In the YouTube world, 2018 is already off to a rough start.
On Dec. 31, YouTube daily vlogger Logan Paul — older brother to the equally controversial Jake Paul —posted a video entitled "We found a dead body in the Japanese Suicide Forest", which showed him and his friends finding the body of a man who recently hanged himself.
Paul filmed the entire thing, including footage of him laughing and making jokes about the situation. He claimed the entire video was made to educate and inform his viewers, many of whom are young children and teenagers.
Since the video was posted, public outcry was intense and criticism of YouTube as a platform for continuing to promote Paul was widespread. While Youtube is being accused of ignoring talented creators in favor of people like the Paul brothers, I thought that it would only be appropriate to shed some light on unique and talented YouTubers.
1. Jenna Marbles and Julien Solomita
If the name "Jenna Marbles" sounds familiar to you, you were definitely an avid YouTube watcher from 2010 to 2012. Marbles made a name for herself posting videos of herself back then by making videos of herself drunk or ranting about things that she hated. Today, her content has dramatically changed, but she still boasts an impressive 17 million subscribers. In 2017, she changed her channel over to doing things that she enjoys instead of trying to please others, and made videos like "Cutting and Dying My Own Hair", "A Full Face of Rhinestones" and "Reading Mean Comments About My Dogs." Her videos are hysterical, entertaining and her relationship with vlogger Julien Solomita is one of the most precious things on the internet. Solomita is an incredible content creator in his own right as well, running a successful vlog channel of over a million subscribers and has a second channel called "Last Minute Trips", where he and his friend take spur of the moment trips all over the country. The couple also has a podcast called "The Jenna and Julien Podcast" that consists of hour-long episodes of absolute hilarity. If you were to check out any people from the following list, I highly recommend that you pick these two.
2. Bright Sun Films
Bright Sun Films is a fairly small channel with only 371,212 subscribers as of when the article was written, but their videos are some of the most fascinating things on the internet. The show covers anything and everything that was ever cancelled or abandoned. The mastermind behind the channel, Jake Williams, takes viewers through an in-depth exploration of why a particular place was left abandoned and discusses the current state of the place. Videos have covered topics like Disney's Discovery Island, The Pontiac Silverdome and numerous failed retailers of the past like Circuit City and Sears Canada.
3. Gardner Quad Squad
If you are looking for a daily dose of adorable, look no further than the Gardner family. The videos follow parents Ashley and Tyson as they raise their adorable, three-year-old quadruplet daughters, Indie, Esme, Scarlett and Evie. The Gardner's have posted videos for over 3 years now, starting around the time that they found out that they were expecting the girls. Their videos are sweet and fun, and it's so great getting to watch the girls grow up on screen.
4. Tati Westbrook (AKA GlamLifeGuru)
Tati Westbrook is the queen of the beauty community. She posts new videos every single week day, rarely engages in any sort of drama or controversy, and consistently delivers unbiased reviews of any and all new makeup. As a makeup fanatic, I always consult Westbrook's videos before purchasing anything beauty related. Westbrook also keeps it interesting with her WTF Wednesdays and OMG Tuesdays where she tries and reviews the most insane beauty products on the market.
5. Shane Dawson
Shane Dawson is yet another blast from the past, as he is an incredibly successful creator for over seven years now. Despite having his channel for so long, Dawson constantly releases innovative new content for his viewers. In the past few months, he has published a series on his channel where he reunites with people from his past and works through his issues with them. The videos are raw and emotional and really show his viewers that there is such a thing as a second chance. He also keeps it light with videos like his hilarious Vogue 73 Questions Parody.
6. ElleOfTheMills
If I had to pick one YouTuber who I thought was going to be the next big thing, I would without a doubt say Elle Mills. Mills is a 19-year-old from Canada who runs one of the most unique and fun channels on YouTube. Mills carries herself with incredible sarcasm and never takes herself too seriously. She cranks out videos of her pretty much just trolling everyone in her life from her family to her friends and her teachers. On top of her unique video ideas, her editing skills are top notch and her videos look as though they were done by a seasoned professional. Occasionally, she also posts edited movie trailers, some that you may have seen go viral on Twitter, such as "If Troy Bolton was Christian Grey."
7. Safiya Nygaard
If you are a frequent watcher of Buzzfeed, you may recognize Safiya Nygaard from Ladylike and other viral Buzzfeed videos. Last January, Nygaard left the incredibly successful media company and started her own YouTube channel with her boyfriend, Tyler and she has amassed 3 million followers in just one year. Her videos are new and fresh with series like "Can I Wear That?", which consists of her trying on crazy clothing items from the internet, her "What We Wore" series where she took her viewers through 50 years of fashion trends and her series where she buys what is recommended by different websites like Instagram and Facebook ads.
