echo By Julia
“Hey guys, welcome to my channel! Don’t forget to like, share and subscribe!”
Isn’t that something we hear way too often these days? In a world where Youtube has climbed its way up to being one of the most frequently used social media sites, many have turned to the platform as a means of creating content according to one’s interests with the hope of gaining attention, expressing themselves, or as a means of income through the many (intensely detested) ads that pop up before videos. As Youtube becomes saturated with the ever-growing population of vlog, song cover, lifestyle, makeup, and beauty Youtubers, it gets a little dry with most of the popular content following a certain repetitive theme. But there’s so much more to Youtube!
Here are 5 Youtubers you might (or might not) have heard of and why they are challenging the misconception that Youtube is all filled with surface-level beauty and lifestyle content.
1) Animalogic
Did you know that rabbits eat their poop because they can’t fully extract nutrients from their food the first time it’s eaten?
Did you know that otters carry a stone around and use the stone to break clam shells?
Did you know that during food shortages, male otters often hold baby otters hostage until their mother gives them food?
With 950k subscribers on YouTube, Animalogic is not an unknown channel, however many actually aren’t aware of its existence. If you aren’t, you are missing out (especially on otter facts). Watching their videos is a really fascinating way to learn more about animals, what they are and what they really do in the wild.
Animalogic was created by Dylan Dubeau and Andrew Strapp. Danielle Dufault is the host of the show, a paleoartist and technical illustrator from Toronto (where the channel is based). She illustrates images of the animals seen in the videos and also works as an in-house illustrator for the Royal Ontario Museum. Animalogic has a sister channel, Animalogic by Design, where Danielle shows off her illustrations by speed art.
2) Bestdressed
A glance at Ashley’s channel might suggest that she is just another one of the many fashion influencers on Youtube who occasionally vlogs, but there’s a good reason as to why she has had so much online growth in the past year.
Ashley manages to break out of the fashion influencer stereotype by showcasing her realness and sincere personality through her videos. Watching her content, you’ll be able to sense her genuine character radiating through the camera and the intense amount of work she puts into editing. Ashley manages to put her own personal spin on her content, injecting an intriguing character into each of her videos, whether it’s about fashion, lifestyle, or even just life advice. She is unapologetically herself and shows a more realistic insight into the realities of the “influencer lifestyle”. She also doesn’t have a mountain of purchased clothing in her wardrobe despite being a fashion influencer. Instead, she frequently promotes thrifting, sustainable brands and DIYs.
I believe her strong fanbase is a result of her chattier videos where she talks about living life as a girl in today’s society and how she overcame her own barriers in life during her childhood, university life and struggles with self-image and relationships. Her latest video revives a conversation about how girls’ hobbies are always looked down upon, sometimes even demonized, while boys and their hobbies are praised and considered normal. Ashley’s sincerity and openness to talk about topics that are largely censored in the media is a large part of the reason so many viewers resonate with her videos and appreciate her content.
3) Overly Sarcastic Productions
Who doesn’t love sarcastic content? Overly Sarcastic Productions is a channel owned by two characters “Blue” and “Red”.
Blue debunks misconceptions regarding historical figures and events as well as discussing history in a fun and animated manner. Blue caters to history enthusiasts that want to learn more about the past while also getting a good laugh out of it or people who just want to delve into history but aren’t motivated to pick up huge, thick books.
On the other hand, you’ll certainly enjoy Red’s content if you love fiction but scoff at overused tropes and clichés. Red is a literature buff who explains storylines, tropes and misconceptions about books (and occasionally anime) through her videos.
Overly Sarcastic Productions makes tedious topics fun, engaging, and easily digestible without taking away the seriousness of it all. Personally, they’ve made me shed my misconceptions about El Dorado and formed great respect within me for the Persian Empire, while simultaneously making me realize how the movie “300” had mischaracterized them as barbaric, savage brutes.
4) In Praise of Shadows
Horror is probably the most misunderstood genre of entertainment. It is often discredited and reduced to low budget slashers or cheap jump scares that could stir giggles – I mean, watching an overly enthusiastic creature chasing its clumsy victim is amusing to say the least.
Nonetheless, this channel is one of the many that is trying its best to debunk assumptions and generalizations about the genre. This channel dissects classic horror films, cult classics, books, paintings and even anime (Death Parade, if anyone is familiar with it).
The channel was started only about a year ago, but the quality of content research and video editing is on par with other veteran YouTube channels. With only 88.1k subscribers, this channel is a hidden gem and breath of fresh air in the midst of the endless repetitive content of mainstream YouTube videos.
5) Dominic Noble
Dominic Noble’s series, Lost in Adaptation, breaks down the differences between books and their respective movie adaptations. True to the title of the series, the videos focus on details lost through the process of adapting the book into a movie, a frustration that many bibliophiles can certainly attest to. Having never read the Percy Jackson series, watching his video on the differences between the books and movie adaptation fuming in solidarity with all the Percy Jackson fans who shunned the film. I never knew how faithful the books were to the ancient Greek lore, and my younger self was not fluent enough in English to understand what was really going on back then.
From iconic series like “Harry Potter” to classics like “Rebecca”, Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” or “Interview with a Vampire”, Dominic Noble covers everything in detail and successfully justifies the original story flow. Whether you’ve only read the book, only watched the movie, or done both, you’d likely find entertainment and even new knowledge from this unassuming Youtube channel.
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Turns out the Youtube scene is more diverse than we make it out to be! Check out these Youtube channels for yourself and perhaps, you’ll find a new favourite Youtuber and maybe even gain a new interest.
