With millions of subscribers, the top influencers on a popular 21st century site, YouTube, have the power to shape the minds of the masses, primarily the minds of youths. Simply typing the letter “y” into one’s keyboard allows for this app to display its eminence. How does it do so, one may ask? Well, it pops up first and, quite frankly, foremost. Without a doubt, YouTube is rapidly gaining a following that is resulting in more knowledge at the tips of society’s fingers more efficiently and more effectively.

One of the most prominent creators today, Shane Dawson, has more than 18 million subscribers, earning up to 7.7 million dollars per year, according to Social Blade. In order to appeal to such a large fanbase, Shane Dawson puts the art of videography into what most other content creators simply “play around with.” Fellow YouTuber, Logan Paul, admits that Shane Dawson is not “playing” but is rather, “changing the game. [He] is paving the landscape of what could be the future of YouTube.”

What is it, one may ask, that Shane Dawson is doing to create such popular videos? He is documenting life in such a way that is different than anything the world has ever seen before. Shane Dawson’s newest documentary, regarding mental health, is spreading awareness on the topic in such a way that millions of individuals are receiving positive knowledge from a person in which they look up to. Many students at Yorba Linda High School contribute to the large demographic of teenagers watching his documentary-style videos. In fact, Molly Martin (9) elaborated by stating, “Shane has the type of charisma to shape a lot of people’s minds on topics that should be thought about. And by ‘a lot,’ I mean millions and millions of people.”

As stated by Logan Paul, Shane Dawson is “paving” the way for the “future of YouTube.” So, what exactly is this “future of YouTube”? One may predict that more documentaries as well as other means of knowledgeably informing the public on social and moral issues will continue to gain popularity on the social media site. Teaching, in addition, may be further aided by such content. The importance of YouTube is the efficiency that videos are able to be produced, which in turn improves the effectiveness, keeping society up-to-date at the tips of their fingers, one click away from bounds of previously inaccessible knowledge. Yes, today’s knowledge is up-to-date. Yes, today’s knowledge is at the tips of society’s fingers. Yes, today’s knowledge is one click away. So how powerful will sources of technological knowledge, such as YouTube, be tomorrow? Perhaps an entire regime.