YouTube
Shane Dawson And Jenna Marbles Represent The End Of A YouTube Era
I grew up watching YouTubers like Shane Dawson and Jenna Marbles. Their recent controversies have soured my nostalgia.
Jaime Gordon
A Small YouTube Account Believes A Much Larger Channel Is Gaming The System To Successfully Pull Down Videos That Criticize It
In this week's newsletter: Prank channel Nelk Boys has used "copyright" to successfully pull down a video about them twice, and how one man running a popular Peloton TikTok account has done the marketing work for the company.
Tanya Chen
Dave Chappelle Just Dropped A New Comedy Special And It’s Scathing
Undoubtedly raw, 8:46, Chappelle's set about George Floyd and the killings of Black people feels like the first meaningful mainstream art to emerge from this particular moment.
Tomi Obaro
The Mystery Of "Van Life" YouTuber Gabby Petito's Disappearance Has Deepened After Her Partner Was Named A Person Of Interest
Police said they tried to speak with Brian Laundrie about the sudden disappearance of his 22-year-old fiancé but were only given the name and phone number of his attorney.
Salvador Hernandez
The Met Gala Guest List Sparked A Huge Debate About “Elitism” And Which Celebrities Should Be Invited After This Year’s Red Carpet Saw More YouTubers And TikTokers Than Ever
The influx of Gen Z TikTokers and YouTube stars — like Addison Rae and Emma Chamberlain — who secured coveted invites to this year's star-studded event has sparked a discussion about the “elitist” nature of the Met Gala.
Ellen Durney
It’s Time To Stop Giving Jake Paul Any Of Your Attention
The YouTuber's decision to treat a protest against police brutality as an opportunity to rack up views makes it clear that it's time to stop watching.
Scaachi Koul
How A Vegan TikTok Star Became A Daily Pick-Me-Up For Millions Of People
Through TikTok, actor Tabitha Brown has found her way to more than 2 million viewers' hearts — and stomachs.
Michael Blackmon
Why Is Justin Bieber Struggling To Connect?
There isn’t a lot of fresh insight into Bieber’s life or his art in his new YouTube documentary series Seasons.
Alessa Dominguez
In The Age Of So-Called Cancel Culture, Jeffree Star Is Doing Fine
Having weathered repeated accusations of racism, bullying, and bad business, YouTube beauty mogul Jeffree Star is trying to convince the world he’s the good guy.
Scaachi Koul
In Defense Of Celebrity Stunt Weddings
Wedding content has been one of the biggest ways that mainstream culture celebrates white hetero femininity, so of course women from Elizabeth Taylor to Tana Mongeau have used it to their advantage.
Alessa Dominguez
There’s No One To Root For In The James Charles Beauty YouTuber Drama
Vlogger Tati Westbrook invoked anti-gay stereotypes to make a case against James Charles.
Alessa Dominguez
YouTubers Are Obsessed With Reviewing Yelp’s Worst-Rated Businesses
“Worst reviewed” videos inadvertently shine a light on how subjective Yelp reviews really are.
Ann-Derrick Gaillot
Meet The Beauty Influencer Who Isn’t Afraid To Say What She Thinks
Jackie Aina has been unapologetic about holding the makeup industry accountable to the black women who buy its products.
Darian Symoné Harvin
How Becky G Relaunched Her Music Career — In Spanish
After a “lonely” start in the music industry as a teenage one-hit wonder, Becky G is riding the new wave of women in reggaeton as Latin pop takes over YouTube.
Alessa Dominguez
Bon Appétit’s Test Kitchen Chefs Are The Only YouTube Stars I Care About
I may never get better at cooking, but I will follow these chefs to the ends of the earth.
Louis Peitzman
YouTube Star Nikkie Tutorials Paid Homage To Black Trans Icon Marsha P. Johnson At The Met Gala
“Marsha P Johnson paved the way for so many of us, and I hope I made my community proud tonight."
Ade Onibada
Even When He Loses, Logan Paul Wins
The uproar over Paul’s “Suicide Forest” video highlights the way YouTube has become its own kind of lawless high school community, where being popular is the priority at any cost.
Scaachi Koul
New Short Fiction By Rachel Khong: "If A Tree Falls In A Forest"
"The image was startling. I was an average-looking Asian woman with blunt, neat, healthy-looking hair and carefully applied makeup, save for the mascara that was starting to run." A new short story for our "Dark Times" series.
Rachel Khong
Dear Influencers, Always Sign A Contract
In this week's newsletter: These misfortunes revealed how many handshake deals are still taking place between brand and influencer; And an ode to fitness YouTuber Chloe Ting, who said she feels like she's being chased off of the platform.
Tanya Chen
How YouTubers Like Zoella Capitalize On The Self-Care Movement
As popular YouTubers like Zoella and Ingrid Nilsen expand into mental health videos, it’s increasingly difficult to tell whether we're watching a video diary or an ad.
Victoria Sands
When An Internet Celebrity Dies, It Can Be Like Losing A Friend
When the natural hair video blogger Meechy Monroe died of brain cancer at 32, it was gutting for women like me who considered her not just a celebrity, but something closer to a friend.
Bim Adewunmi
The Downfall Of YouTube’s Biggest Star Is A Symptom Of A Bigger Illness
The schadenfreude over YouTube star Felix Kjellberg’s sudden fall from grace overlooks a much bigger, more insidious pattern of young men testing boundaries in the angriest corners of the internet.
Jacob Clifton
Hannah Hart Might Be YouTube's First Crossover Queer Icon
After half a decade of dominating YouTube, the My Drunk Kitchen star is determined to show her young LGBT fans that it's possible to grow up and live a big, gay, happy life. In today's cultural climate, when positivity is all too often drowned out by cynicism, can Hannah Hart make it cool to be kind?
Shannon Keating
YouTuber Tyler Oakley's Big, Incredibly Profitable Adventure
Why stop at voice of your generation when you can be the Ellen DeGeneres of your generation?
Doree Shafrir
7 Essays To Read This Week: "Bad Blood," Pop Music Stardom, And Counterculture
This week, BuzzFeed Ideas Editor Bim Adewunmi wrote a piece on the strange conformity of YouTube's beauty tutorials. Read that and other essays from The Atlantic, The Fader, Grantland, and more.
Susan Cheng
Why Teens Love YouTube's Grace Helbig
How YouTube's "awkward older sister" is ushering in a new era of female friendship and femininity.
Anne Helen Petersen
YouTube Is Teens' Top Social Network
Facebook lags. Teenagers use the internet while studying, playing sports, and attending religious services.
Anna North
VidCon Has Been Canceled Again Due To Concerns Over COVID-19 And The Delta Variant
The conference was supposed to be hosted by TikTok for the first time. Organizers are still planning for a 2022 in-person event.
Tanya Chen
Big Tech Thought It Had A Billion Users In The Bag. Now It Might Be Forced To Make Hard Choices To Get Them.
Long viewed as the world’s biggest market for “the next billion users,” India is fast becoming Silicon Valley’s biggest headache.
Pranav Dixit
Anna Wintour Revealed Why She Put Kim Kardashian And Kanye West On The Cover Of Vogue In 2014
Wintour’s decision to put Kimye on the cover of Vogue resulted in hundreds of negative comments, including one that said: “Disgusting! These two are the epitome of VULGARITY. You will never recover from this low.”
Ben Henry
