# What Will Happen To Youtubers When They Grow Old?



## The Pink Panther (Oct 9, 2019)

Legit question.

What the fuck will happen to all of the YT'ers that have gotten famous now when they all become older and their fame wears out? This is particularly concerning for middle-tier YT'ers. Ones that have around 100,000-1 million or so, who probably make middle class salaries off of their channel for a living. What are they going to move on to? What COULD they possibly move on to? They'll lack the common experience that people have in the workplace, so it's going to be a weird transitioning to everyday life.


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## Tism the Return (Oct 9, 2019)

Retire on their comfy YT retirement money they haven't disclosed because why would they when pretending to be poor and having several platforms to grift money at once is such a sweet deal?


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## The Cunting Death (Oct 9, 2019)

Die of old age.


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## The Last Stand (Oct 9, 2019)

You would hope they would have savings invested somewhere from their earnings. Or, if their resume is viable enough, go back to the workforce. 

I would think even with their viewerbase, have a part time job so they could still have something to fall back on.


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## No Exit (Oct 9, 2019)

I'm hoping they all go through a "Homeless Arc", maybe even become IRL streamers. But the smart ones will probably have money saved and go back to their decent but lesser paying jobs. The dumber ones will go broke like lottery winners and work min-wage jobs to pay off the ridiculous debt they went into when they had big youtube money.


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## Lemmingwise (Oct 9, 2019)

Same thing as what happens to music stars in older age. Some were born to do it and will do it on some avenue for the same old audience. Some OD on drugs. And some learn to deliver the mail in an office or flip burgers as they reminisce about the good ole time of funny money, though possibly lose that job again to robots.


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## BOONES (Oct 9, 2019)

*DUBSTEP INTRO PLAYS LOUDLY* HEY WHATS UP GUIZE ITS YA BOY GANGNAMGRANDPA1337 HERE WITH A NEW CATHATER THAT STOPS MY PEEPEE FROM BURNING.


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## Manwithn0n0men (Oct 9, 2019)

Due retirement cruses like aging rockstars


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## Sperglord Dante (Oct 9, 2019)

IDK if the music star analogy really applies since those at least receive have some pennies from royalties on covers, streaming and album re-releases after their heyday. With YT you'll either be banned, demonetized, lose your audience or the platform will simply go down for good one day, taking your source of income with it.

I also don't believe anything but the upper 0.001% percentile on YT is making much more than enough to make ends meet, even with patreonbux, to begin with.


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## SmileyTimeDayCare (Oct 9, 2019)

I think we're going to see some suicides before they get old.

I mean obviously AL is going to die in the next year but I think we'll see a fair percentage of drama tubers off themselves before they hit 40.

So many people have tied their lives and future earning potential to YT that it is inevitable.


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## Lemmingwise (Oct 9, 2019)

Sperglord Dante said:


> IDK if the music star analogy really applies since those at least receive have some pennies from royalties on covers, streaming and album re-releases after their heyday. With YT you'll either be banned, demonetized, lose your audience or the platform will simply go down for good one day, taking your source of income with it.
> 
> I also don't believe anything but the upper 0.001% percentile on YT is making much more than enough to make ends meet, even with patreonbux, to begin with.



The wealth isn't the royalties, it's the audience. If they still like your stuff, and you can still produce something and reach them, you can monetise it, either by slinging product, begging for donations or producing some premium content.


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## Slowpoke Sonic (Oct 9, 2019)

I’m fairly certain that they would most likely become washed up druggies who’s ad revenue has been spent on dopamine and sex toys. Or they would off themselves over getting cancelled or due to poor mental health. 

Internet stars don’t last long.


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## Pissmaster (Oct 9, 2019)

A lot of them have fans that tend to watch everything they post, so they'll just keep doing the same stuff and selling ads for perscription medication or viagra or whatever else the commercials on The Price is Right are selling these days.  DarkSydePhil is gonna be one of those people that perplexingly lives forever, and he'll still be churning out content where he gets frustrated and confused even into old age, while other random streamers are gonna be streaming their 50th yearly playthrough of Final Fantasy VII from the nursing home to an audience of 10 people. 

Of course, that's just the handful of streamers who actually enjoy what they do, not just the attention whore grifters who do it for money and fame, like most of them.  The moment a twitch thot hits her 40s is the final moment she ever touches a game controller, only to finally marry some wealthy fan and fart out a couple of autists that'll embarrass them for the rest of their lives.


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## Pargon (Oct 9, 2019)

They will be the first up against the wall when the Cyber-Bolsheviks rise to power. They can butcher my body all they want afterward, just as long as I see that first I'll sharpen their machetes myself.


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## OneEyedCool (Oct 9, 2019)

I thought most celebrities hire a personal investment manager to do all the Wall Street stuff and have lots in assets and equity.  Has the under 35 crowd not heard of that?


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## oldTireWater (Oct 9, 2019)

Start doing the casino circuit like all aging rock stars I assume.


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## NOT Sword Fighter Super (Oct 9, 2019)

I promise you that while they may grow old, they'll never grow up.


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## qt farmer :) (Oct 9, 2019)

it obviously depends on the Youtuber; the smarter ones, like Jenna Marbles, Jeffree Star, Shane Dawson, etc. cross-pollinate into other famous Youtuber's videos & start venturing into other sources of income like merchandising, investing, streaming, or even going into network television/acting. the dumber ones who aren't financially savvy will most likely flounder a little bit and either over-saturate their videos with ads, find and accept whichever sponsors come their way, or perish and resort to working a normal wageslave job, where they will be sadly known as "that one guy/girl who used to do Youtube" (whom no one knows)


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## skiddlez (Oct 9, 2019)

Some youtubers have retired. Literally remember literally leafyishere literally? He apparently took his earnings, hired some investor and just sits around and jerks off and does drugs or something, living off the investment income.

Honestly, probably just that. Not very exciting.


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## Bob's Ghost (Oct 9, 2019)

Maybe some will go work at the post office. Lindsey Ellis will think she's too good to work a normal job, but unlike Chris she won't end up on the street because of the Womyn's Support Network, she'll probably end up as an old librarian who reads Leninist readers during storytime.
Spoony and Dough Walker will never work again. The RedLetterMedia guys will probably always be around, if not as a web-presence , they can go back to making commercials or trailers, or whatever it was they did before.
The beauty gurus will end up working at Sephora or Ulta where they'll annoy the shit ouf of the customers.

I don't know what will happen to Nerdrotic, The Quatering and their ilk, but I don't think it will end well,
Indy Neidall will probably be President. Link and Rhett will both be Cardinals in the Vatican.


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## Pissmaster (Oct 9, 2019)

skiddlez said:


> Some youtubers have retired. Literally remember literally leafyishere literally? He apparently took his earnings, hired some investor and just sits around and jerks off and does drugs or something, living off the investment income.
> 
> Honestly, probably just that. Not very exciting.


Yeah, Lucas Cruikshank as Fred Figglehorn was the most popular channel on YouTube before PewDiePie, and he ended up striking a deal with Nickelodeon to make a movie. After that, he just kinda vanished.


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## skiddlez (Oct 9, 2019)

Pissmaster General said:


> Yeah, Lucas Cruikshank as Fred Figglehorn was the most popular channel on YouTube before PewDiePie, and he ended up striking a deal with Nickelodeon to make a movie. After that, he just kinda vanished.


And good. I know at the time it was basically like a cool meme to hate on Fred all over youtube (like hating on Justin Bieber or whatever) but that guy's content was genuinely insufferable. To this day I still have no idea who in the fuck actually watched that for enjoyment.


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## Pissmaster (Oct 9, 2019)

skiddlez said:


> And good. I know at the time it was basically like a cool meme to hate on Fred all over youtube (like hating on Justin Bieber or whatever) but that guy's content was genuinely insufferable. To this day I still have no idea who in the fuck actually watched that for enjoyment.


I think it was popular with really, really young kids. That being said, those kids are now in high school, and it's telling how you never see Fred nostalgia even in "what's your guilty pleasure?" threads.


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## skiddlez (Oct 9, 2019)

Pissmaster General said:


> I think it was popular with really, really young kids. That being said, those kids are now in high school, and it's telling how you never see Fred nostalgia even in "what's your guilty pleasure?" threads.


It was just so awful I couldn't even imagine a small child liking it. I can't imagine I would have liked it, even super young.

I guess what else is weird is that that era of youtube never struck me as a kid-heavy era, but it's probably just because of what I was interested in watching. Kids influxed pretty shortly after, and for some reason the best place to find them was on popular let's players' channels (like pewdiepie and markiplier and stuff). Nowadays the really, really small children are watching shit like ex-pornstars unboxing playdoh. But it seems to be pretty well segregated now.


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## Syaoran Li (Oct 9, 2019)

The only big name YouTube e-celeb that I think has a chance of staying culturally relevant or at least not be completely washed-up and destitute is PewDiePie. He's got a knack for seeing where the puck is going while other YouTube celebs are too busy looking where the puck currently is. He's also made a fuck ton of money and seems to be the kind of guy who will do fine and move onto greener pastures after he stops being a YouTube celebrity.

He got his start at the tail end of the "Classic YouTube" era of 2007-2012, the same era that gave us the likes of Fred, simple slideshow tribute videos, Ray William Johnson, and guys ranting in front of webcams. Of all the people who started to get popular during the "viral video" era of YouTube, he's the only one who's still popular and making money off of it. Part of it is because he got started in 2010 when that era was ending, but also because he knows how to both build his audience and keep them satisfied.

There's a reason why YouTube hasn't fully demonetized him or banned him no matter how much the blue checkmarks and dangerhairs at Woke Twitter hate his guts. He's too popular and has too broad of an appeal. If Google tried to cancel him either by banning him or completely demonetizing his entire channel, they'd be killing the goose that lays most of their golden eggs.

Fred only got big because he was both popular among small children and he was up there with Justin Bieber in terms of low-hanging fruit in the early 2010's.

If Fred left YouTube in 2009 during the peak of his popularity to support Metacafe or Dailymotion instead, nobody would give a shit.

If PewDiePie left YouTube in 2019 to support Bitchute, it would actually have an adverse effect on YouTube as a platform.


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## Pachimaru 2049 (Oct 9, 2019)

They are either forced to get real jobs or become alcoholic irl streamers


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## The Pink Panther (Oct 9, 2019)

Pissmaster General said:


> After that, he just kinda vanished.



Nah, he decided to gay out and vlog: 




I remember when I first discovered his channel and watched the videos where he talked about his times on the interwebs as _Fred_ and all of them were basically the same where he said that he doesn't remember anything he did as the character because he would lose himself within the character. So every time he was doing _Fred_, it was practically through a sense of soul transferral.


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## Dwight Frye (Oct 9, 2019)

Spoony will off himself rather than do an honest day's work.

Doug was a janitor, and that's about all he'll ever be hired as if he needs to find work. 

Lupa and Lindsey will collect a tugboat, or sponge off some thirsty dumbass. 

Jared would become another Comic Book Guy type of shop owner, lording it over the beta nerds.

As obnoxious as I find their content, PewDiePie and Markiplier seem to be two of the few who actually manage their money and have something to fall back on when retirement comes a knockin.


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## NOT Sword Fighter Super (Oct 9, 2019)

The Last Stand said:


> You would hope they would have savings invested somewhere from their earnings. Or, if their resume is viable enough, go back to the workforce.
> 
> I would think even with their viewerbase, have a part time job so they could still have something to fall back on.


Nope, Mundane Matt will be stuck making Star Wars videos for 100 people for the rest of his life.
And if he hasn't already been fired from Uber Eats because he was caught eating a customer's food, he most likely will be soon.


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## Slap47 (Oct 9, 2019)

You're already seeing it happen with people like TheAmazingAtheist and Onision. They fall back to a small core audience and milk them for as long as they can and build a stable life.... or go insane and continue being an insane pedophile..


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## soft kitty (Oct 10, 2019)

They'll have moved on by then. Thunderf00t will keep making science videos though because he's awesome like that.


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## Wilhelm Bittrich (Oct 10, 2019)

Some could become Shirley Curry tho.

Her YouTube channel


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## Webby's Boyfriend (Oct 10, 2019)

Become voice actors for photorealistic CGI characters.


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## Varg Did Nothing Wrong (Oct 10, 2019)

dinoman said:


> They'll have moved on by then. Thunderf00t will keep making science videos though because he's awesome like that.


His videos will still be overly long, repetitive and autofellating.

I like the guy, but he needs an editor.


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## OneEyedCool (Oct 10, 2019)

skiddlez said:
			
		

> Nowadays the really, really small children are watching shit like ex-pornstars unboxing playdoh.


Holy fuck, where is a link for that?


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## Gravityqueen4life (Oct 11, 2019)

if they smart, they save up money so they can retire. if not, they either go crazy or stop and try get a normal job (mostly go crazy).


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## CumDumpster (Oct 11, 2019)

skiddlez said:


> It was just so awful I couldn't even imagine a small child liking it. I can't imagine I would have liked it, even super young.


The only thing that the guy who was the "main man" of Fred had to his name was being the son of WWE (I call that "anime for rednecks") "wrestler" John Cena.

But in all honesty, they'll likely burn out unless they have something that's in demand going for them (e.g. the comedic reviews of SomeCallMeJohnny and Caddicarus or the educational value of Technology Connections and Oddity Archive) or they'll just report on news and political affairs (there are a good amount of these, but the recommended ones are all leftist).


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## Satchels_of_Gold (Oct 11, 2019)

Same thing the strippers, prostitutes, athletes & others whose careers depend on their youth will do:  find another job or get in the welfare line.  I'd guess it'll be an even split.


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## dontlike (Oct 11, 2019)

If reality television remains popular I could see them ending up in some YouTuber House scenario. I expect with Doctor Drew involved, especially the ones who start young and are mind broken by the internet.


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## Stoneheart (Oct 11, 2019)

MODS! DSP fans are taking over other parts of the farms!


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## Cryonic Haunted Bullets (Oct 13, 2019)

skiddlez said:


> Some youtubers have retired. Literally remember literally leafyishere literally? He apparently took his earnings, hired some investor and just sits around and jerks off and does drugs or something, living off the investment income.
> 
> Honestly, probably just that. Not very exciting.


I'm surprised the guy had that kind of foresight, considering how young and suddenly wealthy he was. I don't think that most 'Tubers are going to follow his example, though. Most of them are probably going to end up like old, washed-up actors, but even more sad.



CumDumpster said:


> The only thing that the guy who was the "main man" of Fred had to his name was being the son of WWE (I call that "anime for rednecks") "wrestler" John Cena.


Lucas Cruikshank isn't John Cena's son, but there is a scene in the Fred movie where Cena makes a cameo as his imagined divorced dad. It's probably the only genuinely funny thing he ever did:


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## Dom Cruise (Oct 13, 2019)

They'll still be 'Tubin'.


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## queerape (Oct 14, 2019)

skiddlez said:


> Some youtubers have retired. Literally remember literally leafyishere literally? He apparently took his earnings, hired some investor and just sits around and jerks off and does drugs or something, living off the investment income.
> 
> Honestly, probably just that. Not very exciting.


Leafy did the smart thing tbh, plenty of kids would just blow all the money on dumb shit right away and end up broke.


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## Token Weeaboo (Oct 24, 2019)

Well shit, if they are going to be old fucks they can still make videos for the hell of it. It's not any sort major labor to do videos and it'll pass the time of being old and alone. Nothing really kills someone more than their own boredom.


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## Plasmapheresis (Oct 24, 2019)

Token Weaboo said:


> Well shit, if they are going to be old fucks they can still make videos for the hell of it. It's not any sort major labor to do videos and it'll pass the time of being old and alone. Nothing really kills someone more than their own boredom.


Yeah, but when that sweet sweet ad revenue dries up because it never lasts forever (especially with the current state of YT) and lose their audience, I doubt many will really continue making videos.


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## Token Weeaboo (Oct 24, 2019)

Plasmapheresis said:


> Yeah, but when that sweet sweet ad revenue dries up because it never lasts forever (especially with the current state of YT) and lose their audience, I doubt many will really continue making videos.



Well yeah. That's why I mentioned for the hell of it. By the time they are old farts they should have stuff saved up and not have to rely on ad revenue anymore. Though I will agree, YouTube probably won't last in it's current state

Honestly I can see someone who genuinely enjoys making content like the big swedish meatball man making videos for a long long time. Assuming he means it when he says he enjoys making videos.

Edit: clarification: its an obscure reference to pewdiepie


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## dirtydeanna96 (Oct 24, 2019)

What will happen to the Web in when it hits 87 (2078-Aug-06) a ripe old age for a human? No one left to remember its early days, its formative years.


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## Ahriman (Oct 24, 2019)

Boxxy and RayWilliamJohnson were among the first ones to prove that you can be somewhat clever and cash out before you become a parody of yourself. Wavywebsurf did a pretty good video on "whatever happened to Boxxy" (although in her case 4chan had something to do with it).






And Ray has been running a podcast called Kings of Influence, I check it out every now and then, and it's actually pretty good, with nothing held back. Certainly doesn't have the same pull as Rogan's podcast but it's quite enjoyable.






Also, Jake Logan Paul, despite all his tomfoolery, seems pretty smart and has been branching out a lot so chances are that he's at a point where he could probably drop out of Youtube and do his own thing.


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## Niggernerd (Oct 24, 2019)

Ahriman said:


> Jake Paul, despite all his tomfoolery, seems pretty smart and has been branching out a lot so chances are that he's at a point where he could probably drop out of Youtube and do his own thing.


I thought Logan was the smart one who was branching out.


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## Ahriman (Oct 24, 2019)

Niggernerd said:


> I thought Logan was the smart one who was branching out.


Ah, Logan Paul - I got the names confused I guess!

Edit: checking out some of the comments on Wavy's video, I found this:






Big if true. Still, I wish her all the best, she's doing pretty well for herself.


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## Calooby (Oct 27, 2019)

Well when the season comes, all the whale YouTubers like Boogie2988 will return to the seas where they whenst came from and truly belong. I don't know what the HELL the skinny ones are going to do, so don't fucking ask!


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## Slimy Time (Oct 28, 2019)

Pissmaster General said:


> Yeah, Lucas Cruikshank as Fred Figglehorn was the most popular channel on YouTube before PewDiePie, and he ended up striking a deal with Nickelodeon to make a movie. After that, he just kinda vanished.


He now has his own channel about being a genuine faggot, it's called Lucas, under his real name.
Ryan Higa still has his channel and still does shit with it.

Seems like if you ever become really, really big, then you can keep doing it, or end up doing it as a side project. If you don't have the numbers or some skill related to the channel, then you end up like Mundane Matt or DSP or Maddox, caught in an eternal cycle where you still have to do youtube begrudgingly while running a low end job. Boogie1488 is next until his heart gives out. He's almost 50, has no skills at all, and is entirely reliant on the internet to help him make his living.


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## Idiotron (Oct 30, 2019)

If it continues to make money, they'll keep doing it.
It's a job like any other and it's more fun that sitting in a cubicle or a kitchen all day.


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## Schinna (Nov 8, 2019)

skiddlez said:


> Some youtubers have retired. Literally remember literally leafyishere literally? He apparently took his earnings, hired some investor and just sits around and jerks off and does drugs or something, living off the investment income.
> 
> Honestly, probably just that. Not very exciting.


LeafyIsHere had another YouTube channel called BakaStryx from what I know, but iirc that was shoah'd 5-6 months ago. Now I think his current one is called Karma where he does weeb shit. I can't confirm it's him for sure though.


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## ⋖ cørdion ⋗ (Nov 18, 2019)

It's the same case with Twitch streamers. If they're any good, they invest heavily in a safety net and can retire after a year or two at the top, but continue to produce because they enjoy it. All musicians could quit after a year once they go big, but they don't, because passion.

Pewdiepie has made games, authored books, and now reasonable non-cringy fashion. He says he doesn't have a lot of money, but he clearly does. He mad entire 10m vids dedicated to app game sponsorships, sold to "100m subscribers". That's easily enough for a house per vid.

Then you got h3h3 who are sort of 50/50. They somehow manage to sell Teddy Fresh through actual reputable European stores, all the way from America, and probably make millions, but they also don't seem to enjoy the lifestyle, nor need the continued income.

Then you have streamers like Reckful who are (literal) jews, and invest left and right and become millionaires on the back of 2 years of relevance at 3500 viewers. Meanwhile the kids with no safety net just make 'media mondays' where they make $19000 in 2 hours. It's honestly a wonder youtubers haven't quit for Twitch, but if you follow people like PayMoneyWubby, he straight up says he doesn't make a dime off of Youtube, while even at 2-3k viewers on  Twitch he easily makes 3-4 times minimum wage an hour.


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## John Titor (Nov 18, 2019)

Cr1tik4l will be fine since he's fully aware youtube money is volatile as fuck.


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## spurger king (Nov 18, 2019)

Judging from the keemstar interview, it seemed like leafy legit grew out of being that edgy memelord, plus he was clever enough to notice that YT wasn't super cool with his brand of content. Guys like him and PDP will turn out alright since their lifestyles fit within their means. Now Logan Paul on the other hand, I'm predicting he'll be a tila tequila-tier lolcow within a decade.


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