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Tommy Ngo

Professor Cole

English Composition II

12 May 2020

Conformity in YouTube

Debra Bradley Ruder of Harvard Magazine stated, “Young brains have both fast-growing

synapses and sections that remain unconnected… leaving teens easily influenced by their

environment” (Harvardmagazine.com). Throughout the past decade, young adults have been

influenced by video creators on platforms, such as YouTube, which often leads to teenagers

imitating similar behaviors. YouTube can prevent certain aspects of their personalities and

behavioral traits to not fully develop, individually. According to Jean Piaget, a world-renowned

psychologist, there are four stages for the cognitive development of a child. The final stage of

development from ages 12 and up depend more on logic and deductive reasoning. But within

these stages, children also “begin to think about how other people might think and feel”

(Cherry). Being concerned with other’s opinions brings the idea of individuality into concern,

with a world full of technology, such as YouTube. The YouTube platform has negatively

influenced the new generation as it leads to conformity, risk-taking behaviors, and in some cases

anxiety and depression.

With the creation of YouTube came the incentive to imitate the creators, oftentimes to fit

in. YouTube, an online video streaming service, was initially thought of as a dating website. The

original intention was for users to record videos of themselves, exhibiting their personalities and

interests for the masses to see. This, in turn, would get them a date. This did not pan out well, so

YouTube eventually established itself with the intention of “having a simple interface that
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allowed the user to publish and view videos through standard web browsers” (McFadden). The

content that people would record on their cellphones from events such as the graduations or even

a birthday party. This was the goal and the creators succeeded, but these homemade videos

slowly turned into high production-quality shows. YouTube became more of a business than just

a family video sharing site. But with the success of creators came the imitation of viewers.

YouTube has an average of 300 hours of videos being uploaded every minute (McFadden). In

today’s age, many people are creating their platforms to imitate those of succeeding video

creators to get a portion of the profits. An example of this would be Vogue’s 73 Questions.

Recently, Vogue, a lifestyle magazine, posted videos on their YouTube channel asking

celebrities 73 questions while walking around. Following the popularity of these videos, over

10,000 video creators have created their own “73 Questions with Vogue” as a parody to the

original. Often asking the same or similar questions to that of the original, to get views on their

videos. The smaller creators have begun to imitate these videos, overall showing a sense of

conformity. Conformity, as Saul McLeod of SimplePsychology, defines it as “a change in belief

or behavior in order to fit in with a group” (McLeod). Before content creators could make a

large profit, imitation among creators was less common. The creators previously did not record

these imitation videos as consistently as it is done today. Videos such as the previously stated

“73 Questions,” “Day in My Life,” “Mukbangs,” and hundreds of other videos. This can be

proven with the increase in web traffic for YouTube and the increase in video uploads. Susan

Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube, revealed that in 2019 that between June 2017 and May 2019, the

monthly [active] users have increased from 1.5 billion to 2 billion (Iqbal). Having such increase

in viewership and uploads allows the possibility of having growth in imitation videos by creators

and viewers alike.

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Content creators copying other creators have been normalized with the establishment of

the YouTube algorithm. To gain a following, YouTubers must create tactful content targeted

towards a specific audience. This allows the creator’s video to be posted on the main page and

“suggested” to viewers based on keywords, length, and what the video is about. The online social

media outlet, Hootsuite states, “More than 70 percent of time spent on YouTube is spent

watching that the algorithm recommends” (Cooper). This can potentially make YouTubers

imitate other YouTuber’s videos because when one gains popularity, there’s a higher chance that

a similar video can do just as well. This encourages the idea of conformity among video creators

based on the algorithm. To have their videos on the main mage, these creators can follow

YouTube’s preset guidelines, which gives them a higher chance of getting more views and

eventually more subscribers. A prime example of this is RiceGum, an Asian influencer who

started YouTube in 2012. He began on the platform with gaming videos on Call of Duty and

Modern Warfare. Recently, he has gone into a more mainstream content creation process.

Changing his content from gaming to music creation and lifestyle, allowed his channel to

continue to grow over the past eight years. He kept up with the trends and followed what other

creators were doing to stay relevant. Eventually, creators and viewers begin to conform to what

is being asked of each other. RiceGum slowly frayed away from producing gaming videos and

started making music videos and uploading these to music streaming platforms as well as

YouTube. His song, “It’s Everyday Sis” was an imitation of the popular song “It’s Everyday

Bro,” by Jake Paul. He was creating a parody of a popular song to increase his viewership and

subscriber count. Again, bringing the idea of less individuality and more “copy-cat” into

question.
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Imitation is often caused by the environment and social influences that the viewer of

these videos is in. As Lumen Learning states, “Individual behavior and decision making can be

influenced by the presence of others” (Boundless). To further this point, when the viewer

watches a video, they are simply interacting with another human being through a screen, that can

potentially influence their actions. This was proven with The Asch Conformity Experiment where

50 students went through 18 trials to prove that conformity is based on that specific environment.

In the test, the participant had to pick a matching line from a group of three other lines. The

experiment concluded that 75% of the participants went along with the group at least once. The

reason as the participants stated, “while they knew the rest of the group was wrong, they did not

want to risk facing ridicule” (Cherry). In a world where almost all actions are being watched,

people are often cautious of their actions, which creates an environment of “trying to fit in.” This

leads to the idea of viewers following along with the video creators in risky behaviors. “If your

friends jumped off a bridge, would you?” The idea that one would partake in such behaviors

because of their environment has been proven with the implementation of YouTube and social

media into the world.  As Doctor Tamasine Preece states, “YouTubers who talk about sensitive

issues… may [cause] viewers to imitate behaviors” (Internet Matters). Individuals who watch

these videos slowly conform to what is told. This was proven in 2012 when an online challenge

became widespread. The “Cinnamon Challenge” is when someone films themselves eating a

spoonful of cinnamon powder under 60 seconds without liquid. Millions of people took in the

event from what started as a fun online challenge but quickly became a hazard. A 13-year-old

boy who did the challenge resulted in a coma and a 4-year-old boy died from ingestion of the

powder. These children were influenced by the trend because everyone was doing it. Another

example of risk-taking behavior was the recent “Tide-Pod Challenge.” It began by a single video
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by Narc Pagan, but eventually thousands of the viewers following in his footsteps and began to

bandwagon the trend (Bever). It became a “fad” and the chemicals inside these detergent pods

are detrimental to one’s health system. The imitation has led to serious dangerous behavior

among the viewer. This is what Dr. Preece qualifies as “identity-play.” This is when young

adults enact behaviors they see online and begin to feel pressure to act along with their

surroundings. Also, this often impacts the ability to develop critical thinking. When an individual

is following the masses, it’s harder for them to think and solve problems for themselves. They

become dependent on others' opinions and anecdotes. This begins at a very young age. YouTube

encourages the idea that users should be over the age of 13 to use its platform, but with

children’s shows and channels, children can begin using it as early as birth. Parents put on the

alphabet song or children’s show for their kids to watch and this eventually leads them into other

videos when not supervised. ChuChu TV is a YouTube channel that is directed towards toddlers.

The channel creator initially began making videos with Hindu influences, but one video with his

daughter caused a massive uproar, and his channel gained over 34 million subscribers. He stated,

“If she is going to like it, the kids around the world should like it” (Story). He began to use his

daughter as the leading influence and direction of his channel. This shows that social influences

and critical thinking are influenced from a young age. A virtual environment is created, and

everyone begins to use it and put themselves into that space. A space where the idea of

“influencing” becomes a task and a profitable way of business.

Having a large platform with millions of viewers oftentimes create an environment for

the video creators to induce in extreme amounts of stress and anxiety, which can potentially lead

to depression. Throughout the YouTube platform, there are hundreds of videos about the

creator’s stress and mental illnesses that have come because of the platform. One of the most
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well-known cases of a YouTuber who experienced stress and depression due to the platform is

Michelle Phan, a beauty blogger. Phan grew up in poverty and desired “to make the world a

more beautiful place,” because that’s what her mother did by being a nail technician. Phan

eventually established a following of more than nine million subscribers and a cosmetics

company that is valued at $500 million. These two business ventures eventually took a drain to

her mental health. She stated that she cried every night and eventually needed to go “off-grid” to

reestablish her well-being. A creator was driven to the point where she had no more motivation

to continue, where she had to relocate and isolate for a year to regain parts of her mental health

that diminished. Another example of this is YouTuber Ethika. A YouTuber that started off with

posting gaming videos, but slowly developed mental health issues due to his audience. Slowly he

frayed away from gaming videos and posted graphic pornography on his YouTube channel and

pictures of himself with various guns. This eventually led his channel to get suspended and a

stand-off with the police, but this allowed his fame to grow. Some of the viewers encouraged

what he was doing, so to gain a larger following, he continued, but eventually, he took his own

life due to the stress and “trolls.” Ethika stated, “it can give you an image of what you want your

life to be,” and “[People} forget they are not immune to mental health problems,” right before he

committed suicide (Alexander). Michelle Phan and Ethika are cases where creators slowly

developed mental health problems while filming these videos for their audience.

One of the most important tasks a creator must do is to stay relevant and remain

consistent in their uploads. This allows them to build a following and a potential brand. As

schools give students winter break or spring break to give students time to relieve their stress, it’s

harder for a video creator to do this. In an article on Engadget, it stated that Slade, a Tech

YouTuber, always worries about going on vacations and taking a day off. He always has
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questions such as “What’s [not having content] gonna do to me?” and “When I come back, are

people still gonna watch my videos?” Questions like this put immense amounts of pressure on

the creator to pour out videos to their viewers to gain a larger audience, resulting in a larger

paycheck. Karen North, a professor at USC and expert on psychology, states in the article that

“Internet creators have a more direct connection with their audience… their struggles feel more

public.” Many creators have stated that their personal lives are impacted by their online life.

Internet comments often harass and create a toxic environment for creators as well, causing them

to feel “burned out.” And without an upload, there is always a new or different creator coming

into the game.

With the (new) creators pumping out video content every single day, there are some

viewers that have become addicted to YouTube. As American Psychiatric Association defines it,

an addiction is “a brain disease that is manifested by a compulsive substance.” In this case,

YouTube would be the substance. Spending multiple hours of the day on the website, while

isolating themselves from human interaction. This, in some cases, can be detrimental to their

health. Many have stated that “YouTube was my drug of choice.” In The Guardian, an online

news agency, a man states that he developed an eating disorder due to the amount of time he

spent watching YouTube. He spent most of his time looking at a screen, so he always forgot to

eat or get some fresh air. He eventually developed an eating disorder due to his addiction, which

many people have begun developing. With over 400,000 hours of YouTube content being

uploaded every day, there is always something new to watch. This allows more people to slowly

become addicted to the platform which in turn “distorts thinking, behavior, and body functions.”

            The YouTube platform has drastically changed over the past two decades from a place

where people can post videos for enjoyment to a place of business and conformity. The first
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YouTube video was a simple “home-production” video of a man visiting the zoo. There was no

context behind it. It followed the original goal of YouTube, to have a simple interface that would

allow anyone to share what they captured. Recently, these videos have ramped up and had

equipment set-ups totaling tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s no longer an

environment of sharing what you simply captured, but an environment where television-style

productions are crafted to the viewer’s liking. YouTube has succeeded in showing people the

world from their own bedrooms, but they limit the production of showing the creator’s individual

voices. It has created an online media outlet that allows the creators to be influenced by money

and sponsorships.

            As The Guardian states, “Today’s YouTubers will be tomorrow’s moguls.” With this

magazine predicting the future in 2015, five years later, this is 100% correct. YouTubers have

built themselves a platform where they are the celebrities and main focus. The world now

revolves around them and celebrities alike. It has been normalized that YouTubers can have

clothing brands and million-dollar contracts for their looks or skills. They have turned

“influencing” into a career and billion-dollar business, but will it continue to conform to the

mind of young adults into something that excludes individuality and creativity, but endorse risk-

taking behaviors? 
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Works Cited

Alexander, Julia. “YouTuber Etika's Death Spurs Conversation about How Viewers React to

Creators' Mental Health Struggles.” The Verge, The Verge, 27 June 2019,

www.theverge.com/2019/6/27/18759603/desmond-etika-amofah-death-youtube-creator-

mental-health.

Bever, Lindsey. “Teens Are Daring Each Other to Eat Tide Pods. We Don't Need to Tell You

That's a Bad Idea.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 18 Jan. 2018,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2018/01/13/teens-are-daring-each-

other-to-eat-tide-pods-we-dont-need-to-tell-you-thats-a-bad-idea/.

Boundless. “Boundless Psychology.” Lumen, courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-

psychology/chapter/social-influence/.

Cherry, Kendra. “Asch'S Seminal Experiments Showed the Power of Conformity.” Verywell

Mind, Verywell Mind, 3 Apr. 2020, www.verywellmind.com/the-asch-conformity-

experiments-2794996.

Cooper, Paige. “How Does the YouTube Algorithm Work? A Guide to Getting More Views.”

Hootsuite Social Media Management, 1 Nov. 2019, blog.hootsuite.com/how-the-youtube-

algorithm-works/. 

“How Are YouTubers Influencing Children?” Internet Matters, 10 Oct. 2019,

www.internetmatters.org/hub/expert-opinion/youtubers-influencing-children/.
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“InBrief: The Science of Early Childhood Development.” Center on the Developing Child at

Harvard University, developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/inbrief-science-of-

ecd/.              

Jahromi, Neima, et al. “The Fight for the Future of YouTube.” The New Yorker,

www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/the-fight-for-the-future-of-youtube. 

McFadden, Christopher. “A Brief History of the Internet Giant YouTube.” Interesting

Engineering, Interesting Engineering, 4 Oct. 2019, interestingengineering.com/youtube-its-

history-and-impact-on-the-internet. 

“Our Thoughts Are Susceptible to External Influence, Even against Our Will.” ScienceDaily,

ScienceDaily, 3 Feb. 2015, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/02/150203142309.htm.

Ruder, Debra Bradley. “The Teen Brain.” Harvard Magazine, 16 Oct. 2008,

harvardmagazine.com/2008/09/the-teen-brain.html.

Story by Alexis C. Madrigal. “Raised by YouTube.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 4

Oct. 2018, www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/11/raised-by-youtube/570838/.

What Is Addiction?, www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/addiction/what-is-addiction.