YouTuber

A YouTuber is a content creator and social media influencer who uploads or creates videos on the online video-sharing website YouTube, typically posting to their personal YouTube channel. The term was first used in the English language in 2006, and subsequently appeared in the 2006 Time Person of the Year issue.

Influential YouTubers are sometimes described as microcelebrities. Since YouTube is widely conceived as a bottom-up social media video platform, microcelebrities do not appear to be involved with the established and commercial system of celebrity culture; rather, they appear self-governed and independent. This appearance, in turn, leads to YouTubers being seen as more relatable and authentic, also fostered by the direct connection between artist and viewer using the medium of YouTube.

In 2014, the University of Southern California surveyed 13–18-year-olds in the United States on whether ten YouTube celebrities or ten traditional celebrities were more influential; YouTube personalities took the first five spots of the ranking, with the YouTube duo Smosh ranking as most influential. The survey was repeated in 2015, and found six YouTubers on the first ranks, with KSI ranked as most influential. Several YouTubers and their influence were subjects for scientific studies, such as Zoella, and PewDiePie. Numerous studies in the late 2010s found that YouTuber was the most desired career by children.

YouTubers' influence has also extended beyond the platform. Some have ventured into mainstream forms of media, such as Liza Koshy, who, among other pursuits, hosted the revival of the Nickelodeon show Double Dare and starred in the Netflix dance-comedy film Work It. Syrian-Emirati YouTuber, Hayla Ghazal, opened two fashion boutiques as a result of her online success. In 2019, Ryan's Mystery Playdate, a show starring Ryan Kaji, the then-seven-year-old host of the toy review and vlog channel Ryan's World, began airing on the Nick Jr. Channel; later that year, NBC debuted A Little Late with Lilly Singh in its 1:35 am ET time slot. Singh's digital prominence was cited as a reason for her selection as host by then-NBC Entertainment co-chairman George Cheeks.

In 2024, Canadian YouTuber Jasmeet Singh Raina, otherwise known as JusReign, released his half-hour comedy series titled Late Bloomer. In 2025, Italian YouTuber Panda boi was awarded the Grand Prix Award at Cannes Festival.

In addition to expanding into other forms of media, several YouTubers have used their influence to raise money for charity or speak out on social issues. Notable examples include James Stephen "MrBeast" Donaldson and Mark Rober, who helped raise over $20 million with their Team Trees campaign, and Felipe Neto, who publicly criticized Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Time named Neto and fellow YouTuber JoJo Siwa to its annual list of the world's 100 most influential people.

Research suggests political YouTubers can have a highly "disruptive" influence in mainstream television news. This includes in 2018, when YouTuber Ash Sarkar, of the Novara Media channel, experienced a "rapid rise" to fame by calling Piers Morgan an "idiot" - breaking with the norms of behavior on Good Morning Britain (ITV) whereby guests defer to his "authority." She later appeared on Newsnight (BBC) in which she broke with the program's "unreservedly respectful coverage" of the Royal family by referring to them as "weird people."

Due to this level of influence, in 2013, University of Michigan associate professor Robert Hovden argued for the creation of a new index similar to the g-index and h-index to evaluate a person's output and impact on YouTube.