Local YouTuber becomes one of the most popular creators

On June 2, 2017, 17-year-old Emma Chamberlain decided to post her first video on YouTube, "City Inspired Summer Lookbook 2017." Today that video has close to a million views, and she has over 4 million subscribers.

Chamberlain, who lived in San Mateo before recently moving by herself to Los Angeles, attended the private all-girls Notre Dame High School in San Jose. Chamberlain created a YouTube channel as a distraction from school, then dropped out a few months into her junior year and got her GED.

Chamberlain has revealed in multiple collaboration videos with fellow YouTubers that she hopes to pursue her career and be closer to some of her YouTube friends, such as James Charles and the Dolan Twins, through her move to Los Angeles. She hopes that living in the YouTube hub of Los Angeles will increase her subscriber count.

Her popularity began in a humble way. After posting every day for an entire summer, Chamberlain started to notice that a month into her new channel, she gained thousands of subscribers, specifically after posting the video “FIRST TIME DRIVING ALONE.” In the video, Chamberlain documents her first time driving alone, vlogging and talking the entire time.

She went from around 500 to 15,000 subscribers in a single day. Chamberlain admitted in her podcast with fellow YouTuber Cody Ko that to this day she still doesn’t know what about that video viewers found so entertaining, but she suspects it had something to do with the title and it being in all caps, a technique some YouTubers use to drive more people to watch their videos.

The key part of Chamberlain’s content that attracts so many new subscribers is her relatability and her self-deprecating content. Chamberlain never fails to acknowledge embarrassing moments in her life and makes fun of her failures, allowing her viewers to feel comfortable and welcome. In her video  "HOW TO HAVE FUN ON VALENTINES DAY (for single people)", for example, Chamberlain jokes about her being single and creates a funny, engaging video.

Will her popularity continue to rise? That’s what every YouTuber wants, but with the constant discovery of new and original content, it won’t be easy.

To her credit, she has began to enter new areas of venture such as her clothing brand and photography, both of which will help her keep a good income even if her videos begin to decline in interest. At such a young age, Chamberlain should remain open to the idea of attending college at one point or another because there has been a trend of the fame and fortune from YouTube channels only being temporary.