YouTube Stars Are Replacing Hollywood A-Listers In Campaigns Encouraging Young People To Vote - And It Just Might Work
The Daily Dot reports that "OurTime.org, one of the nation's largest voter empowerment organizations targeted at young voters, partnered with YouTuber Jenn McAllister, better known as JennXPenn," to create top 10 lists similar to the lists she creates for her popular YouTube channel to help kids understand all of the cool things you can do when you turn 18 and turn into an adult.
One of those things, of course, is the ability to vote. (Other milestones included lottery tickets and tattoos.)
"Through using YouTube I've been put in this position where a lot of people look up to me," McAllister told the Daily Dot. "I have the ability to talk about whatever I want to talk about. I think it's good for me to talk about issues like this because I think it's important, and a lot of my viewers are around the same age as me, or a little bit younger, so it's something that's going to be coming up soon."
OurTime.org founder Matthew Segal believes that YouTube celebrities like McAllister are more authentic than mainstream stars. Their millions of viewers trust them.
Fullscreen, a YouTube celebrity management company that manages McAllister, held a convention in LA in mid-September called INTOUR, which Business Insider attended. Fullscreen also just sold a stake in itself to Otter Media, a joint venture between AT&T and The Chernin Group, for around $300 million.
This gives the YouTube celeb crowd an incredible edge in influencing their millions upon millions of fans and followers.
"Millennials are one of the most socially-conscious generations in history and apathy, to us, is a turnoff," Segal explained to The Daily Dot. "We also know that YouTubers like Tyler Oakley and Laci Green have galvanized tremendous audiences around issues such as LGBT rights and feminism. Social and political issues drive engagement."
Here's JennXPenn's full video encouraging teens to vote: