YouTube has become the platform which dominates the social media world. The King of Social Media, you could say. I have only recently joined the YouTube scene, and to be honest, I was instantly hooked. Starting off the with Sugg siblings (Joe and Zoe Sugg (better known as Zoella and ThatcherJoe), YouTube instantly created a place where I could sit back and relax, watching other goofy people have fun and record it
I was scrolling through other people’s channels and saw the SacconeJolys. This fun family reminded me of home when I was at university, as they literally live the next town away from me.
They created a sense of comfort and had that family vibe I was missing. Other family vloggers did not have the same effect until the Atwood-Smith vlogs came up on YouTube.
The American YouTubers
Scrolling through different channels and clicking on YouTube’s recommendations of who they thought I would enjoy, I landed on the other side of the pond. Logan Paul was the one I watched first out of all the American YouTubers, not Liza Koshy, not Smosh, not Dude Perfect, not Jenna Marbles. Logan Paul. The man who had it all and with a push of a button destroyed 99% of his career. When I first watched him, it was before the whole event-we-shall-not-name situation. It was a couple of months before that had happened.
It was weird. This was the first time I had seen the negatives of YouTube and the way daily vloggers pumped out material after material and receive so much money and pride from these videos, that one immature 20-something-year-old damaged the reputation of all these other YouTubers that I had grown to love.
I felt betrayed by this one silly action, that one silly choice, that I wanted to make my own judgement of him.
Not his choice, not what he had thought would be a good way to raise awareness of such a sensitive topic. I saw a vlog of Logan’s around Christmas time of 2016 where he and his younger brother (also a vlogger), Jake Paul, go and visit Roman Atwood. Roman was known in the YouTube community as the prankster. I never went out my way to look up this Roman dude.
He had tattoos covering his arms and I was a little scared, to say the least. When watching this vlog of them tipping over a limo, I thought “what a cool person!” It still took some time wanting to watch his videos though.
How I found out about Roman Atwood
About the time of thinking about going back to university, I became a little down. I didn’t really want to go back and feel homesick again. Honestly, I did not have the best start at university. When YouTube’s recommendation of Roman Atwood Vlogs came up, I just clicked on it. And there he was! Smiling away, laughing, tickling his kids, having a blast through summer, autumn, winter and spring. Through sunshine and snow, there was always a smile on that man’s face.
His family once again created that family vibe I was craving.
From then on, I became a little bit obsessed with the Atwood-Smith family. But the one thing which kept me watching this awesome, crazy, free family was Roman’s catchphrase which became his brand; ‘Smile More’. This surrounded his channel, from creating his merchandise based upon this phrase to building their aquarium tank with ‘Smile More’ being the centre of it. I found this phrase to be incredibly pinnacle in my life. It has enabled me to always look on the bright side of life; to always think about such a simple action – smiling. Even at the end of 99% of his vlogs, Roman has this saying: “You’re beautiful. You’re one of a kind.
Smile More. *clicks his mouth*” This not only helps me out but every day he reminded people who were depressed, who were struggling with life, who were so negative in their lives that this boosted them up. This is evident in the number of fan letters and gifts which are sent to him and his family.
His brand of 'Smile More' even extends to him helping out the community to cheer up those who have a hard life. According to 4NBC, Mr Atwood made 14 children's Make A Wish's from across the globe come true and spent the day with the ill children and their families at a baseball game.
Many YouTubers aim to inspire their audience. Logan Paul’s brand is ‘Be A Maverick – go right when they go left’ and others allow people who would be thought ‘weird’ within society feel as if they can express themselves and feel comfortable within themselves.
However, Roman Atwood and his family have a somewhat more influential phrase. Why? Because it is directed at the audience. ‘YOU are beautiful. YOU are one of a kind. Smile more.’ Those words can hit someone hard in the right way. It makes you feel as if someone is there with you during your tough times. Someone is rooting for you. Someone who might not understand what is going on, but still is supporting you. Even, People magazine stated "He won our hearts[...]"
Should YouTube have control over creators' content?
According to Anne Sewell and her article about 'The Nun' [VIDEO]. trailer being removed, we start to question, whether or not YouTube do control what is put onto their site. We can clearly see how YouTube is trying to change, potentially for the better, but when we think about YouTubers we think about those super successful ones.
This is evident with Pew Die Pie and getting 1.6 million views [VIDEO] in less than 10 or so hours, stated in Topher Pimienta's article. If you think about that, it took less than half a day to retain such views.
That is what makes Roman Atwood’s brand incredibly special and this is what YouTube’s content should be based upon. Inspiring, influencing and all-round positive. Not negative. Maybe this is YouTube’s fault. They might not be handling the hundreds of thousands of videos uploaded every day, but when it comes down to the point where someone’s video may help someone in the right way, why not root for these new social influencers then? Why are the older generations allowed to shut down such a job? Especially, if these people are entertaining people on a new level. I would totally give his channel a check; RomanAtwood Vlogs on Youtube
