youtube
YouTube Superstars
Vocabulary
| gain | gather | audience |
| guru | lame (2) | advice |
| skin | alias | launch |
| hairdo | outfit | makeup |
| follow | require | whatsoever |
| interact | feedback | certain (2) |
| earn | celebrity | spokesperson |
| inspire | devotion | pay attention |
| found | platform | pay attention |
| savvy | acquire | Generation Y |
| owner | revenue | precede |
| coy | show off | executive |
| income | six-figure | make a living |
| zits | boss | time being |
Video: YouTube Superstars
Transcript
Some of Germany’s biggest YouTube stars have gathered in Berlin to meet their fans.
Among the invitees is Sami Slimani, a superstar among digital natives.
Now 24, he founded his video blog five years ago and has gained thousands of followers.
These days, he’s something of a lifestyle guru.
Daaruum is another superstar. She’s one of the most successful video bloggers in Germany.
Sami Slimani: “I started because I was looking for advice on skin care. I had really bad skin and couldn’t find any information on what to do about it.
Then I found a product that really worked, so I blogged about it.”
Nilam Farooq, alias daaruum: “I was doing a lot of acting, but it wasn’t going well, so I thought: I’ve got a camera. I can edit. A lot of videos were pretty lame, so I said, ‘Hey, I’ll do it better’.”
Now 24, daauum launched her YouTube channel in 2010. She posts every day, blogging about makeup, hairdos and outfits.
She has nearly a million followers.
Daaruum: “You don’t really need talent to do what I do. You don’t need to sing or dance whatsoever. I think that’s the thing. Basically, I’m just myself.”
But that doesn’t mean anyone can become a YouTube star…in fact it does require certain skills. YouTube spokeswoman Mounira Latrache explains.
Mounira Latrache: “The ones who do best are very good at interacting with their followers. They pay close attention to their input. They listen to their feedback and see what their audience is saying about their videos.
That makes their followers feel not only that they know the person, but they are part of their creative process too.”
YouTube celebrities inspire total devotion from fans that used to be reserved for movie stars.
People like Sami Slimani are really big.
Fan One: “He’s just himself, and he treats all his fans equally.”
Fan Two: “They’re not self-regarding; they don’t show off about how many millions of followers they have.”
Fan Three: “I’d say YouTube stars are a class of their own because they have much more contact with their fans than movie stars.”
Video platforms are especially popular among the 12 to 25 age group: Generation Y is highly internet savvy.
Bertram Gugel, Web Video Expert: “Rather than Google, they go to YouTube web searches. They don’t want to scroll through pages if they want to know something they’ll watch a video on the topic. It’s a different way of acquiring information.”
Every month sees a total of a billion users spending a total of six billion hours surfing on YouTube.
These days most videos are preceded by advertising. About 50% of the advertising revenue goes to YouTube itself—the rest to the owner of the channel.
Mounira Latrache: “We have many partners all over the world now, earning six-figure incomes.”
In Sweden, Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg earns a lot more than that. He’s behind the world’s biggest YouTube channel, and takes home about 3 million euros a year.
Back in Germany, Graunk earns a fortune with what are called “Let’s Play” videos. These days he earns as much as a top business executive.
Many YouTube superstars are coy about their earnings.
Commenter One: “I can make a living on YouTube.”
Commenter Two: “I can’t really say how much people are earning.”
But it can’t be bad. For the time being, YouTube’s business model is booming.
Nilam Farooq: “Doing what you love feels great…you don’t have a boss telling you what to do. I’ll be doing this for a while. I don’t know if you can post videos on zits when you’re 50. But whatever.”
That remains to be seen. But they’re enjoying their success while it lasts.
Questions
1. Nilam is a model and singer; while Sami is a professional footballer. Is this correct or wrong?
2. How did Sami start? What were his first video blog?
3. What does daauum blog about?
4. According to the YouTube spokesperson, the secret of succeeding on YouTube is having great acting and special effects. Is this true or false?
5. What do the YouTube fans say about the YouTube superstars? How are they different from Hollywood actors?
6. Who are biggest YouTube fans?
7. According to the video expert, which do young people prefer, Google or YouTube? Why do they prefer YouTube?
8. It’s possible to become rich through YouTube. Yes or no?
9. Do some people prefer working on YouTube? Why do they prefer working with YouTube?
A. What are your favorite YouTube channels?
B. Do you, your classmates, friends or colleagues make and upload videos?
C. I would like to make videos for a living. Yes or no?
D. What kind of videos would you like to make?
