomorrow, buy a house and get out of debt.
anyway it a huge cycle so stop supporting people that make money by contributing to the problem of poverty
No • Dec 13, 2020 at 1:57 pm
This is such a boomer move. Time and effort goes into making these videos. Do you know how hard it is to upload daily, or even 4-5 times a week? YouTubers are famous, not because what they do is easy, but because they’re entertaining. And just because a YouTuber like Pewdiepie is controversial doesn’t mean they’re the worst person in the world. If you don’t like their content, that’s fine, but being such a pussy about it won’t do anything except get people to hate you.
Marie • Oct 26, 2020 at 6:08 pm
I agree with many points made in the article. Sad how many kids these days want to make money doing pointless things. Though some people actually do create good content on YouTube, many of the popular “stars” either do dumb challenges or show themselves playing video games. Both of those things are the least productive things people can do. In the end, some people do end up creating “content” solely for money. Where has the real talent gone? Why do people focus more on the internet celebrities, compared to, for example, Luke Faulkner?
John mccarthy • Nov 1, 2019 at 5:19 pm
Ok boomer
joe mama • Oct 27, 2019 at 2:45 pm
Look. You need to chill out. It actually takes time and effort to produce these videos and they spend a lot of time editing. Most youtubers do charity work and actually care about their fans and take time to be with them. Just because you have a $ 24,000 minimum-wage salary doesn’t mean that they don’t deserve it.
Veta Harris • Oct 11, 2019 at 5:30 pm
You’re so correct Ms. Jada and I’m so excited that someone has found the time and courage to speak out about this issue. I look forward to seeing more of your publishing on today’s problems of the world.