"I hope my channel helps people realize they are not alone," says YouTube host Jessica Abo. "Whether someone is being bullied, going through a breakup, dealing with body image issues, or just got rejected from a college or a dream job. I want them to hear how the people they admire most got through that same experience."
The Internet can be a scary place—especially for young people. Capable of opening up new worlds and possibilities, it just as often acts as a reenforcement for the bubbles of daily life. Rather than opening up new worlds that let young people realize the triviality of their peers' opinions or actions, it often serves as a megaphone for all that sucks about growing up. A 24/7 medium for bullies, whose acts were once relegated to the schoolyard, the Internet can let their hurt persist long after school hours or into summer break. This is why it's so amazing to see corners of the Internet thrive on positivity, with the explicit aim of helping young people, rather than hurting them.
And perhaps nowhere is this attitude on display as much as YouTube, where a mixture of high-quality produced content, captivating and connecting personalities, and a feeling of intense closeness and interactivity conspire to give the platform's stars the ability to meaningfully impact viewers' lives.
This is the explicit purpose of Abo's channel, which features interviews with Internet stars opening up about their own issues, and offering advise to fans. "A boy in high school sent me a message through Facebook the other night saying he doesn't feel comfortable in his clothes because he has gained weight and has stopped looking at himself in the mirror," Abo says. "We just did an episode with Meghan Trainor about how she gets through days when she doesn't feel beautiful. This kid said the episode made him feel a lot better. This kid is so smart. He is a leader in his school. And he can't look at himself in the mirror. It was heartbreaking to read that, but also made me realize we are really helping people."
And I've heard similar stories from other YouTubers over the years "I was outside a convention signing autographs after a panel, when a 14 or 15-year-old kid came up to me and said he really wanted to tell me something," says Ryan McNulty, whose xRpMx13 YouTube channel has more than 1.2 million subscribers. "We stepped aside and he opened up about how he had been going through a tough time, getting teased a lot, having trouble in school. He told me that one of my videos where I had talked about not letting other people's opinions determine your own happiness had spoken to him, and how he thought it had saved his life. I have a ton of similar stories. This happens all the time."
"Last week, one of my subscribers sent me a clip of a speech he gave to his peers and told me our videos helped him share that he is gay," Abo says. "Another teenager told me our episode 'How to Help a Friend with an Eating Disorder' enabled her to help a classmate who was living on chewing gum."
There's just something about YouTube that allows these messages to be produced and consumed in an authentic way, divorced from the politics and ad imperatives of traditional television. This isn't a PSA tacked onto the end of a G.I. Joe cartoon. Many of the biggest YouTube stars broadcast from relatable and attainable environments—bedrooms with dirty laundry on the floor, living rooms with TVs humming on in the background. Many top YouTubers have openly faced issues such as abuse and depression themselves, and seem eager to share an optimistic outlook on the future. These are often real people talking about real problems, and the effect can be much more powerful than a seemingly invincible celebrity with made-up skin and hair telling you what to do.
"With YouTubers, you really feel like that person and you are on a personal, friendly level because theres so many levels of engagement," McNulty says. "Whereas with a TV show you can only fictionally get attached to somebody and they cant interact back with you, if you interact with a YouTube star and they’ve posted a thousand videos, the chances that they’ve responded to your comment or shouted you out are pretty high. You feel like you’re a part of something bigger than you, but it's in reaching distance."
Many teens are watching YouTube stars in the same way that previous generations tuned into TV. But clicking an Internet video is usually a solitary experience, and their parents may have no idea who they are watching and what messages they are soaking in. Obviously, no medium is filled entirely with positive content, and YouTube certainly has its fair share of trash. But many of the platform's biggest stars know the impact they can have, and it's refreshing to see them wield it wisely.
