David Dobrik - Blog #4

David Dobrik's Fame Thanks to Strategic Social Media Practices - Blog #4

David Dobrik is a Youtube sensation. 

He went from having no platform 5 years ago to being a multimillionaire because of the success of his 4 minute and 20-second vlogs on youtube. David’s posting is consistent and formulaic. Much of his success could be accounted to the consistency of his posts. David used to post a new vlog every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday ever since he started his Youtube channel a few years back. Since his career has picked up and he is investing himself in his weekly podcast and many other projects, in December of 2019 David announced he was only going to be posting twice a week. This shocked fans, and left some people wanting even more of David Dobrk. Even this seemed to be another marketing ploy.

CLICKBAIT Merch

David Dobrik has two successful youtube channels. His main channel is strictly for vlogs, and the second is for any additional footage that was filmed while he was in the process of filming content for the Vlog channel. This mostly consists of bloopers from filming his posse of friends known as the Vlog Squad. David used to be very active on Twitter, tweeting many times a day. Now that he has such a strong following he only tweets a couple times a week. He also always immediately tweets a link to every new Youtube video he has. In addition, he runs a podcast that he posts to once every week. More recently, he has invested more into giving his old Tik Tok account a revamp, since Tik Tok is extremely popular with today’s youth. David also has his main Instagram that he posts occasionally. When he does post, it's always content that seems to be an inside joke between him and his fans, or he posts content about the Vlog Squad that will spark the curiosity of his fans. He also has a second Instagram called “DavidsDisposabls” where he only posts pictures he takes of the Vlog Squad with a disposable camera. He also has an active Snapchat story in addition to a series of 54 Snapchat episodes as well. 

After tracking David’s (many, many, many) social media platforms for a week this is what I found!

After analyzing each platform I’ve found that every post that David makes is strategic to drawing more attention to who he is, and creating more buzz around his name.

CLICKBAIT Merch

For example, since the start of his Youtube channel, David made “clickbait” so iconic. Every Youtube video title is always all in uppercase letters and is a dramatic rendition of just one snippet of something that happens in the vlog. Not only does he always exaggerate, but he’s as vague as possible in the title to keep fans guessing. In fact, he’s so well known for having titles that are always “clickbait,” all of his well-known merch has the words “CLICKBAIT,” written across the shirt, hoodie, sweatpants, shorts, underwear, or sports bra.  In addition to this, he always makes the title have something to do with the thumbnail of each video. He chooses the most suggestive footage from the vlog to make the thumbnail, and then he always edits a picture of his head onto the thumbnail as well. It's so well known that he uses footage that looks more provocative than it really is as the thumbnail, that it becomes a joke that is frequently talked about within his vlogs. This usually has to do with suggestive pictures of hot girls, dangerous stunts, blood, fancy cars, a couple kissing, or famous celebrities. 

David's Newest Vlog

David only posted one video this week, and every part of the video was as formulaic as usual. The thumbnail was David’s face looking cringey plastered over a picture of the vlog squad in a convertible soaking wet, with the caption “WE DROVE A CONVERTIBLE INTO A CAR WASH!!!” Not only was the thumbnail and title predictable, but in the last four seconds of every video, five different advertisements flash across the screen as part of the “outro.” The first message shows crazy footage with the words “Vlog continues on my Instagram Story,’ trying to draw people towards his Instagram. The next message is a picture of the vlog squad in his new merch. The next screen is an advertisement for his podcast. Followed by a black screen dropping his Twitter & Instagram handle, then it finally concludes with the message, “like and subscribe.” Each one of these messages is under a half-second long. After the messages show there’s always a few seconds of really funny footage that plays. David strategically does this so that his viewers learn that unique and rare vlog footage is always shown after the messages. Therefore his viewers learn to sit through the advertisements instead of ending his vlogs early.

The Instagram Post With Madison

On David’s real Instagram he only posted one photo, however, it was just as attention-seeking as any of his vlogs. It was a picture of him hugging famous singer Madison Beer with the caption, “Beauty and the beast (sorry for calling you a beast madison lol).” This post was especially strategic because there have been many rumors about David Dobrik and Madison Beer dating in the news lately. It seems as if David posted this picture to fuel the fire and make the news and his fans speculate even more about if the dating rumors are true or not. In addition, he posts fun Instagram stories that show parts of his day. For example, on Wednesday he posted a video of his podcast partner goofing around, a video of him and his assistant who there are also dating rumors about going to Disneyland, videos of him hanging out with famous actor Josh Peck, and lastly a video of him shooting a Nerf gun at the vlog squad. Nerf is known to sponsor him, so the inclusion of the Nerf gun in this video is especially intentional. 

On his second Instagram, there are only three pictures posted this week. All of the pictures are of disposable pictures he took of members of the vlog squad. This week he did pictures of single portraits of the female members of the vlog squad all posing. As per usual, none of the disposable pictures are captioned.

Most Recent Tweet

There were no videos posted on his second Youtube channel “David Dobrik Too.” No Snapchat stories posted. Additionally, there was one podcast posted as per usual. His only tweet this week was the same message that he tweets every week when he advertises a new vlog that he posts. He always accompanies the link to his new Youtube video with the message that he’s “Choosing one person who RT’s to be next videos shoutout! New vid is up! Like and Subscribe!” This is another strategic move that he always picks one person who retweets his new video to shout out their Twitter handle in next week's video. This is a great way for his fans to advertise his videos for him. Within seconds of tweeting, there are always thousands of retweets.

Finally, on his Tik Tok, there were two videos posted. One is a video of him following a current popular Tik Tok trend. Although there’s a twist in this video, because it features the famous actor John Stamos. This Tik Tok is for entertainment purposes, but also elevates David’s social status as it reiterates the fact that he hangs out with famous celebrities. The second Tik Tok posted is a video of the news saying that there are rumors of David Dobrik and Madison Beer dating, and then the camera panned to the entire vlog squad cheering and clapping, then the camera pans back to David jumping to joy at the rumors. This Tik Tok is especially strategic because David is helping to spread the rumors about himself dating a famous singer that ultimately just provides him with more attention and new fans.

David's Second Youtube Channel

After doing an in-depth analysis of David Dobrik’s usage of social media, it's clear that all his fame is attributed to the way he so purposefully runs his accounts. While it’s all so formulaic, there's still just the right amount of authenticity and fun mixed in, so that his viewers still see him as genuine. This reminds me of Harrington’s “More than a backsplash: Twitter and television,” in the way that Twitter is used so purposefully alongside other types of media to compliment it. However, instead of the platform of television like Harrington writes about, David’s equivalent platform is his Youtube channel. Harrington writes, “Twitter does not necessarily replace existing media channels, such as broadcasting or online mainstream media, but often complements them, providing its users with alternative opportunities to contribute more actively to the wider media sphere,” (2013). This is the perfect explanation of how David Dobrik strategically uses his Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok, to echo in a slightly different way what he is already doing on Youtube. 

David Dobrik is a social media genius, and deserves the millions he’s made.