Growing up we were always told that college is a vital part in becoming successful in life. In order to get a high paying job we must spend thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on an education. For me this has always been one of the biggest questions I’ve had about my life.
However, it seems like the fastest way to make money today is to have a social media presence. According to a news article by The Richest, the wealthiest You Tuber is currently a Swedish comedic video gamer named, Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg, who’s screen name is PewDiePie
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Kjellberg started on You Tube in 2010, while pursuing a degree in industrial economics and technology management at Chalmers University of Technology. After his first year in school he dropped out, and focused on making content for his You Tube channel. It only took a short two years for PewDiePie’s channel to obtain more than a million subscribers. You Tubers and other social media infuencers make their money from advertisements and sponsorships.
In 2012 Youtube created an algorithm that would demonetized videos that showed content that didn’t fit a set of standards for advertisements. This created an incentive to post more positive and noncontroversial material for the site. These standards were widened again in 2015. This new update would take videos out of circulation or not allow ads to run on videos that contained, nudity, controversial material, cursing, crude comments, or mature material. Because of this You Tubers turned to sponsorhsips instead of heavily relying on ads.
Becoming a You Tuber is not as easy as it may sound because the content that you crank out would still have to be something that people would want to watch. You would also need to decide what you would want to do. Unlike choosing or switching a major in college, switching the type of content you show on your channel is much more financially forgiving. Developing a channel is as easy as posting a video a week. There would be no need to drive to work or have to take a subway. It’s as easy as opening your computer and start to record.