As soon as upon a time, the one factor that stood between an aspiring YouTuber and greatness was a good-quality digital camera. But in 2024, when nearly everybody has entry to a 4K digital camera of their cellphone, creators can really feel strain to get their content material technique and technical setup good the primary time round.
However even at the moment’s greatest YouTube stars didn’t arrive on the scene completely polished, having perfected the artwork of enhancing their thumbnails for optimum engagement. Most had very humble and sometimes pixelated beginnings.
At present, we’re hopping in our time machine so we are able to take a more in-depth take a look at how 5 of the world’s most beloved YouTubers have developed since they first joined the platform, together with how their persistence, adaptability, and resilience have paid off. Let’s get began.
Zoe Sugg (Zoella)
In 2009, Zoe Sugg created the Zoella YouTube channel, the place she posted make-up tutorials, clothes hauls, and vlogs. She shortly turned one in every of Britain’s most-followed creators due to her private and relatable content material and her collaborations with different members of the notorious Brit Crew, which took the web (or at the least YouTube) by storm within the 2010s.
Over time, Sugg’s channel developed as she matured. She now not posts to her previous Zoella channel, having distanced herself from her previous model, however as a substitute has repurposed her second channel as her principal channel. There, she uploads life-style content material and household vlogs starring the 2 youngsters she shares with fellow Brit Crew member Alfie Deyes. The place her content material was just a little tough across the edges, it’s now way more polished, but Sugg has labored laborious to take care of her genuine, pleasant persona.
From Zoella’s first: The Sibling Tag (Sugg has archived her first-ever video (60 Issues In My Bed room) however left many relics for YouTube historians to review.
To Zoella’s newest: Tidying The Backyard, Outdated Diaries & The Greatest Praise
Pewdiepie
PewDiePie, or Felix Kjellberg, is a reputation synonymous with YouTube. His first few dozen movies had been faceless Let’s Performs earlier than Kjellberg started together with his reactions alongside the gameplay clips. Because of his quirky humorousness and exaggerated reactions, he shortly grew a devoted fanbase.
Because the years handed, Kjellberg diversified his content material, incorporating commentary on web tradition and meme opinions, which regularly landed him in scorching water. Regardless of dealing with a number of controversies, Kjellberg has at all times remained candid along with his viewers and retained a big following.
In contrast to different creators, Kjellberg has grow to be extra reflective over time. Whereas he nonetheless performs video video games on his channel and doesn’t shrink back from tough subjects, he additionally intersperses healthful household vlogs that includes his spouse, Marzia, and their rising household.
From Pewdiepie’s first: Minecraft Multiplayer Enjoyable
To Pewdiepie’s newest: Boys First Bike Trip! *Entrance Flips*
MrBeast
Like Pewdiepie, MrBeast, also referred to as Jimmy Donaldson, received his begin posting Minecraft Let’s Performs. It took MrBeast just a little longer to diversify his content material, however when he did, he took an enormous swing within the different course, shifting into the YouTuber commentary house.
Then, in 2017, Donaldson made a video that modified his life endlessly, importing a 24-hour-long video that confirmed him counting to 100,000 over 40 hours. Taking calculated dangers like this has received him his standing as YouTube’s most-followed creator, with Donaldson admitting to having spent 5 years ‘unhealthily obsessive about learning virality’ and the YouTube algorithm and utilizing this info to tell his content material technique.
In 2024, Donaldson is understood for his high-stakes, high-cost movies, which riff on recreation exhibits and sometimes function philanthropic components.
From MrBeast’s first: Worst Minecraft Noticed Lure Ever???
To MrBeast’s newest: Survive 100 Days In Nuclear Bunker, Win $500,000
Liza Koshy
Liza Koshy was a part of a wave of creators on the lookout for a digital residence when information broke that Vine can be shutting down. Up till this level, followers had solely been capable of get pleasure from seven seconds of Koshy at a time, however her transfer to YouTube allowed her to submit long-form content material, together with comedy skits, for the primary time ever. Her content material resonated with youthful viewers due to her excessive vitality ranges and quirky persona.
In 2024, Koshy maintains her comedic roots however has additionally loved extra mainstream ‘entertainer’ standing, attending a number of Met Galas as a number and even performing in her personal YouTube Premium present, Liza on Demand. Whereas Koshy’s life-style is now not relatable to the typical viewer, her followers nonetheless love her due to her versatility and willingness to poke enjoyable at herself.
From Liza Koshy’s first: SUP, I’M LIZA
To Liza Koshy’s newest: The Closet with Liza
Marques Brownlee
Marques Brownlee, also referred to as MKBHD, has been creating tech assessment content material on YouTube for 16 years. Now referred to as one of the crucial extremely revered creators within the tech house, with a incredible studio set-up, excessive manufacturing budgets, and seemingly limitless entry to the newest units, Brownlee’s content material has developed massively over time. However this shift didn’t occur in a single day!
Whereas Brownlee’s manufacturing high quality has improved massively over the previous decade and a half, his pursuits and persona have remained largely unchanged. His opinions are nonetheless simply as easy, trustworthy, and enthusiastic as they had been when he was a teen, although his rising star energy has allowed him to put money into reviewing extra superior expertise and push boundaries with revolutionary content material.
From Marques Brownlee’s first: HP Pavilion dv7t Media Middle Distant Overview (Technically, that is Brownlee’s fourth video, however his first tech assessment).
To Marques Brownlee’s newest: Google Pixel 9/Professional/Fold Impressions: They’ve Lastly Executed It?
