Why PewdiePie?

It’s hard to fathom PewDiePie’s (real name, Felix Arvid Ulf Kjellberg) astronomical rise to YouTube stardom. The Swedish-born 26-year-old began his YouTube career in 2011 after dropping out of Chalmers University of Technology where he was studying Industrial Economics and Technology Management in order to focus on his videos. His earliest videos consisted of video game walkthroughs with audio commentary of his thoughts and reactions. Later videos utilized a small screen view of the gamer and his commentary in the style of Twitch allowing the viewer to see the physical reactions, which in PewDiePie’s case, tend to be drastic.
Unlike other walkthroughs meant to serve as guides, PewDiePie created more reaction-based content full of random outbursts and profanity. His earliest videos tended to be of the horror genre, involving games such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent which relied on jump-scares and generated wild outbursts from PewDiePie. Viewers responded well to the casual tone and humor of his videos and he began to amass subscribers to his channel. He is also credited as being one of the first to capitalize on the video gamer audience to gain a substantial following. Finding this underserved niche on YouTube at the time played an important role in his future success.
The content of his channel is goofy, full of energy, and often obnoxious (especially in regards to the high-pitched and stretched out manner he introduces himself). But it succeeds in its off-the-cuff casual tone and the sense of connection he is able to make with viewers due to the channel’s informality. Today, he has hundreds of videos with varying content and much better production quality due to his exponential rise in popularity. These contain animated shorts, personal vlogs, collaborations with his girlfriend and fellow YouTuber Marzia Bisognin CutiePieMarzia, and sponsored content. In fact, his popularity is so widespread that he has created several reaction videos to the hate he receives through comments and parody videos of him.
PewDiePie has an incredibly impressive history in terms of YouTube subscribers. In 2013, he surpassed six million subscribers and garnered coverage on The New York Times. In July of that year, he surpassed fellow YouTuber Jenna Marbles with 10 million subscribers, then the channel Smosh in August with 15 million subscribers making his the most subscribed channel on YouTube. Now, in 2016, PewDiePie’s channel has amassed almost 43 million subscribers.
His popularity has extended beyond YouTube with several pop culture references. Most notably, he parodied himself in a two-part episode of South Park titled “#REHASH.” He is also credited as having influence over the game world with many of the indie titles he showcases reporting boasts in sales due to his video promotions. Recently, he has starred in a YouTubeRed exclusive web series called Scare PewDiePie which capitalizes on the popularity of his early horror game commentary and wild reactions that first gained him popularity.
It is difficult to pinpoint what aspects of his videos have made him so successful. To many viewers (myself included) his videos seem obnoxious, self-serving, and in general, pointless. But the massive amount of subscribers, billions of views, and reported 7.4 million earnings for 2015 contests that his videos are definitely doing something right. One important aspect of his success is content. He has been able to capitalize on the popularity of video games as it ties to a culture largely based on the internet. He has also managed to seem genuine in both his reactions and intentions. People have responded well to his unfiltered and profanity-filled commentary, crude jokes, and jarring outbursts as it seems real and unscripted. And perhaps most importantly, he has been able to foster a sense of community by actively engaging with his audience through comments, forums, and in public events. These aspects have added up to PewDiePie’s immeasurable success.