Gaming is huge on YouTube,
perhaps the most dominant category
on the platform. Fischbach—aka
Markiplier—is a stalwart star, a king
of the “let’s play” genre. The
uninitiated may wonder why anyone
would want to sit at their computer
and watch someone else play a video
game. But Fischbach and his ilk
make a case for it, infusing their videos
with a hyper sense of drama, playing
every bit like it’s the final of the
World Cup. Fischbach has parlayed his
gaming success into comedy
and charity, the latter initiative raising
hundreds of thousands of dollars
for various worthy causes over the years.
AGE 30
GENRE Social commentary
FIRST POST April 2016
SUBSCRIBERS 733,000NATALIE Wynn
“I didn’t want to be the person
who was just making videos about
social justice videos on YouTube,”
says Wynn, aka ContraPoints, about
the genesis of her channel. “To
me it was like, I may as well be lecturing
again. I tried that and I hated it and
I don’t want to be that person.” Wynn is
an escapee from academia, now
enjoying the freedom and levity allowed
by self-employed content creation.
She still covers serious topics, though,
and is often credited with leading
some viewers out of the darkness
of the far right: “I thought that I could
find a place for myself as...a sort
of unexpected counterbalance to the
reactionary stuff.”
AGE 30
GENRE Gaming
FIRST POST May 2012
SUBSCRIBERS 24.3 millionMARK Fischbach