The Good, The Bad, The Fangirls #02

Hello TenEighty readers, and welcome to The Good, The Bad, The Fangirls. A weekly column – well, as weekly as Becoming YouTube – in which I, Teoh, serve you the best, the worst and a crazy fandom moment from the week. It gives us the opportunity to keep you updated on the latest from TenEighty HQ.

The Good: DigiFest UK

This Sunday saw hordes of US YouTubers being flown over to the UK for TheDigiTour’s first show on British soil. We were lucky enough to nab some backstage passes, giving you exclusive coverage on the day, via our Twitter and Instagram, and a review of the entire event. We spoil you.

DigiFest was an opportunity for us to speak to YouTubers we wouldn’t normally get to meet. In particular, we met Brent Rivera, Daniel J and Frankie Grande, all of whom were interesting to talk to and even agreed to snap some pictures with our photographer throughout the day.

Backstage #digifestuk homies @BrentRivera @HarrisonWebb97 & @DanielJWorld http://t.co/rsgHSsEfFT pic.twitter.com/JD8LbWXYmT

— TenEighty UK (@TenEightyUK) May 4, 2014

We also got to meet the likes of Sarah Close (who we featured on our first round-up), Sam King, Niki and Sammy Albon, Louise Glitter and a few other YouTubers that are aware of TenEighty, but didn’t really know who was running it.

Putting a face to TenEighty is important to us, especially when reaching out to YouTubers we’d like to work with. Hopefully many of them now know Alex Brinnand, Jazza John, Olly Newport or myself and we can build relationships with them, eventually growing a community of YouTubers who are as dedicated to TenEighty as we are.

We are so excited to finally meet @Sazclose (oh and @MyNamesChai @samkingftw) #digifestuk TLB http://t.co/NwLtr98Mq5 pic.twitter.com/nbzJJf1Aws

— TenEighty UK (@TenEightyUK) May 4, 2014

It was also a great chance for the entire team to see how TenEighty can work best at events. Although we did a review of Playlist Live during our launch, this was the first time four of our team had been attending and covering a live event together. We learned a lot from the whirlwind experience and look forward to covering future events such as VidFest at MCM ComicCon, The Upload Tour, Soccer Six and Summer in the City.

The Bad: Is YouTube Fan Culture Getting Out Of Hand?

This week, Louise Glitter uploaded a video addressing the state of YouTube culture and how fans idolise content creators. She handled the issues fairly well, discussing how many fans look up to her in a way that makes her feel like she has to be perfect for them, and how destructive this can be – not only for creators, but also for the fans.

Looking at events like ITAtube or DigiFest, the relevance of the growing culture that she references, which has become such an ingrained part of our community, is evident. Nonetheless, it’s hard to say that there is anything particularly wrong with the way fans interact with YouTubers. In fact, the conclusion we came to in our review of Digifest is that everyone was there to have fun, and most came away happy. But we still agree with Louise.

In the video she says: ‘Don’t idolise us, enjoy us’, and this is an ethos we wish to reiterate. YouTube has a great community that allows us to interact with one another on a level that is different from mainstream media. Your favourite YouTubers want to meet you, and they attend gatherings and events just to do that.

However, as audiences get bigger and bigger, and fandoms become movements, collectively we are tiptoeing dangerously towards a time where this may not be possible. We salute Louise for meeting the issue head on, and hope her words resonate with many YouTube fans.

The Fangirls: #Troyler Kiss Response

At DigiFest, Tyler Oakley and Troye Sivan kissed on stage at the end of their Q&A Session. The internet went crazy, with people conspiring that they didn’t even really kiss because Troye covered both their faces before they went in for it. A member of our team, Alex, just happened to be behind Troyler on-stage taking pictures and tweeted one out as soon as it happened.

What's this? @tyleroakley and @troyesivan kissing at #DigiFestUK? We'll just leave this here… #Troyler #TroylerKiss pic.twitter.com/IskP61EGrk

— TenEighty UK (@TenEightyUK) May 4, 2014

As we saw the speculation mount, however, we decided to let the naysayers know that we saw the whole thing from behind and, as a result, our Twitter interactions went through the roof. DigiFest saw TenEighty’s followers increase and, since the kiss madness, it has more than doubled again. We’ve seen our exclusive photo copied and passed around on Tumblr, gaining thousands of notes and becoming the icons of hundreds of Troyler fans. It’s almost been impossible to keep on top of all of your responses, but we’re grateful you’re all here, and hopefully you’ll enjoy what TenEighty has to offer.

During the madness Troye himself spoke out to TenEighty, with a screenshot of a tweet by Rihanna. We’d like to thank Troye for his dignified response and reassure him that we weren’t trying to ‘ride his dick’ (as Rihanna puts it). We’re all tops here at TenEighty.