The Saint
Generation Narcissus - Broadcast Yourself
Hillevi Gustafson
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YouTube is one of many user-centered platforms that engage our generation of self-titled auteurs; a showcase for
the brilliant and the banal. Walk into any student's room at any time of day and the odds are in your favor of finding the
occupant watching a YouTube video.
This sanctuary for the perpetual procrastinator has started to evolve into a bona fide creative medium. The format of
made-for-web videos has become a genre of entertainment that appears to be here to stay. From the local teenager to
the established director, everyone is trying to tap into the potential of the online market.
Despite this, there is still a stigma that associates the online creators with socially awkward kids who live a
virtual, rather than real life, catering to an audience of slackers.
Then there is the creator, the mastermind behind the videos, the artist of youth culture. Liam Dryden, 20, known
online as LittleRadge, is one of these elusive perpetrators of electronic art. He started creating videos for YouTube in
early 2008. In just two years, he has attracted over 23,000 subscribers - not bad for a college kid from Edinburgh.
Sitting across from him in a café is like meeting a real-life version of Seth Cohen, except this guy has a Scottish
accent. He appeals to the current pop culture love of the indie boy artist, and it does not hurt that he resembles
David Tennant. His looks have generated countless comparisons to the former Dr Who star, so much that it became
the topic of one of his YouTube comedy sketches.
Through his many videos Dryden has become a well-known face and name in the YouTube community. His Internet
presence extends beyond YouTube; he has a Facebook fan page, a blog, and other sundry social networking accounts. His followers, or fans, treat him as an actual celebrity.
Dryden is far from alone in this amateur celebrity community, and in comparison to some, he is one of the minors. The A-listers range from Shane Dawsons disgusting tirades to Ray William Johnsons video review show. Dryden may not reach the same number of followers, but there is one thing that he has that neither of the two aforementioned can brag about he is part of his very own, very public celebrity relationship.
Dryden met his girlfriend, Min, through his work on YouTube. Their relationship started on the Internet and that is where they keep it going, since they have only met once and live 10,480 miles apart. He last visited her in Australia over a year ago. Not only do they share their lives with each other, but they share it with the world through a joint YouTube channel called VlogLovers.
This channel has been passed through several long distance couples, where they share the ups and downs of coupledom. This may seem like extreme over-sharing but to them it is a way of staying in touch. The channel is also popular. It was featured by YouTube on Valentine's Day and has over 8,000 subscribers.
Dryden speculates that people are drawn to the channel to find hope for their own long distance relationships and to see that it is possible to find love online. The comments on the channel confirm this; most of them call their relationship inspirational and absolutely adorable.
Dryden's journey as a YouTube connoisseur, from hatchling novice to old-timer relationship guru, is similar to that of the evolution of Vlogging. What started off as one person whining to the camera has become a verifiable outlet of creative energy. There is still the wide range of narcissistic indulgence going on in the form of someone over-sharing with the world, but there has sprung a leak of hugely talented individuals who use it as a platform for ideas, talents and skills. From animation of savvy editing, YouTube creationism is reaching new heights.
There are 24 hours of footage uploaded on to YouTube every second, according to the website. Take a moment and appreciate that. This is monumental for a website that was launched a mere five years ago. In just five years, YouTube has grown into an institution.
Despite the reach of YouTube, the website has yet to penetrate the glass ceiling of artistic expression. It lacks legitimacy as a hobby and art form. It is common that people use it as a tool for the display of other, already accepted art forms. The issue of creating video specifically for YouTube is another matter.
Comedy is one form of entertainment that has found a secure home in the arms of YouTube. Parody and crazy sketches are a staple of any YouTube visitors diet. Drydens own channel has admittedly evolved into pure comedy. His most viewed video is Cuz Im Scottish with over 340,000 views to date. In it, he parodies the most prolific Scottish stereotypes.
While most Vlogging is left to the amateurs like Dryden, there is one Vlog that trumps them all, a superhero of Vloggers some might say. A couple of years ago, during the fateful Hollywood writers strike, Dr Horribles Sing-a-long Blog helped fill the void of original content.
Although professional producer and director Joss Whedon (of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame) created the web series, the scripted Vlog starring Neil Patrick Harris showed the potential of the format. The premise of the short series was that of a confessional video diary of a wannabe super villain. It is content like this that platforms like YouTube have the potential to promote.
The parallel between Dr Horrible and the original content on YouTube is striking it is basically a Vlog created by a group of friends. Admittedly this group of friends is slightly cooler than your average video creators, but the tools are out there for anyone to use. There is no doubt that the attitude towards Internet videos is changing. Web series and Vlogs are gaining ground in professional circles. Dryden is convinced that YouTube-style videos will continue to gain prominence and legitimacy.
"Its definitely going to be an art form of its own, as opposed to an outlet for other art," Dryden said.
It is easy to be flippant about the validity of peoples work, but there are countless examples of talent getting seen and heard online, and not just on YouTube. Anyone remember the blogger-turned-Academy-Award-winning-scriptwriter Diablo Cody? The truth about the web is that you never know who might be watching. YouTube has a long history of allowing people to get noticed even outside the Vlogging community. YouTube videos can bring together talent and employer in ways that may surprise you. One of Drydens viewers, Susan Clarke, was so impressed with his work on YouTube that she e-mailed him about a part on a TV show which she had just finished writing.
"She told me that she didnt expect me to get back to her, which is quite funny," Dryden said.
It is not entirely surprising that Clarke, and other professional creators, would be interested in YouTube celebrities. Recognizable names are golden in the entertainment industry, since with a name comes followers. Dryden, or LittleRadge, will bring with him his modest fan base. This is the jackpot for any small production and a great publicity tool.
The show, the Chronicles of Syntax, is still in preproduction, and a prequel web series is being worked out. This TV show embraces all the tools of modern, digital entertainment production to get the content distributed. Hire an internet celebrity, start off with a web series, and, hopefully by the time the show airs, it will already have gone viral.
For the skeptics and nonbelievers out there, Dryden is a prime example of exactly how much YouTube can influence a persons life. He realized that his university degree was not what he wanted, he got the opportunity to act professionally, and he met his long-distance significant other online.
Dryden still makes the distinction between real life and YouTube life out of habit, but his story shows that this is not simply another escapist tool that lets people live their life in a virtual world. The opportunities created on YouTube extend far beyond the binary and html code.
YouTube has created its own celebrity culture, complete with fan encounters (albeit in Forbidden Planet rather than an LA restaurant), public relationships (minus the usual separation speculation) and charitable giving (Dryden raised money for both Comic and Sport Relief). Its not particularly glamorous, but it is accessible perfect for a narcissistic generation like ours. Now we can all have a claim to fame.
Much like YouTube, Dryden is here to stay. He admits that one day perhaps online video will no longer be as much a priority for him as it is now, but in the mean time he has no plans of deserting his roots. "I guess I'l carry on doing it until everyone is telling me to get off the Internet," Dryden said.
Will YouTubers like Dryden ever become household names? Will the distinction between his work on YouTube and in real life become obsolete? Think how far online video has come in just five years, and then say that it doesnt count for anything outside of a student's room.
