If you look at the TV audience data, you realize that football is always among the most viewed shows. They will also be broadcast on the Tele5 or La1 channels, at least in the case of Hego Euskal Herria. The most successful YouTubers, on the contrary, talk about video games, or offer esthetic recommendations, buy all kinds of products and take them out of the bags, do crafts, describe their day to day, etc. Younger consumers of audiovisual content have other interests. “Television is an invention of the last century,” they say. They have no reason to do so.

“If you don’t know very well what all this Youtube is, we have a bad and good news for you: It’s bad that you’re aging and it’s good that we’re also old and today we’re going to try to modernize it a little bit.” The intruder of Francisco Izuzquiza, a journalist from El Encéche, on the radio show on youtubers, comes very well, like him, because we identify more with traditional football consumers – at least of age – than with the younger influencers who create their own channel on Youtube and tell stories.

Youtube is the third most viewed website in the world, with Google and Facebook ahead. We would need over 1,800 years to see all the recordings here. In just two months, more videos are uploaded to this website than those created in the 60s by the three major American television channels. Many of the users are teenagers, who connect via smartphones, tablets or computers, but the data indicate that also between the ages of 18 and 40 the TV audience far exceeds. The consumption habits of audiovisual content are changing; what, when and how to see them are increasingly in our hands. Today's stars are youtubers, and we're not going to watch them on TV. Some of them make money, sometimes enough to live from it, thanks to the economic contribution of the commercial brands that insert ads into their videos. Youtube, youtubers, that's the future, that's the present, with its advantages and disadvantages.

What do youtubers talk about?

About anything. Echad a topic, the weirdest one ever comes to mind, and there's certainly some youtuber talking about it. And if you're not, you're sure to show up shortly. The most successful, at least among boys, focus on video games, like the most followers around the world: PewDiePie, Hi-Soy German and Smosh. At the moment, the first has about 50 million subscribers, 30 million the second and 20 million the third. The three are of the same age group (23-28 years), as are the other youtubers in the list of meetings.

There's more diversity among girls. It is true that fashion and aesthetics remain the most important recommendations, such as Yuya (with 14 million subscribers) and Zoella (11 million), but they also talk about many issues, and also Jenna Marbles (17 million), an American who deals with everyday things with a lot of humor.

‘Umboxing’ in Basque

We were also surprised to learn that among the channels with the most followers are those who make umboxing, that is, the youtubers who buy all kinds of products – or receive them as “gifts” – and take them out of their portfolios in front of the camera. The first umboxing was held in 2006 with a Nokia E61 phone. Then come all kinds of products: toys, chocolate egg surprises, sweets, household utensils, etc. There are also those who have done the Unpolting in Basque: Super Hiper Txope, the Donostiarra Nerea Arriola, has shown in its channel “the militant kit for the incorporation of the Sortu Congress”.

The YouTubers who speak in Euskera are still very few, and their number of links has nothing to do with the monsters of the sector. One is the Hondarribitarra Zuriñe Darceles, which has a channel for children and adults, the first in Basque: Sleeptes. It does crafts, experiments, animations…

To realize the diversity we can find on the network, we can cite, for example, the Colombian channel Jhon Jairo Velásques, which bears the name of repentant Popeye. The sicary of the Medellin drug cartel, whose "patron" was the well-known drug trafficker Pablo Escobar (1949-1993), who has confessed to have killed 300 people and has been in prison for 23 years, is currently YouTuber. The videos tell us the experience of years that seems to emerge from a film, the relationship with the government, the strengths and weaknesses of Escobar... It cannot be denied that someone is interested – call Morbo –.

Youtube, money making machine… for a few

It is not possible to grant specific quantities. In any case, the figures that the media soplan are capable of becoming crazy. According to the newspaper Expressen, for example, the Swedish PewDiePie, which has 50 million subscribers, won 7 million euros a month in 2014 thanks to the ads that Youtube automatically places on its channel and, above all, to the money that commercial brands pay to show their products to the cameras.

To earn money through ads inserted in videos, you need to authorize Youtube to monetize and advertise the videos. For every video seen 1,000 times you can win between 2 and 8 euros, depending on factors such as: If users see full videos or not, the number of appointments, if they are special days (such as Christmas), etc. Some of the benefits will be received by Youtube, i.e. Google.

The more subscribers the Youtube channel has, the more attractive it will be for companies that want to advertise their products. The Internet can be a sweeter lure than television itself, especially for advertising campaigns aimed at younger consumers. It can be done in several ways: Let youtubers talk about products of a particular brand, introduce a tutorial on these products (e.g. makeup recommendations), or dress and share a photo with slippers, t-shirts, glasses or whatever is of that brand on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram, as all platforms feedback each other. You can also use the Internet as a trampoline, that is, make yourself known as Youtuber and start making television commercials, get employment contracts as a presenter or writer... For example, the youtuber zumaiarra Telmo Trenado, who performs magic exchanges, has participated in an advertising campaign of the company Euskaltel.

Things should be clear. It's not easy to live up to videos. Very few do. You have to spend a lot of hours and be lucky. Experts recommend not looking for money from the start. First, we need to get a group of faithful followers and create a permanent relationship with them. Then, the circumstances.

Television, the invention of the last century

There are plenty of guides available to help you achieve success as youtuber. To capture the idea, give a special touch to videos, take care of the image and sound, take advantage of social networks… and one last recommendation: “You’ll see television as an invention of the last century.” Because the Internet gives more freedom to watch on-demand videos and intimacy. This intimacy, or the fact that minors can earn money through videos uploaded to the Internet, which requires the consent of adults, is a risk factor, as it can feed too much the “narcissism” of parents, in the desire for their children to become famous characters, in a “chaotic world” like that of the Internet, as the psychologist of José Antonio Luen says.

Seven out of every ten children between the ages of 2 and 11 in the Spanish State watch every day some Youtube video. The Internet allows them to interact with their idols; YouTubers talk about what interests young people, as young people talk to friends, almost without limits. At least so far. Some youtubers show what their neighborhood looks like, their house, their room, their closet… Nothing disturbing. However, there are those who think about politics or religion, or use too harsh language. In this sense, Youtube has announced that economic income will be eliminated (denying the possibility of monetizing videos) to those who use “raw language” or “green humor”, show “partial nudes” or “images of violence”, “boost drug use” and “talk about controversial issues” (wars, politics…). This is a matter of two or three months ago, and it is not yet clear what its consequences will be. The decision has generated anger, however, especially among YouTubers, characterized by rude language, shouting and insult, mostly men, considering that the Internet should be totally free.

Feminism facing the youtuber phenomenon

The journalist of Pikara magazine, June Fernández, presented in the 2513 issue of ARGIA her opinion on the phenomenon of Youtuber around the role that feminists must play. The report is based on what the youtuber Dalas Review of Barcelona has done. With more than three million subscribers, Fernández has said that his discourse is "misogynist and antifeminist" and that his spokespersons "have nothing to fear." However, it is doubtful whether the outlines of a group of feminists in Madrid (shackled by a presentation of Review books) or the boycott of Wismichu (whose intervention was suspended by pressure from some women) are the most effective means to socialize their struggle, as they put against the feminists the young lovers of these youtubers: “We should be very careful. I understand the craving to make feminist boikots and esgraches, but given the fame of those youtubers, isn't it going to be counterproductive? How many girls are angry with feminists because we fight the communicators they admire, like or not, because they are communicators?” However, Fernandez has made it clear that something needs to be done with youtubers who “say that women are sluts or that the reports of male violence are false”: “More than bans and boycotts, I always prefer to promote the critical consumption of successful cultural products and make alternatives visible.” Some of them are Queer Avengers, RayNTG and Psywoman youtuber LGTB and feminists.

On the other hand, Fernández believes that initiatives in favor of equality should guide reflections on Youtube discourses, but with respect, because young people will behave defensively if we say that their idols are “foolish”, as we have thought when we see some videos, if we have to tell the truth. It would be a mistake to say that it is only a matter of some frikis or umemocrats. “It’s one more way,” El Encéche’s radio show said journalists Dani Senabre and Rodrigo Fáez who talk about football. They both jump to Youtube, among other things, because it gives them more freedom and allows them to own themselves, without having to work at anyone's disposal. Therefore, it is better not to fall into easy criticism and take into account the YouTuber phenomenon, where future creators and communicators will be greatly hindered, and where consumers of audiovisual content will meet.

The boy spoke: “TV to play with Play”

We asked Iker, 12, and Maite, 15. From the topics we like most (video games, aesthetics, others) to the decline of television, we have not been told anything in general that clashes with the writing in the report.

When asked about the youtubers they love most, Iker has quoted El Rubius, sTaXx, aLexBY and Grefg, four guys, and four people who talk about video games like the Call of Duty, especially all in Spanish. Iker likes to follow her live match, though she believes the videos should not exceed 10 minutes. They say they often use ugly words and comment on sex.

Maite, for his part, follows Dulceida, Sara Baceiredo, Paula Gonu, Raquel Reich, Marta Riumbau, Grace Villarreal or Alex Puertolas, with the exception of the latter, all girls, who are dedicated especially to fashion and aesthetics, but also describe travels, do crafts, speak everyday… in Spanish. Iker knows no youtuber in Basque; Maite tells us about Iban García (DespertaVlogs.eus).

Maite likes the lives of YouTubers because they are “very fun and interesting,” he explained. He also stressed that those who upload videos are young and that, compared to television, you can see what you want at every moment. Iker sees very little television. “I use it only to play with the Play Station.” For him, therefore, the screen is more than a box of content.

The data indicates that the most common thing is for boys to follow video games and girls to follow the topics of fashion or aesthetics. To the question of whether they agree, both have answered yes. “How I wear, peino, makeup… I take the idea of going to the street or to a party,” explains Maite: “Kids play games like Minecraft or FIFA in their spare time, and if they don’t know one of them they learn on YouTube.”

We've also asked them if they study computer science in school. Iker told us yes, they teach them how to build games and develop technology. “I really like it,” he says. Maite, on the other hand, does not learn informatics in itself, but in the Technology subject “sometimes” they use computers. Images are mainly performed with the Mongge program. “We haven’t learned anything from Youtube, and I don’t think we’re going to learn.”