Virtual Communities

As we discuss virtual communities this week I find myself often thinking of the communities that exist on YouTube.com As an avid youtuber I make this connection based on the fact that I follow many YouTube personalities, which in turn would make me a part of their communities. I often check in on different “channels” and personalities for recent video posts to pass my free time as I find it very entertaining to see how they continue to keep the attention of their followers. One main YouTube personality that I have been following for a few years now is Grace Helbig. I stumbled across one of her videos a few years ago and have been following her ever since. She originally started out with her channel DailyGrace and since then has created her new self-titled channel GraceHelbig.

What I find most fascinating about Grace’s story is how much her social media empire has grown. Back in her DailyGrace time, she mainly just had her YouTube channel and a tumblr account. Now, Grace has over 2 million subscribers, her tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Google+, her first published book, multiple comedy shows and her own show on E! Network, titled The Grace Helbig Show.

It is crazy to think how when I first discovered Grace that she uploaded daily three minutes videos and an occasional tumblr post. Now she stretches across almost all social media platforms with multiple posts throughout the day.

I often contemplate how someone, like Grace, can take a YouTube account and end up with a huge social media empire and my answer often comes to the audience.

Aside from her incredible comedic merit, I truly believe that Grace would not have the prestige she has today if she did not grow the follower base that she has. Of course her career as a YouTube personality has taken years of dedication and time to produce but where would she be if she did not create the virtual community that she did?

What is smart about Grace’s approach to managing her social medias is that she often reaches out for our input. She frequently posts questions about what her viewers what to see, current events and various other things. This allows her viewers to feel a part of the action, which makes them come back for more. This is a brilliant strategic approach to gaining and expanding her 2 million-follower base.

I do have to say that it is quite fun to be a part of such a large virtual community such as Graces’ and it is even more interesting to see how her followers help to shape the work she produces.

I am very interested to see what the future holds for Grace as well as the many other YouTube personalities as the technical world continues to grow.

Interested in getting to know Grace, check out her channel here!