Caspar Lee is attractive in an ordinary, objective sort of way. He’s tall and muscular, but not overly so. He has short blond hair, styled in a way that probably took him a half hour to make it look like it took five minutes. He is tan enough that he looks like he belongs in California instead of in England, where he currently lives. A famous YouTuber, his videos are entertaining in a generic way. They’re nothing extraordinary compared to other famous YouTube stars: though he brings his own personality, his videos appear to have been lifted straight from some secret template all YouTubers seem to use. It took no great talent to get where he is–simply good luck, good timing and good hair.
Though the details of his childhood may differ, the story of how Lee got his start as a social media celebrity is fairly common. He started making videos when YouTube was a fairly new site, a common pattern among almost all YouTube stars. His channel didn’t take off immediately, but after about a year, he had enough followers to consider himself a popular YouTuber. So he flew from his home in South Africa to England to meet and make collaborative videos with a few famous British YouTubers. Because each YouTuber had a different fan base, these collaboration videos, which are extremely common today, were and continue to be a way for YouTubers to increase their subscriber count.
Celebrities like Lee, that is, celebrities emerging from social media platforms, are a relatively new trend. For the first time, people are getting famous regardless of their talent. Before social media, those eager for time in the spotlight had to choose and develop a talent, such as acting or singing. Now, it’s as simple as talking to a camera, posting the result online and hoping that people like it.
Often, once famous enough on social media, these stars try to pursue a wider audience. Lee, for example, has just landed his first ever acting role as the star of a movie called “Laid in America.” Because the movie is not yet out, there’s no way to judge his acting abilities, but it’s likely he was chosen because his YouTube audience is the demographic the movie is trying to reach. That demographic is 13- to 17-year-old girls.
YouTube isn’t the only platform that creates this type of celebrity. Nearly every social media platform has its own stars. The popular smartphone app called Vine has its own collection of stars such, as Nash Grier, who got his start as a social media personality. He started making videos on Vine while it was still a new app. Because it wasn’t yet oversaturated with people eager for a taste of fame, he quickly garnered a huge following. His videos aren’t the funniest things ever, but they’re relevant to kids still in high school. As an added bonus, his electric blue eyes draw in a lot of female followers.
Like Lee, Grier was eager for a broader audience and the money that comes with it. He joined a group of other popular Viners, all boys around his age, to create a tour called Magcon. For a time, Magcon traveled around the United States and performed at hotels in front of hordes of screaming fangirls. The boys in Magcon didn’t have an act or play to perform. They didn’t play music or do stand-up comedy. In fact, they didn’t do much at all. Their show was mainly them standing in front of the crowd and talking to each other or lip-syncing popular songs. The only talent they demonstrated was the ability to get rich without possessing any real talent.
However, not all social media celebrities lack talent. There are a number who got famous because of their singing or comedy chops. There are a few who even got famous for seemingly no reason before deciding they actually would like to be known for something other than talking at a camera.
One such person is Tessa Violet, known as “meekakitty” on YouTube. She got famous vlogging, which means video logging or documenting her day. Mainly, she spoke to the camera about various topics long before YouTube was the billion-dollar corporation we know it as today. However, she recently started posting videos of herself singing original songs and has decided to take her YouTube channel in a more musical direction. She’s successful enough to go on tour with her boyfriend, who is also YouTube famous and sings his own original songs. Though the basis for her musical success stems from her preexisting fan base, she’s a beautiful singer and has undoubtedly gained new fans through her music.
The stories of Lee, Grier and Violet have a few things in common and are by no means unique to these three. They all got started on social channels before those platforms took off. They all have the same audience demographic of 13- to 17-year-old girls. However, the most significant thing they have in common is the fact they all got famous without having any specific talent and from there they decided what they wanted their talent to be.