Before the advent of major internet culture, getting an independent short film viewed by many people meant having to rent a theater and inviting hundreds of attendees –of whom, only a scant 20% would actually attend.
These days, anyone can upload a video of them doing a mundane task like throwing out the trash and potentially get thousands of viewers in a single day; potentially, because unlike the busy and highly competitive world of show business, fame on YouTube is about part science and mostly about luck.
Take the case of the keyboard cat for example. The video is an old recording of a large tabby cat in sweaters tapping randomly on a keyboard to a musical tune. The video would be ignored by YouTube users for more than year before the clip is used in another video. This then raised awareness and sheer curiosity about the source video which eventually pushed keyboard cat into internet immortality as a meme (sadly, the real keyboard cat died years before the internet, the uploaded video was shot many years earlier).
Of course, there are those who are still very much alive and kicking to enjoy their internet acquired fame. From tech reviewers to girls who do nothing but simply stare at the camera, YouTube users have been known to make famous many videos for one odd reason or another.
Those on the receiving end of the payments however, feel quite happy about the sheer randomness of it and many have started to turn their video uploading hobby into a full time career. According to some, they are able to live comfortably thanks to the income they receive through YouTube (thanks to a decision in 2007 wherein YouTube decided to share profits with the video uploaders).
Read the more about people who become famous on YouTube at the Guardian UK.
Tags: Google, streaming-video, YouTube