YouTube, the platform where the first generation of influencers rose to fame, was founded in 2005 as a video-sharing platform. While back then, most users used YouTube for music, at some point, the platform also became a channel where people shared their everyday lives with whoever would watch them. With time, care, and effort, these people started building a following, which, for many, cultivated a devoted community that crowned the original poster as an online celebrity.
At that time, the term “vlog” was barely being used and the purpose of those who uploaded these video blogs was unclear. Making a career out of this “hobby” was not even on their mind… yet. It was either a creative way to connect with people, or a platform to show off their talents. It was not yet the money making opportunity we all know it to be today.
Youtubers featured in the 2016 YouTube Rewind
This new community of YouTuber fans, however, started to blur the privacy boundaries of their stars as their videos became some of their first to go “viral.” And now, 20 years later, it’s time for these fans to formally apologize to the people on the other side of their screens.
If we look at the OG (original) YouTubers and the current influencers that keep rising to fame now, there is one factor that firmly divides the two: Motive.
While modern-day influencers go into the “influencing” business with the single goal of forming a career out of it, that was not a motive for the OG YouTuber back in the day. Back then, YouTube was more “uploading weird stuff from your bedroom” and less “building your personal brand.” Now? Influencers know the game. They sign contracts, plan aesthetics, and set boundaries before they ever post. Even those who “accidentally” become viral are not being completely honest about it. Every single person who posts on any social media platform these days does so fully knowing that their content could potentially find its way to millions of people. But that was not the case for any of the creators who did the same thing on YouTube 15 years ago.
As the audience, we never truly took into account that the early-day influencers were just figuring it out as they went. They had to navigate their surprise careers while millions of strangers picked apart their lives as if they were Hollywood celebrities. Suddenly, they had to fight for their privacy just to maintain a career they never actually chose. Today’s influencers know exactly what they are signing up for when they click post.
This brings us back to last week’s news: Dan and Phil’s announcement. Together as “Phan", the two OG YouTubers have been part of the YouTuber community since 2009. Their recent relationship announcement comes six years after they both came out of the closet, and 16 years after the start of their relationship. A relationship that has been picked and torn apart by their audience since the very first video they uploaded together.
Are Dan and Phil in a Relationship? The Truth
It is no secret that a major activity within any fandom is “shipping,” a term describing when fans create a made-up romantic relationship between their beloved celebrities. However, when a fandom begins shipping two real people that are not fictional characters, a boundary is crossed. And a boundary was definitely crossed when Dan and Phil’s fans decided that they were entitled to know everything that happened in the YouTubers’ private lives, including their romantic relationships.
As someone who was there for almost the entire journey of Phan, I remember exactly how hard fans pushed to get the confirmation of their shipping, even though it was clear it made the duo highly uncomfortable. Every video, every tweet, and picture of the two was scrutinized by a young audience who had no business knowing what happened once the cameras were off. Not only was it disrespectful to the young influencers, but it was affecting their lives behind the scenes. In the video shared last week, the couple explained in detail what that experience was like for them, and how it made them withhold making their relationship public for 16 years. They even express their forgiveness for the toxic members of their fandom who took an involuntary part in delaying this announcement.
While it was rewarding and somewhat bittersweet to hear Dan and Phil talk so openly about something they felt they needed to hide for almost two decades. It is also important to remember that it should be none of our business, and that includes anyone who watched that announcement video, fans or not.
That applies to any influencer out there, but especially to those who unexpectedly created that career path so many years ago. Their audience should not be privy to their family lives, the people they date, or their breakups. It’s called a “parasocial” relationship for a reason; it’s not real, and it shouldn’t be. Many members of the original YouTuber community have gone offline and given up on their careers because they had had enough of the unwanted attention, and looking back at each case today can shed light on how different the audience could have behaved to prevent that from happening.
Since their announcement, Dan and Phil have made quite a few headlines, all of which have ignored their one request to not make their personal lives into clickbait, claiming “we want to live in peace.” While it’s challenging to blame any news outlet for sharing this big news as they did, they might as well do so with another addition, an apology.
Via Google Search
We treat creators and influencers so differently today because the entire internet has changed. People now know exactly what they sign up for when they attempt to become internet personas. The OGs, however, went through the growing pains and had to discover on their own what it means to go viral, or become someone who “influences” others. Maybe it’s time we admit it: The early YouTubers walked so today’s influencers could hard-launch their relationships in peace. We owe the OGs an apology for how we treated them, sometimes still treat them, and a little gratitude for shaping the internet as we know it. Now, it’s time to let them live their lives as they intended, and stop over-analyzing the videos they filmed while sitting on their bedroom floors.
