I started watching YouTube in 2006. Watching people like Phillip Deranco or KassemG or Natalie Tran or CharlesTrippy go from people making videos in their bedroom, to these channels with videos getting 10s or 100s of thousands of views was exhilerating. You could watch it happen before your eyes. I remember when Fred became the first one to hit a million subscribers.
It was amazing because they were just people. Real people making real videos. And they were being watched by millions of people all over the world. CommunityChannel was easily one of my favorites. She had the best sense of humor, and was the first one to kind of "brand" a channel with the "YOUR MOM LIKES" thing and the porno-music/comment time thing. God, I used to eagerly wait for her next video.
It's so sad because answering your question, I really don't have any favorites any more. All the youtubers I once loved changed from real people making real videos to shameless schmucks churning out pitiful garbage.
Networks is one thing that ruined it. Just the whole concept of a "Career YouTuber." That's why I'm working on an alternative. I'm a computer science student and a few of my classmates are in the early stages of designing a platform for real creators to make real videos. No brands, no networks, and highly moderated.
I grive the loss of YouTube. And I feel sorry for anyone that didn't get to be apart of it when it was still special.
***Edit. JennaMarbles. I like her. That's about it. Her and a few very small YouTubers like ChipperChumps.
