A recent Harris Poll survey found a majority of children from the UK and the US wanted to be YouTubers. The phenomenon is now widespread enough that a number of Maltese YouTubers have made the switch to full-time. Jessica Arena speaks to three Maltese YouTubers making a living through internet content.
Being a YouTuber can mean a variety of things, but at its most essential it means a person is creating content and tailoring it to an audience on the YouTube platform.
In practice, this encompasses people who upload a myriad of different kinds of content to YouTube from make-up artistry to instructional videos on how to change a car tyre. For people with unconventional skills the platform has become even more alluring as a career choice, as the potential for monetisation increased.
Grandayy
Graduating as a doctor in 2017 but choosing to pursue YouTube full-time instead, Grandayy is one of Malta’s biggest YouTube successes.
The 25-year-old produces some video-game specific content but mostly works on memes – image-based and highly specific internet jokes. Despite the lack of stability in the industry, Grandayy has found a dedicated audience, with over 2.4 million subscribers on his main channel, 2.8 million followers on Instagram and 846,000 followers on Twitter.
“There is no secret formula except making content that people enjoy watching,” Grandayy says.
Since the YouTube Partner Programme was launched in March, local creators have been able to profit directly. When the service wasn’t available to Maltese people, Grandayy formed part of a Multi-Channel Network to monetise his videos. Despite the upgrade for local creators, the AI-based system which decides which videos get monetised can often leave creators out in the cold.
“I get very low revenue per view compared to the average YouTuber, possibly because my content is more unusual than most and therefore the algorithm may not have ‘learnt’ how to classify my content yet,” Grandayy says.
“Some videos just get demonetised by the AI even though they’d have nothing that goes against YouTube’s ad guidelines.
There is no secret formula except making content that people enjoy watching
“Usually a human will review demonetised videos after around 24 hours if you appeal, but you’d still have lost most of the money from the views that your video got during those 24 hours.”
Particularly since meme content tends to be highly transient with a short shelf life, this is one downside to working on a platform with operates on such a large scale.
Despite having to adapt quickly and churn out content at breakneck speeds, Grandayy feels the freedom to create and work independently is unrivalled.
“Being a YouTuber gives me total creative freedom to make whatever content I want to. It allows me to interact with millions of fans who aren’t just consumers of a product, but actually engage with me personally as a creator,” he said.
Danny Lesco
For animator Danny Lesco, who shot to prominence over a decade ago through his iconic Frans il-Ħamallu videos, the key to YouTube success is a mixture of consistency, persistence, dedication and some luck.
Creating the channel HerbalToons in 2013, which focused on content parodying popular films and games, he works largely regular hours and uploads roughly once a week.
I pay my taxes like everyone else... sounds like a real job to me!
“I love my job and after a decade of doing cartoons, it’s almost second nature,” Mr Lesco says.
“The downsides are having to be consistent no matter what, to force yourself creatively even though you might not feel like it. The benefits are being your own boss, having the opportunity to be creative, ultimate freedom in what you create and the build-up of an audience that can bring sustainability with its growth.
“I really work hard and put in the hours. I make animated videos which require long hours of work to create.
“I pay my taxes like everyone else... sounds like a real job to me!”
Oliver Tabone
Oliver Tabone, who runs the channel shibainu shiro suki, told Times of Malta that he got into YouTube by accident two years ago and is currently generating around one million views a day.
Mr Tabone’s content features his Shiba Inu dogs Shiro and Suki and their ‘potats’, the pair’s adorable little puppies.
Mr Tabone generally takes a few minutes of footage of his dogs playing or interacting with each other and writes humorous captions over it.
You have to have good content, of course, but luck plays a big part of it
“The work is volatile so its hard predict what your earnings are going to be like,” he says.
Mr Tabone generates all his content from his phone, and as a rule finds that keeping it simple and uplifting is what his audience appreciate the most.
“I consider myself lucky because I tend to get recommended a lot. You have to have good content, of course, but luck plays a big part of it.”
Around 70 per cent of videos watched on YouTube are suggested through the recommendation system.
This is an AI-based system that recommends videos it considers as good based on what it thinks you want to watch.
Up to 2012, YouTube ranked videos based on the view count. From 2012 to 2016, YouTube changed that system to favour view duration, favouring longer videos for recommendation.
Despite attempting to explain how YouTube’s machine learning recommended videos, the way the algorithm classifies videos is still a secretive and unpredictable system.
How do YouTubers make money?
Creators can monetise their videos through the YouTube Partner Programme and Google AdSense. The programme gives creators the ability to monetise their videos through adverts, for which they receive a portion of the revenue generated.
Some creators form part of Multi-Channel Networks, in which a pre-existing channel with a number of subscribers and view count link to the creator in exchange for a portion of their ad revenue.
Creators can also monetise their work by accepting sponsorships or receiving payment directly from their audience through websites such as Patreon.
Patreon allows audience members to support creators directly.
Social Blade rankings
| Rank and username | Uploads | Subscribers | Video views |
| 1. Grandayy | 548 | 2,400,464 | 475,247,550 |
| 2. shibainu shiro suki | 862 | 386,466 | 113,128,910 |
| 4. HerbalToons | 88 | 306,206 | 103,306,008 |