- YouTube has given everyday people a way to make money off of videos on the platform since 2007, allowing a flurry of creators and users to turn online video into a full-time job.
- Since then, YouTube's most elite and popular creators have been able to achieve levels of fame and wealth akin to that of high-profile celebrities and models.
- One of those stars is Adam Saleh, a 26-year-old vlogger based outside of New York City who's known for recording pranks with his friends and documenting life with his Yemeni family.
- I followed Saleh around for a day to see what his life is like, and I learned that YouTube's most popular stars are able to live like celebrities instead of small-business entrepreneurs.
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It was virtually unheard of to make money off of YouTube just a decade ago, but creators on the platform are now able to earn substantial incomes and make online video into a full-time job.
An increasing number of kids have dreams of fame on YouTube after growing up watching their role models start as small-time vloggers filming low-quality content in their bedrooms and become wildly popular names embarking on world tours. In the top-most tier of YouTube, select creators have developed the brand recognition to translate their millions of followers into money and celebrity status.
One of those YouTubers is Adam Saleh, a Brooklyn-born creator with more than 7 million subscribers across his two channels. The 26-year-old has established himself online through his family-filled vlogs and outlandish pranks, and has since become a figure often stopped on the street and a role model to teens in his family's home country of Yemen.
It's why I asked Saleh if I could shadow him for a day, and to get a better idea of what it's like to be a creator who has already secured his spot at the top of YouTube. While smaller influencers are like one-person businesses who deal with every step from content creation to expense reports, bigger creators are able to hyper-focus on the most important work and leave the superfluous tasks to a team of assistants, managers, and even accountants.
Here's what a day with Adam Saleh was like - even though two days in his life are nowhere near the same.