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Fostering Troye Sivan's Fandom Through YouTube

A look into Sivan's immense popularity through the video sharing platform

Chris Buenaseda

May 16, 2016

University of Houston

Fostering Troye Sivan's Fandom Through YouTube

From the 2015 YouTube fanfest

In a sense, privacy is dead for Troye Sivan. He admits to sharing everything about his professional and social life with his 3,757,567 Twitter followers, his 4,081,531 YouTube subscribers, his 2,125,534 Facebook followers, and his 4,068,003 Instagram followers. In almost 9 years, Sivan has gained a massive following of fans that track his every move, his every word and it was all due to one video posted on YouTube. He has said that he still can't wrap his head around the YouTube phenomenon, but is still thankful for it helping him gather more followers and give him a sense of personal connection to his fans.. Troye's first experience with Youtube was his performing at a Perth mall. A cousin of his later sent Troye a link to said performance, which bewildered the young aspiring singer as Youtube was in its mere infancy, nowhere near the worldwide levels it has reached today. However, at that time in 2007, according to a case study conducted in Simon Fraser University based in Vancouver, British Columbia, YouTube made up 10% of all the traffic on the internet. It was clear that the Youtube platform was on the way to becoming a leader in video sharing. Because Troye's first foray into YouTube was through the recording of his music covers, it gave him a headstart in advancing his YouTube career. In 2007, 22.9% of all videos uploaded to the site pertained to music, 5% percent more than the next popular category, entertainment. Due to the majority of focus being put on clips involving music, it was very easy for a young 12 year old Troye to gain an audience and grow from there. Even though he had a break in movies like X-Men and Spud, in which he starred alongside John Cleese, music was his calling and it still is. His first YouTube video was a cover of "Tell Me Why" by Declan Galbraith and from there, he posted more and more covers and soon, he became a prominent YouTuber to follow because of his skill and how personal he treats his channel. His channel began with music and soon, it evolved into his own medium for personal video diaries. Nowadays, Troye has shifted his YouTube channel towards a more personal viewpoint, allowing fans to take a look into his thoughts and social life.

Currently, Troye's personal video logs make up almost 70% of the content of his channel and its dedicated video log playlist, created by Troye himself, drew 5.7 million views as of April 28, 2016. Even though Troye's focus has currently turned towards music production, touring and the promotion of the Blue Neighborhood album, its dedicated playlist only drew 2.7 million views, a substantial decline compared to the video logs. What it's telling of is two things: how much of Troye the person is portrayed to his 4 million subscribers and how much more people are interested in finding out about Troye the person. With this focus on personal items, there's still a sense of community and intimacy created through the release of these types of videos. Loyalty is built up amongst subscribers and Troye admits to that. Early in his YouTube career, when scrolling through comments, he would start to recognize the usernames of commenters and through there, a bond is created between artist and fan. It is this creation of a friendship through online means that fosters not only the popularity of said artist, but it also fosters the creation of new fans that see the intimacy as a huge positive in their experience as part of the fandom for Troye Sivan. To someone like Troye Sivan, he does not think he is famous. He's just doing what he wants to do and that's sharing with the world his experiences and his music. That's all. Even though the numbers suggest that he is a popular icon, even though his origins marked him as a future star in the making, that does not take away from how humble Troye is for his success. He owes it to his fans for his surge to stardom and fans owe it to him for being a role model that can appeal to anybody. That humbleness is what makes Troye so popular. That humbleness is what make me warm up to him. At the beginning of this research, I have no idea who the man was, but after seeing his videos, after seeing his interviews, I see that he's human. He's not a character at all. He's just like us the viewer. He's being himself. He's human. He's relatable. Because of all these qualities is why he has such a good reputation amongst everybody, from fans to movie stars, from artists to countries. All he is doing is simply expressing himself.

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Fostering Troye Sivan's Fandom Through YouTube

A look into Sivan's immense popularity through the video sharing platform

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The Best Lines from the Fab Four

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make

The sun is up, the sky is blue, it's beautiful and so are you

Love is old, love is new, love is all, love is you

There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be

Life is very short, and there's no time for fussing and fighting, my friend

He say, "I know you, you know me", One thing I can tell you is you got to be free

Oh please, say to me, You'll let me be your man. And please say to me, You'll let me hold your hand

It was twenty years ago today, Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play. They've been going in and out of style, but they're guaranteed to raise a smile

Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see

Can you hear me? When it rains and shine, it's just a state of mind

Little darling, it's been long cold lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it' s been here. Here comes the sun, Here comes the sun, and I say it's alright

We danced through the night and we held each other tight, and before too long I fell in love with her. Now, I'll never dance with another when I saw her standing there

I love you, I love you, I love you, that's all I want to say

You say you want a revolution. Well you know, we all want to change the world

All the lonely people, where do they all come from. All the lonely people, where do they all belong

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends

Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song and make it better

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday

And when the brokenhearted people, living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be.

And anytime you feel the pain, Hey Jude, refrain. Don't carry the world upon your shoulders

I'll give you all I got to give if you say you'll love me too. I may not have a lot to give but what I got I'll give to you. I don't care too much for money. Money can't buy me love

All you need is love, love is all you need

Whisper words of wisdom, let it be

Blackbird singing in the dead of night, Take these broken wings and learn to fly. All your life, You were only waiting for this moment to arise

Though I know I'll never lose affection, for people and things that went before. I know I'll often stop and think about them. In my life, I love you more

Obviously the best superpower.

There have been many lessons learned.

1. The importance of traditions.

2. How to be thankful for family and friends.

3. How to give back.

4. What the word "community" really means.

5. That it isn't about the destination, but the journey.

6. The consequences of making bad choices.

7. To trust people, until you have a reason not to.

8. To be welcoming and accepting of everyone.

9. How to be my own, individual person.

10. How to work for what I want.

11. How to be great at giving directions.

12. How to be humble.

13. To be well-rounded.

14. How to be great at conflict resolution.

15. The beauty of getting outside and exploring.

16. To be prepared for anything.

17. That you don't always have to do it alone.

18. How to be creative.

19. To brush off gossip.

I have never been so thankful to know you.

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

Don't freak out

Email the professor

Attend the first class

Keep attending class

Have a backup plan

Remember that everything works out at the end

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