Gaining YouTube Fame: Using PLNs to Acquire Useful Information

It’s my hope that the information gained from my blog will be beneficial to my audience; perhaps beneficial enough to be included in personal learning networks. Personal learning networks allow all of us to utilize applications such as Twitter, Diigo, and RSS readers to collect information on our chosen interest. As evident from my blog, my interest lies within the use of video streaming websites, such as YouTube, to reach a large audience. My personal learning network led me to an online article by Andrew Bossom about finding fame through YouTube.

Bossom asserts that, given the continuous uploading of videos to YouTube, the odds of becoming famous from a video are quite bad: “As a result, it's pretty much a million-to-one chance that your videos will ever be noticed by anyone who can make you famous (¶2). Bossom continues by warning aspiring YouTube stars to not try to tip the scale in their favor by including copyrighted material, misleading tags or descriptions, and spam. He advises that such mistakes can often lead to annoying your audience or violating user terms that could lead to the deletion of videos. (¶5)(¶6)(¶7)

I’m guessing you have heard that old adage: if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Bossom stresses the importance of continuing to make videos, even if your initial attempts don’t gain the exposure you had hoped. (¶8) He continues by adding that your videos should feature what you’re good at, what makes you original: “You should also try to concentrate on what you're good at: whether it's comedy, journalism, how-tos or just straight vlogging, experiment to see what you're most comfortable with and do that” (¶9).

“How to achieve YouTube fame” is a great example of how personal learning networks can help you gather information regardless of the topic. The better the information you find, the better the chances of you being able to achieve your goal.

On that note, I would like to close with a YouTube video by a very funny, young lady. Her YouTube username is JennaMarbles and her video “How to trick people into thinking you’re good looking” has received nearly 10.5 million views since July 2010.

Source: How To Trick People into Thinking You're Good Looking-- JennaMarbles 

Disclaimer: Video contains some explicit language

References

Bossom, Andrew (2008). How to achieve YouTube fame. Knol. Retrieved November 15, 2010, from: http://knol.google.com/k/andrew-bossom/how-to-achieve-youtube-fame/1xa2lpeexuknb/2

A Look At BriTANick

It sparked a revolution. It made possible the dreams of stardom-seeking individuals from all over the globe. I am, of course, referring to the video-sharing website YouTube. The concept is quite simple—shoot a video, upload it to the computer, and then share it with the entire world. The exposure that some videos on the website have received is truly remarkable. “David After Dentist” was a video uploaded by a father who filmed his young son after a dental procedure that required some type of anesthetics. The video was uploaded to YouTube on January 30, 2009 and since has received nearly seventy-two million views and the boy has been featured on several daytime talk shows. YouTube has become a haven for aspiring singers, comedians, actors, filmmakers, and many other types of artists.

This week, I would like to discuss a comedy duo known as BriTANick. BriTANnick is composed of NYU graduates, Brian McElhaney and Nick Kocher. I was first introduced to the comedians’ YouTube channel through a college friend, who found their skit “Pillow talk” to be beyond hysterical—after viewing the video, I had to agree. Currently, BriTANick has a total of nineteen videos and a strong fan base. But, what makes Brian and Nick YouTube all-stars? What separates these two from any group of friends with a video camera? Is it the writing of their skits? The skits definitely feature hilarious scenarios—herpes medication ads, oversleeping, running into an old girlfriend; however, in my opinion, the key to BriTANnick’s success has to be Nick Kocher’s comedic delivery. In one skit, Brian and Nick are in a bathroom and begin a heated conversation with their own reflections. That said, BriTANick’s skits cannot be easily explained, and most surely need to be viewed first hand. To date, BriTANick’s channel has received nearly ten million views.

The influence of YouTube cannot be denied. With proper promotion, a video has the potential of receiving millions of views, which is evident from the mentioned YouTube stars. In future blogs, I will continue to examine popular videos and offer tips for producing and promoting your YouTube videos, so you will be able to achieve... fame.

David After Dentist

BriTANick YouTube Channel  

Welcome to my new blog

This blog will discuss the new trends in YouTube video publishing and discuss the phenomenon that is YouTube stardom.