Blog #7 - YouTube Famous

Nathan Gillispie

3/16/20

YouTube Famous

The wide use and acceptance of social media have been around for a short period of time yet; it has integrated into almost every aspect of our daily lives. From the clothes we wear to the foods we eat, social media has an influence over these decisions. The effects and potential dangers of social media are still being investigated today as the research on mediated content is new and ever-changing. It’s important to recognize that the effects social media have over individuals are not just targeted towards a specific demographic. Social media affects all age groups, races, and genders in unequal ways. The effect social media has on children is a specifically concerning topic, as they are very young and easily manipulated and malleable toward the influence of an online community. I will be examining a popular ‘kid influencer’ that is present on social media and discuss how the content he posts is received toward a younger audience.

Evan Moana, better known as EvanTubeHD, is a 14-year-old American YouTube content creator. He started his YouTube profile in 2011 and has gained tremendous support from the online community. Evan is now making $1.3 million annually from sponsorships and advertisements with a fan base well over 6.52 million viewers (EvanTubeHD, 2020). 

Evan currently operates under 5 different YouTube channels, all hosted and operated by members of his family. EvanTubeHD is his most famous channel where he received his quick rise to popularity, followed by The_Tube_Family compromised of his sister Jillian, father Jared, and mother Susan. EvanTubeHD is a YouTube channel where Evan showcases the latest toys and gadgets out on the market today. He does ‘toy reviews’ as well as participating in trendy social media challenges and science experiments. Evan also has a video game channel where he streams his gaming content to his audience (EvanTubeGaming). Evan has uploaded over 690 videos and actively posts new content to view every week (Mediakix, 2019).

After examining Evan’s YouTube channel, I started to analyze his content and interactions with his audience members. Evan’s target audiences for many of his videos appear to be focused on predominately young males from the ages of 6 to 12. Although Evan is a ‘Toy reviewer’ for all ages and genders, many of his showcased items are meant to be for boys with a few unisex toys here and there. At such a young age, Evan seems to be very charismatic and approachable through his video content as he makes funny facial expressions and comments throughout his reviews. The videos he posts seem to be professionally created with a stable high-quality microphone and digital recorder. The videos are all streamed in HD, hence the name ‘EvanTubeHD’, and have closed captions for many languages. The clean display and interactivity of how Evan performs his toy reviews seems to captivate a younger audience far better than TV commercials for toys. 

Evan unboxes all the toys that he is showcasing and interacts with them in a somewhat scripted way that appears genuine and conventional to a younger audience. The majority of his videos range from 10 to 15 minutes long and stay pretty consistent with the layout in how he conducts his reviews. Something that people of all ages admire is consistency with video creations; knowing when and where to skip and fast-forward in the video to get to the part that is most intriguing. Evan is very thorough in all his reviews as he displays all aspects of the product he is advertising. He has plenty of funny and creative edits throughout his video clips that make viewing it appear more funny and engaging. It does not appear that Evan regularly engages with his audience, as there are limited interactions he shares with his followers in the comment section. One could assume that Evan would have limited online engagement as he most likely is still attending grade-school.

Much of what Evan’s channel consists of is the typical dream of what younger boys imagine; having a job where you get to play with toys all day and record yourself playing video games. This new lifestyle seems very pleasurable for younger children and attributes to Evan’s success. It’s interesting to take note of how old Evan was when he first started his review channel (6 years old) and the age he is now (14 years old).

Despite the 9 years that have passed, Evan continues to hold onto his original intentions for this YouTube channel. Evan is desperately hanging on to his original target audience, as that is where he developed his fame, by continuing to release toy videos that are somewhat outdated for his age. The show might experience renewal in the coming years to adjust for the changing time Evan is going through. Evident of this renewal period is seen through Evan creating a ‘video game’ channel for content that he seems to be more interested in now. 

Evan continues to develop a fandom for the content he creates while not trying to alienate his original target audience. Evan most likely has children and adults alike watching his content as he provides thorough reviews of toys to possibly by for children.

Kid influencers, like Evan, are all part of this new digitalized era that is moving faster than ever. Evan’s channel, in particular, may continue to fuel this consumer-driven outlook that the world is now entangled in. Buying everything and sharing nothing is the name of the game for younger audiences today as we are now living in a time of great prosperity. Evan’s content might pose a risk in altering the minds of young children to adapt more consumer-friendly beliefs. Always wanting what you can’t have and never being satisfied with what you do have are attitudes that may arise in young individuals when exposed to this content. Not to mention, with the rise of young ‘kid influencers’ appearing online it begins to normalize the accepted age to appear online; disregarding the fact that the internet can be a very dangerous place, especially for younger individuals. As mentioned in 'Towards a Critical Theory of Online Abuse', "populist presentations of online abuse as a new and pressing threat to children and young people can obscure the intersection of new technology with existing patterns of abuse and violence" (Salter, 2017). Not to discredit Evan’s outstanding work in the media industry, but the effects of his content on younger individuals are worth further investigation.

EvanTubeHD. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/EvanTubeHD

Salter, M. (2017) Crime, justice and social media. London and New York: Routledge

10 Kid YouTubers Making Millions With Videos & Social Media. (2019, October 10). Retrieved from https://mediakix.com/blog/top-kid-youtubers-influencers/#gs.271z5k