Many years ago Youtube was a new thing. It was used purely for entertainment and for watching those classic viral vides that make us cringe now. But along with the entertainment aspect of Youtube a new category popped up, beauty videos. For the sake of not calling any specific Youtubers out I will only discuss their actions and not use their names.
These beauty videos were great when they first started, the videos were a quick and easy way to share products, makeup looks and skincare routines. For many years these "gurus" seemed like they were giving genuine helping advice. But as time went on and Youtube became monetized the beauty community was the first to be bought out.
Not to say that companies sending these gurus free products to test out is wrong, but giving dishonest opinions and faking loving a product definitely is. Soon it was clear that these powerful gurus in the makeup community, with millions of subscribers, essentially paying customers, could make big money from one simple upload. An influencer could be sent a product from a brand and get an offer to get a cut from every purchase made with either a referral link or code. While this would work great for products that were new and useful it became a problem when brands began buying these Youtubers out, just to a get a mention in a video.
Once this large scale monetization took place many of the gurus we once loved became walking advertisements. Specifically this happened with a Youtube "superstar" a British girl who managed to leverage her endorsements into a book deal, a "beauty line" and now a homeware line. While creating a brand for yourself isn't wrong, giving dishonest opinions and putting out cheap products with your name on them just for the money is.
This isn't just a one time thing, it has happened worldwide with American, British, Dutch, Australian Youtubers and it is not stopping anytime soon. These influencers are able to have their audiences buy up any product merely by mentioning it.
Not all aspects of the Youtube business are horrible, potentially in a perfect world there is a chance an influencer could advertise products they actually love. In turn, the audience could reap the benefits of it with getting products that work for them and the influencer making a profit.
But it's getting really tiring watching some influencers put out half-assed collaborations with brands just so it can sell. Give us something worth our money. We're an audience and we still care about the quality of your content.
