This is not the Greatest Celebrity in the World, No, This is Just a Tribute: a Look at How Jack Black & Tenacious D Interact with Their Fans

Jack Black rose to fame while performing an acoustic metal/ comedy rock duo with partner Kyle Gass in their mid 90’s TV series “Tenacious D”. From there, he went on to act on titles such as “School of Rock“, “Nacho Libre“,” Kung Fu Panda“, and “Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny“. He even appeared on an episode of “Sesame Street”! Him and partner Kyle Gass have always been an advocate for marijuana legalization, which has even been explored in their Tenacious D movie.

From kids to adults to metal fans to weed fans, Jack Black has quite a diverse following. How does he cater to all of his fans through the use of social media? How can you juggle that much diversity? By looking at different types of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, we can get a closer look of how he handles his fans.

Facebook

JB’s Facebook page has 7.2 million likes. He posts a lot of different things on here, from regular, every-day photos, to memes, to promotional content, he really reaches out with this platform.

Many of his posts appeal to the nostalgia of people who grew up with him in the early and mid 2000’s. He posted a picture of a scene from the “Pick of Destiny”, showing him and Kyle sitting with their guitars around a tape recorder. He caption said, “how did that song go?” in reference to both the movie and the song “Tribute“, which in itself references a scene in the movie where they battle the Devil with music, and later forget how that song went (and is also the title of this post!).

 

Jack Black and Kyle Gass sit around a tape recorder making music in “Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny”.

This post received 7.2K “reacts” and 307 shares. Replies included quotes from the movie such as Nick- Kordy Grey’s, “You know what? Lets (sic) just lay down a fresh tasty jam”. Others, such as Gus Rettke, commented about how great the movie was, saying “TPOD. Great movie. Stronger than you might imagine. I think my mom would dig it. Is there a cut with the Strong Suggestive language backed off the VH meter peg.” The community really helps each other out on this platform, pointing to other Jack Black performances that users may enjoy. Ryan Wuttke chimed in saying, “The HBO show was even better than the movie and it’s all on YouTube.’ Gus replied with enthusiasm, saying that he’d look into the series.

Although Jack sometimes posts random things like pictures of food (just like every-day Facebook users, or at least my sister), he also promotes things on his page, such as him guest- starring on a “Carbonaro Effect” episode on TruTV, reminding fans to tune in.

Jack Black reminds fans to tune in to the Carbonaro Effect on TruTV to see him and Michael “blow some minds”.

With 966 “reacts” and only 45 shares, it seems that his fans prefer him posting about his old acting career and movie references. To give him the benefit of a doubt,  people tend to react more towards nostalgia than something new. Although there are significantly less comments on this post (45 comments), all of them are positive, such as Nicholas Youngwirth’s “Your life is an inspiration”, and Jenny Shockley’s, “@Matthew Shockley, we have to record this for the girls!”

Lastly, Jack black is aware that he’s sometimes a guinea pig of memes on the internet, especially “Dragon Ball Z” ones. In his playlist of videos, he shares two videos of him going super saiyan (a super saiyan is when one or many of the character in the anime power up), complete with drawings of golden super saiyan hair and glowing eyes covering his face. The two scenes of him as a super saiyan are of him screaming in “School of Rock” and “Tropic Thunder“.

Jack Black going super saiyan in the “Super School of Saiyan Rock”.

This post received 77K “reacts”, 11k comments. DBZ fans raved on this post, commenting references to the anime like Nicholas Dunn’s “Super Kami Guru allows this”, and Jeffrey Winninger’s “You’d make a pretty good Yanjarobi if they tried again at a live action DBZ film.” In this case, JB is catering to a whole different crowd- an anime crowd. These are short and easy references to make to gain traffic populartiy and a couple of laughs from the Jack Black, School of Rock, AND Dragon Ball Z fans.

Overall, his Facebook has very diverse posts, ranging from everyday pictures, to funny memes, nostalgic posts, and promotional ones.

Twitter

Jack Black doesn’t have a personal account, but rather identifies with his Tenacious D band on Twitter. This eliminates catering to younger fans who liked him for his acting in titles such as “Nacho Libre” and “Kung Fu Panda”. This is strictly for Tenacious D fans. This page has 162K followers, which is definitely less followers than his personal Facebook page. This is because not all Jack Black fans may like his musical career, they like him specifically as a comedic actor. This page hasn’t posted since September.

However, this page was great at communication with international fans. They update on concerts and tours, announcing dates and where to find tickets.

Tenacious D hypes up Mexican fans as they prepare to play a show in two weeks.

This post had 605 likes. Most comments were from fans asking if they would cancel their concert in Mexico because of the recent earthquake (at that time). As opposed to just replying to the comments, the Tenacious D Twitter released another tweet of a picture giving all the information on their show cancellation, saying, “We love you, Mexico. We will be back to play for you as soon as we can. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.” Comments were asking of the band’s return to Mexico and statements of understanding regarding the cancellation.

Tenacious D sends out information regarding their recent show cancellation.

Their last and most recent tweet on the page was a direct relief fund for Mexico earthquake donations. Tenacious D really connected with their fans during the Mexico earthquake crisis, giving them updates and even asking other fans to donate towards the recovery of Mexico- especially because they had to cancel their show.

Tenacious D supporting relief for the recent 2017 Mexican earthquake, urging their fans to donate to the victims.

Although they tried giving help to their fans, they never updated the fans on when exactly they would come back. Nothing else has been posted since then.

Instagram

JB’S Instagram page has 1.6 million followers, which is significantly less than Facebook’s 7.2 million likes. This page is pretty much a repeat of what’s posted don that Facebook page. The same “Pick of Destiny” reference picture that was on Facebook received 74,583 likes on Instagram. That’s about 67,000 more likes. Although he has a smaller following on Instagram, the reach and engagement is a lot more successful on this platform. The comments on this post are about the same, too, making references of the movie. However, many Instagram fans commented #TENACIOUSD2, asking for a sequel of the first movie.

The only difference between his content on Facebook and Instagram is that he posts more videos on Instagram, which means he posts more frequently on this platform. One of his videos shows a 13-year-old Jack acting for a commercial for the game “Pitfall!” on the Atari 2600.

A comical video uploaded by Jack Black, mashing together his acting for Atari commercials and his recent acting in the remake of Jumanji.

Throughout the commercial, it comically cuts to scenes of the “Jumanji” trailer (Jack’s most recent acting job). Connecting the two jungle themes, it makes modern-day Jack look like the “Pitfall Harry” character that young Jack talks about as, as modern-day Jack fumbles around and ultimately gets eaten by a giant alligator. He added a clever caption of “Pitfalling into Jumanji” to complete the joke.

Some comments are regarding the nostalgia of the Atarti 2600. User @monica.goodyear48 commented, “Oh how time flies!!!!”, while @just_stacey_w stated, “i always wanted Pitfall!”. Other comments were either a simple, “LMAO!”, or along the lines of “super cool!”.

Another video was posted over Thor Ragnarok’s use of the song “Immigrant Song” , which was used in a scene in School of Rock years prior. Jack was angry, saying it “totally poached our jam”, and that they were “parading around town like they thought of it”. He then challenged Thor to a “battle of the jams”, creating a hashtag “#SchoolOfRagnarok”.

Jack Black challenges Thor Ragnarok to a “challenge of jams” after using a song that appeared in one of his movies years earlier.

This caused a pique of interest in many people, getting 1.4 million views. One user by the name of @bosxman admitted, “…Let’s face it u [sic] can put that song to two old English women drinking tea and it would kick ass”. Other fans decided that it wasn’t a big deal and Jack was just being jealous. @joel.slaya commented, “I think he’s mad that the song was wayyy [sic] cooler in [T]hor”. Another user @ffkkoff said, “[H]e just wants to be famous again calm down”.

Whether people were or weren’t on his side, he definitely got  a lot of publicity for this created challenge, which reached Jack Black, School of Rock, AND Thor fans. By doing this, Jack stirs up a lot of attention towards his page, making this the best platform his hosts.

YouTube

Tenacious D has a Vevo-based YouTube page with 229K subscribers. But, this platform is strictly Tenacious D music videos. With only 14 videos (one of which is an explicit version of another song, and another audio-only video), this really isn’t an impressive platform. Most comments on these videos are just praises of the band and mentions of their Pick of Destiny movie (since songs overlap or talk about events in the movie).

All of the videos on the Tenacious D YouTube page.

Their most recent video was three years ago. Although they have three albums, only a selected handful of music was chosen to be put on their Vevo. This plarform isn’t really successful in reaching audiences outside of their niche. They have one live video (Go Show), where they play music in public; but they could benefit with more of these sort of videos.  Vlogs could help them keep their fans’ interest and capture new fans, and live recordings would build a better appreciation for their talent.

Final Thoughts

On some platforms, Jack Black really shines; but on others, he totally flops. The platforms that host Tenacious D- specific content are the ones that are really lacking. Their YouTube could benefit from uploading videos of their live performances or even vlogs during touring- anything to keep their fans up-to-date on their whereabouts. Their Twitter definitely needs start posting again. They were doing well promoting their concerts and tours, but dropped off the map after the earthquake post. They could have at least come back and updated their fans on when they would return. These platforms don’t balance his diverse fans- and the ones it does cater to isn’t big enough. By adding more content to his Tenacious D page, or even creating a YouTube of his adventures separate of Tenacious D, he could gain more traffic on that platform. He has videos on Instagram and Facebook; he might as well start posting them (or new ones) onto YouTube.

The Facebook page definitely more successful than the Tenacious D platforms. He updates quite frequently, although he could benefit from posting more often. Although his Instagram has less followers, it definitely gains more traffic and attention. He could continue differentiating his Instagram from his Facebook by posting more videos. These seem to be popular. These two platforms do a great job at catering to his multiple fans, by making Tenacious D music references, old movie references, and even references outside of his niche (anime). He keeps all of his fans by using nostalgia, because all of the fans have one thing in common: they followed Jack through the early and mid 2000’s.

 

 

NintenDO or DON’T: How a $38 Billion Company Handles their Social Media

Companies like Nintendo have been around far before social media. But, how does such a successful company adjust to the world of social media? They do so by joining them- and a lot of them, as a matter of fact. Nintendo currently has a following of millions of people between their multiple social media accounts, all of which differ from platform to platform.

Facebook

Nintendo’s primary Facebook page brought in 4.5 million likes. The make-up of the content on this page is primarily advertisement posts that redirect users to their main website. These include special looks at product growth and development via visuals such as pictures, gifs, and short videos. These include links to their “Nintendo Direct” videos, which announce new games and consoles, short videos covering launch parties, and even giving a chance for fans to win big by displaying their holiday sweepstakes.

To reach a wider audience, Nintendo shares content from their other niche Facebook pages. In one instance, the main Facebook page shared a gif from their dedicated Nintendo switch page, advertising their new Snipperclips Plus: Cut it out, Together! game, while hyperlinking the caption to their online store.

A screenshot of Nintendo’s Facebook advertisement for their new Nintendo Switch game.

Comments on the Facebook page range from only a handful to a few hundred, depending on which Nintendo fans they’re reaching out to. This particular post received 180 “reacts” and 1 comments, which is on the small end for Nintendo. This game has a smaller following, because it’s a new concept to the Nintendo world, coming out exclusively for the Nintendo Switch. As a simplistic puzzle game, this title didn’t stand out compared to other open-world Nintendo games with well-known universes, such as Mario and Legend of Zelda.

Comments on this post included supportive ones, such as Michelle Cong’s “Having so much fun playing this game with my Hubby.” However, others don’t seem to be into this new game. Jarell Dove was unimpressed, commenting, “I guess it does add to the Switch’s Library of games? I guess.” Adrian Hoback, a user who played the game, added, “I tried the demo of this game and I like it a lot. Just wish it had online to it.” This comment would be a perfect chance for Nintendo to reply on, whether it means telling him they’re working on an online version, or quickly commenting an apology, sympathizing on his wishes for an online multiplayer. However, Nintendo doesn’t comment on their fans’ reactions or criticism.

However, Nintendo seems to get a lot more attention when they post on topics such as Pokemon, which has been a staple in gaming since 1996. When sharing a post from their Nintendo 2DS & Nintendo 3DS Facebook page, they advertised the New Nintendo DS XL Poke Ball Edition.This shared post received 3.8K “reactions” and 502 comments. Although Pokemon fans loved this concept of a Pokemon- themed handheld, many questioned the practicality and purpose, including user Jeremy Sheer. He pointed out, “Why would anybody buy this one [?] [T]he Nintendo 3DS is on its way out?” Another user, Raza Mohammed, stated “Aren[‘]t Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon the last Pokemon games for this system and the 3DS…” Other comments praised the Pokemon-themed handheld, including user Kendall Gabbard. She stated, “Got one for my kiddo for his birthday! I can’t wait to give it to him. But it’s so cool I might have to buy one for myself too.” Another user by the name of Rangel Contreras added, “This was the best upgrade for my DS that I’ve ever had, the quality of life changes are great, and the button to the pokeball is great for those who fidget a lot.”

A screenshot of a shared post by Nintendo of America, advertising the New 2DS XL Poke Ball Edition on their Facebook.

Twitter

Although Nintendo has many Twitter accounts, I decided to focus on their @NintendoAmerica page because of me living in the states. Their Twitter page has 8.34 million followers, and updates about once or twice a day, which is a lot more active than their Facebook page. Although they use this page to also promote their products, they use it more to celebrate Nintendo culture and support their game designers and partners.

An example of celebrating Nintendo culture is acknowledging their history and anniversaries. This helps promote nostalgia and good memories with the company. An example of this would be their post where they celebrate the 10th- year anniversary of their Wii game Super Mario Galaxy.

A screenshot of the 10th anniversary of Super Mario Galaxy on @NintendoAmerica ‘s Twitter page.

With an amount of 5.5K retweets, fans commented wondering when HD remakes of Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 would make an appearance and many others commented on similar game titles in the series, comparing the Galaxy games to other Mario installments such as Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario 3D World. The amount of attention towards multiple games in the franchise shows that the Nintendo Twitter has a highly engaged community of people who are hardcore Nintendo fans.

With the newest release of the Nintendo Switch, the Twitter page sometimes pays homage to the people who helped make it a success, such as (one of) Snipperclip’s creators who was ecstatic when he finally received the Nintendo Original Seal of Quality sticker on his games.

Snipperclips creator Tom Vian, sharing the unbelievable news of earning a Nintendo Seal of Quality on his game.

@NintendoAmerica retweeted his post, acknowledging his success while simultaneously giving him credit for the game and redirecting more traffic to his Twitter (for those who didn’t already know the face behind the game). His post got 345 comments, all congratulating him on a job well done, including praise of the game itself. Studio Octane (@StudioOctane), another studio who makes games for Nintendo, commented, “Seriously, we LOVE this game. You deserve every ounce of praise and acclaim this game receives. Well done, very well done.”

The Twitter also updates fans via exclusive content. Nintendo retweets exclusive content from other Nintendo partners. For example, they retweeted a post by @Pokemon, giving a link to an interview with Game Freak‘s Kazumasa Iwao and Shigeru Ohmori , regarding the new Pokemon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon games.

Nintendo of America’s retweet of an exclusive interview with Game Freak via Pokemon’s Twitter page.

By retweeting content such as this, Nintendo keeps the interest of the ginormous Pokemon community, raising excitement for the newest Pokemon games that launch on November 17th, 2017.

YouTube

Nintendo’s YouTube page has only 3,241,892 subscribers, and uses this platform to show case game-play of new installments, tease new games with trailers, and most excitable, post their Nintendo Direct videos, which announce new titles and consoles to the Nintendo community. Within the last year, their most popular videos had to do with their latest console, the Nintendo Switch. Their most popular upload to this date is “First Look at Nintendo Switch”,  released on October 20, 2016, with almost 34 million views for a video that’s only 3:37 long.

In this video, they show what the new console looks like, along with its features. This includes the multiple way the controller(s) can be used, two ways the game images can be displayed (via TV or Switch screen), and how portable the console is. The Switch brought a whole new concept to consoles, advertising itself as a portable console; small enough to be brought around, but more powerful than a handheld (not to mention its inherited 2-player controller design).

Nintendo’s most viewed YouTube video, giving potential customers a first look at all the console has to offer.

Most comments are of users shocked about the console already having been out for a year. Others commented their excitement about the (now released) game Super Mario Odyssey coming out, showing their enthusiasm for the future of the console. One user by the name of Black Lamb commented, “Looks like I’m selling my Xbox One”, getting likes from 845 people agreeing with him. Even popular YouTube gamers like “videogamedunkey” commented their excitement and impatience for he console and games to be released by saying, “[W]hen are they gona [sic] show that Mario?”

Nintendo really shines on this platform. As a video game company, their fans and customers rely on visuals to understand what’s to come. As consumers, they want to make sure that they’re going to like what they buy, and showcasing these details into a visual format may sway potential customers into their favor with exciting footage as opposed to announcing new things articles or pictures.

Instagram

Nintendo’s Instagram has 3.5 million followers, being on the lower side of their social media fan count.  This platform takes advantage of it being a picture-based  app. Instead of just putting advertisements and updates (which they do sometimes), they post many seasonal posts, figurine pictures, cosplays, and even pictures of company workers. This is the more lighthearted side of Nintendo’s platforms.

This past October, multiple pictures were posted in celebration of Halloween season. They took one of their products, Amiibos, and placed them in front of festive props such as jack-o-lanterns and candy.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Besides seasonal pictures, they post pictures of the Nintendo crew, launch parties, and even very lucky customers.

Nintendo celebrates their first North American sale for their Nintendo Switch game “Super Mario Odyssey” by taking a picture with the (very lucky) customer.

Nintendo uses this platform specifically for more celebratory purposes, not necessarily just for promotion or elaborating on new releases. This gives fans a more up-close look at their events, the people who work for them, and even support the American fans by taking note of Western holidays (Note: Nintendo is originally a Japanese company).

Fans gather in New York City at the Super Mario Odyssey launch party, greeting their new favorite hero duo- Mario and his hat Cappy.

Each of these posts gets somewhere from a threshold of a couple hundred to a couple thousand comments, all varying in content. Some display their friend codes so others can play with them, while others comment on the image or talk about games coming out for a specific platform pictured in the post. As opposed to Twitter, these aren’t straight-out discussions regarding specifics on consoles or games pictured, but rather generic comments such as user belllatonezzan’s “I love Mario games and Princess Peach”, and eglipsey’s “Dude imagine someone just handing out Amiibos on Halloween”. This platform is used by many different kinds of fans because the content of the posts aren’t specifically geared towards their product lines. It’s more generic, “cutesy” content. This platform is more about having fun with the Nintendo universe.

Improvements for Nintendo

Nintendo uses its multiple platforms to convey different messages among their diverse fan base. I believe Nintendo does particularly well building up excitement from its customers. However, I think that they should be directly replying to some comments, showing their support and care for their fans, customizing a somewhat personal experience (which m at result in loyalty).

Their Facebook doesn’t update daily (more like once or twice a week). I think they could benefit with having  a more consistent presence. Their Instagram and YouTube are more consistent, and I believe they really shine on these platforms. Instagram gives a playful touch to their photos while YouTube gives an immersive experience of their products. Although I give them credit for retweeting other game developers, I think their main focus should be on supporting their community members- everyday folk. Without fans and customers, no company would survive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Onion: Spreading Satire through Social Media Platforms

With countless news media outlets out there, companies need to stay relevant by using social media to reach out to their audience. Although The Onion is purely satirical, it acts just like many other news outlets, such as CNN and Fox News, by using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and even YouTube. Regardless of their content, they still catch the attention of thousands of readers; and for those who don’t seek out satire, social media allows these articles to bleed through and reach the public.

However, despite the social media presence, The Onion has a pattern of being stagnant within their platforms, not communicating or engaging with their audience.

Facebook

The Onion’s Facebook page has a whopping 6.6 million likes. They use their Facebook page only to share links of articles from their main website.

An example of what The Onion posts on their Facebook page

Comments made on this content are mainly from users who know satire well.. Comments are lighthearted and filled with humor.

Some comments from the Trump article above included comments from Scott Hunter, who stated, “Look, I hate Trump as much as the next guy, but making him see Kelly-Anne Conway nude is just cruel and unusual punishment! Nobody deserves that!”, and Tom Larkin, who joked by adding, “This happened all the time during the Clinton administration for different reasons…”

However, not everybody realizes that these posts are all jokes. One Facebook user by the name of Majorie Waterman stated, “Looks like fake news to me. How about this Facebook???” Multiple comments, including emojis of face-palming, reminded the woman that The Onion is satire. Outsiders may not necessarily know that The Onion is fake when someone in their friends list shares these articles. With Facebook, you can see content without having to follow the company, so people may stumble upon The Onion on accident, as opposed to other platforms where you’d only really see the content if you followed them.

YouTube

The Onion’s YouTube page has 918 subscribers, and is filled with short-length videos of fake news casts. These casts include news anchors and fake quotes, all appearing like a legitimate news source (besides the crazy stories associated with them).

The front page of The Onion’s YouTube page

One of the videos, titled “How Do Self- Driving Cars Avoid Driving Straight To The Beach?” explores the artificial intelligence of self- driving cars, and how they long to spend their days at the beach instead of driving people around. The Onion’s Eliza Hayes narrates the story. She elaborates on this story by saying, “Engineers working on these vehicles had to overcome one issue in particular: how to prevent self-driving cars from heading straight to the nearest sandy beach and parking there all day long.” She expands on programming procedures and codes that stop them from going where they want to go by stating, “Once a car has warmed its leather interior on the beach for a few hours, it will intrinsically seek out the nearest boardwalk and rumble along the wooden planks in search of saltwater taffy”. She adds this segment by dropping the professional act and stating, “Experts are hopeful about the future of self- driving cars, promising that the next generation of these machines will come equipped with the knowledge that a trip to the beach is actually a huge f**king hassle.”

Screenshot of the self-driving car video

Videos from The Onion get mixed reviews. On this specific video, one user by the name of “bmwx3turbo” comically commented, “I’m voting for Eliza Hayes for Pulitzer Prize; this is the journalism we need, not want”.

However, for the most part, The Onion fans tend to prefer the articles over the videos, finding them childish or stupid. One user by the name of “arcanist9” commented, “The Onion’s videos constantly suck :except for Peter Rosenthal’s Film Standard series), but the articles on their website are still pretty funny,” Another user, “Alternate868” adds, “Are you guys even trying anymore? I can see that you recorded this, but i [sic] can’t see any effort.”

Twitter

Out of all the previously- mentioned platforms, Twitter is The Onion’s biggest, having 10.6 million followers. The only thing The Onion does on this platform is post links to their articles. It gives their followers a quick notification of what’s new on their website. People may not check their main website regularly, so Twitter gives them a simple notification of when an article is up.

The Onion’s front page for Twitter

The Onion doesn’t “retweet” or reply to others, and when there are comments on their content, there aren’t many. Most of the action on that page are followers “retweeting” and “liking” their content. Although there are a lot of followers, the amount socializing on this platform seems to be kept at a low.

Instagram

The last of the platforms that The Onion uses is Instagram, with a smaller following of 1.7 million people.

The Onion’s Instagram page.

On Instagram, The Onion shares thumbnails of pictures relating to the articles on their main website. The caption of the photo shortly explains what the article is about, accompanied by a separate comment which explains the article a little more, or contains a quote which expands on the story. Most comments on The Onion’s Instagram content are people tagging their friends by “@” ‘ing them.

An example of what The Onion posts on their Instagram page.

What The Onion could Fix

Although The Onion has spread its satire throughout multiple platforms, they seem stagnant when it comes to how they interact with their fans. There is practically no interaction between them and their audience.

When it comes to their YouTube channel, it seems like the audience prefers their articles instead of their broadcasts. Maybe if they made video content to accompany their articles on their main website (like many other news outlets), they could then post their video segments from their articles onto YouTube. Rather than making videos that have nothing to do with their articles, they should incorporate video into what they know people like.

Regarding their Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, I think The Onion could engage with their audience more. Replying or commenting on others’ comments would be beneficial, showing that they’re willing to connect with their followers. It would be beneficial to The Onion if it were to “retweet” other news companies’ content, comment on it, or even relate real news to their satire articles.

Social media presence doesn’t necessarily guarantee you a bigger following. If you take the time to engage with consumers and start conversation, people will feel like their experience is personalized and exciting.

YouTube Popularity: Not as Bad as You Think!

YouTube personalities use their popular presence to give back to the community. These stars have all started off  as everyday people- whether playing video games for others’ enjoyment, or educating people on nail art.

Some stars have even used their YouTube popularity to bring their fans onto other platforms, like the livestream service Twitch, to do some pretty incredible things.

Gamers

The gamers and “let’s players” of YouTube are known to dedicate their time to a lot of charity work.

YouTuber Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) is known for doing livestreams for charity on Twitch, where they play games in real time and are able to communicate with fans who comment and donate. With whopping number of 18,458,531 subscribers, why would someone want to move their platform? Sure, not everyone will follow. In fact, you can go live on YouTube as well! The appeal of Twitch is that people can donate right on the spot via PayPal. This platform is critical for charity live streams.

According to Markiplier’s Wikipedia , he has raised money for fourteen different charities over the span of four years- his first being a charity for Living Beyond Breast Cancer in 2012, raising $3,720.19, while he played Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Paranormal, and Slender: The Eight Pages. As he got more popular, so did his charity streams. In September and February of 2016, a livestream for Depression & Bipolar Support Alliance ended up raising $276,000, as he spent over eight hours playing Kerbal Space Program on Twitch.

Markiplier attending a charity livestream on Twitch

Sometimes, Markiplier will even team up with other YouTubers and close friends such as  Wade, Bob, and Ken to bring in more entertainment value and a different crowd of people.

However, not all charities are done via livestreaming. Sometimes, Markiplier and other bring it back to where it all started: YouTube. Markiplier dyed his hair pink after reaching a certain charity milestone and even came out with limited time “Markiplier’s Heroes” shirts. Proceedings from those sales would go to a charity of choice (depending on what year and time he did them).

A model shows off an example of one of “Markiplier’s Heroes” charity shirts, each with a supporting YouTuber pasted on the front.

So far, Markiplier, along with the help of his close friends, YouTubers, and the public, raised a total of $1,118,645.14

YouTuber Markiplier ecstatically presenting a charity check for the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.

Beauty Gurus

Although gamers take the biggest chunk out of YouTubers who donate, other YouTubers in the beauty community have hopped on the “hype train” and started raising money for charities and non-profit organizations of their own.

A lesser- known personality, Cristine Rotenberg (Simply Nailogical), is a Canadian YouTuber. She gained popularity from her Polish Mountain video, where she puts on over 100 layers of nail polish on. Although she does a bunch of nail art, she’s best known for her funny and wild personality, along with her obsession ‘Holo’ (anything holographic).

Cristine’s most popular video, where she spends twelve hours putting over 100 layers of nailpolish on top of one another.

With a following of 4,397,348, Cristine has now put herself on the YouTube map. In May of this year, Simply Nailogical sold limited edition merchandise with cartoon-ized pictures of her cats on it and donated the proceedings to her local animal shelter.

Cristine poses in two limited- time cat shirts which were sold for charity.

So far, this has been Cristine’s only charity event. By selling customizable cat shirts and hoodies, Simply Nailogical successfully raised and donated $25,000. For a one-man job, Cristine’s charity effort has been exceptionally impressive.

Cristine and boyfriend Ben stand with OHS’s Bruce Roney as they present a $25,000 donation.

Why do YouTubers Care about Charity?

Some may argue that YouTubers do charity streams and merch donations for the sake of good press and more views. However, for these two YouTubers, that’s not exactly the case.

Amongst the multiple charities Mark Fischbach has been a part of, some of them hit close to home for him, especially the donations involving cancer and depression.

In his Draw My Life video, Markiplier opens up about his past and shares that when he was in high school, his father fell ill to cancer. Although Mark didn’t specify which kind, his father ultimately met with a premature death.

Young Mark Fischbach poses with his late father

 

A couple of years after the Draw My Life video came out, Mark stopped uploading videos for a short amount of time. Finally, he uploaded a video simply titled: Lost a Friend. In this video, he talks about a very close friend from the Cyndago YouTube channel. He reveals that one of the channel’s personalities, Daniel Kyre, died from a suicide attempt earlier that week, and that he needed to take a little time off from YouTube. Since then, Cyndago stopped making videos all together, as they felt it wouldn’t be the same without Daniel. However, Mark got back on his feet and continues to make videos till this day.

Markiplier (on right) poses with close friend Daniel (on left)

On the other hand, Simply Nailogical’s donation hit close to home in a different way. All of her charity proceedings that went to Ottawa Humane Society was in an effort to keep the shelter thriving. In her GIVING $25,000 TO CHARITY! video, she reveals that she got her own cat Menchie from that same shelter. Although she has another cat named Zyler, Menchie is her channel’s main mascot. Many animals need a home, and Cristine’s previous adoption has made her feel strongly about giving pets a second chance.

Simply Nailogical’s two pet cats and channel mascots.

If it weren’t for YouTube’s user-friendly platform and diverse community, these every-day people may have not gained popularity. Their presence on YouTube has given them an opportunity to do what they want with their channel, and in some cases, “doing what they want” means: “give back to the community and help donate to causes that they believe in”.