In the first few years of YouTube's existence, being a "YouTuber" wasn't a viable job, in fact, it wasn't even a term that existed. Everyone who was making content on the platform was making it simply because they wanted to make it. There was zero business incentive. YouTube was filled with a wealth of variety of creators, like Smosh, Jacksfilms, Tyler Oakley, Jenna Marbles, Pewdiepie, Markiplier. The list of the first generation of YouTubers could literally go on and on. YouTube's popularity would grow exponentially, with creators amassing millions of views and subscribers, however, they still were nowhere near close to being A-list celebrities, even with some of them appearing on television.

 

One of the first YouTube creators to make it to television was Lucas Cruikshank, better known by his character "Fred Figglehorn." Under this character, Cruikshank became the first YouTube channel to reach 1 million subscribers, leading to 3 feature films and a television show that were all released on Nickelodeon. Freddie Wong of the sketch comedy YouTube channel RocketJump made appearances on CONAN and Jimmy Kimmel Live! While his RocketJump projects, such as Video Game High School and RocketJump: The Show, never made it to television, they did release on streaming platforms such as Netflix and Hulu.

 

Other YouTubers would eventually show up in television or movies, but in small roles or guest appearances. They still were "just YouTubers," a novelty act that was the butt of the entertainment industry. Regardless of what the rest of the world thought about internet creators, each creator's passion for their work developed a strong sense of community that would inspire the next generation of creators.