Are you living your dream life online?
From watching them to wanting to be them: Youtubers.
Youtube creators were the most inspiring people when I was a kid. To understand my perspective, I should explain a bit of my background. From a young age, I always enjoyed being different. My earliest childhood memory was painting a rainbow abstract mess. Meanwhile, every other child painted monochromatic depictions. Alongside that, school reports often stated I was constantly daydreaming (probably in some far-off land). Therefore, finding videos of characters and people like me fuelled my insatiable imagination.
Such inspiration consisted of animations such as ‘Charlie the Unicorn’. Which I even re-enacted by pretending to be a unicorn in class. Mainly to get confused reactions from my classmates. Being a unicorn came with benefits though, as one day a girl joined me on my adventures. She would only later become my best friend for many years.
Interestingly here, the shift turned from content that inspired me, to the creators I considered as friends… But I knew everything about them, and they knew nothing about me.
My purpose for watching Youtube changed as I went through my teenage years. At this time, I started going to a new school, with new people, in a highly studious environment. A lot of the girls there wanted to become doctors or lawyers. With their bucket loads of confidence and sky-high grades, I felt like I did not belong. I worked so hard to keep up, only to get bored and burnout. I had a hard time making and maintaining friendships during this period. My lunchmate often was a computer screen. It was pretty lonely. Do not get me wrong, the few friendships along the way and supportive teachers did help. But the content creators I watched on Youtube were a main source of comfort to me.
This content consisted of skit creators, like Dan Howell. Coming home and seeing uploads from creators like Dan, somebody who similarly found school a survival mission, was reassuring. It is a talent to be able to turn something as lonely as having more fictional friends than real ones, into something to laugh at and even learn from.
Soon, however, I realised how romanticised a lot of this content was.
A bit later during this time, I got heavily into watching travel Youtubers. Mainly those that talked of their journeys of living in Japan. These creators helped inspire me with a personal goal to one day teach in Japan. What started as a way to transport my younger self to a new country, became a dream. A dream only made possible via these Youtubers I considered as friends. But gradually by digging deeper into these channels, I saw things are not as easy as painted out. Usually, you’ll click on the videos that express all the positive, amazing things about that person’s lifestyle. But there is always the opposite side of the coin. The content of creators expressing their unhappiness with what we the viewer may see as a dream life. Often on social media platforms, people choose all the best parts of their lives to share: hiding the negatives. I know I’m guilty of that, so it is unsurprising that Youtubers are too.
An example is Youtuber Mikan is a creator who is well known for sharing student life in Japan. Yet this life was not all rainbows and pixie dust. Evident by videos of her where she stated how the amount of work is a big culture shock and she was exhausted from her lifestyle. The lifestyle that many fans see as a dream: modelling, creating, and learning about fashion in the heart of Tokyo, whilst broadcasting this to a large audience. There is a lot of things that the beautiful, creative lifestyle often hides. Burnout. Spending hours on a video and project for no one to pay attention to it. Even the biggest Youtuber star PewDiePie has recently retired and states how he wants to focus on his real-life more.
So, was I simply admiring them, or did I want to be them?
Despite being self-aware of the over romanticised depiction of the Youtuber, my love for these content creators continued to grow and expand. The channel OfflineTV introduced me to the adorable LilyPichu and her group of friends. From being an amazing artist to creating melodies and streaming my favourite games… LilyPichu became some kind of idol to me. Sitting there, watching videos late at night, wishing I could be doing what they do. But here comes the big question. I did wish I was these creators? I kind of sat and re-evaluated my life. I decided, no, I didn’t want to necessarily be them. Better phrased, I wanted to be like them. I wanted the confidence to be able to put my creative voice out there too. With all the good and bad parts included.
Maybe you are reading this with the hidden desire to be a content creator too? Instead of wishing you could be in their shoes, take the chance to re-evaluate your own life. What are they doing that you wish you could be doing? There is nothing stopping you from making your own creative content and putting your voice out there. You might have a different career in mind, but you can always embrace that creative aspect on the side. There are plenty of examples of successful cases out there who did the same, just look at TheOdds1sout who studied to become a teacher whilst uploading animations and comics.
Looking back at my journey through school I can see how I went from being proud of that unique side of me to hiding it to fit in. I am sure I am not alone in doing this, society has a habit of downplaying its creatives. But just because we have quietened that creative voice inside of us does not mean it cannot be awakened again. Content creators can guide us through these difficult moments by similar hardships they face. And hopefully, they can make you feel better and put a smile on your face.
These days, I watch a variety of content from animators, makers, artists, and streamers. I love these content creators with all my heart. But I have made efforts on my end to make more relationships in the real world. So I look at these Youtubers now in a healthier light of inspiration for my own creative projects. Youtubers are more than just people on a screen, they have the power to encourage their viewers to try new ideas and initiatives. And maybe, just maybe, they can be the wake-up call to improving your own welfare and life.
