-
Paul: And now that I'm in LA, I'm hoping I'll be doing a lot more collabs.
Yolanda: Yeah. That'd be cool.
-
Paul: I'm excited for it.
-
Hi PaulTalkers! I'm Paul Roth,
-
not from DC anymore! Now I'm from Los Angeles!
-
haha! [Yolanda laughs] And today I'm joined by my friend,
-
Paul: ah, introduce yourself?
Yolanda: my name is Yolanda and...
Paul: And your channel?
-
Yolanda: And my channel is just my name and I make videos about diversity
focusing on film and tv.
-
Paul: And you also have a channel about Chris Pine--
Yolanda: Ah, yes--
-
P talking over Y: I mean Chris Evans [laughs]
Y: Well, Chris Evans. I also have a, I have a collab channel that i always forget to plug
-
Y: So that's great. Great reminder! It's called
Dear Chris Evans, we make videos to Chris
-
Evans, but also about Marvel and about
life. And that's with my friend Farrah.
-
P: Yaaaay! And occasionally guest stars, I've seen.
Y: Yeah we've had some guests on there. If you ever want to be
-
on Dear Chris Evans... Tweet at me!
[Paul rolls chair toward camera]
-
P: Chris Evans, if you'd like to be on Dear
Chris Evans, please tweet @ Y y o l a n d a a!
Y over P: YES!
-
Y: That's the one!
-
[theme music]
[Yolanda laugsh]
-
P: We're going to talk about what certain things me to us
and we're going to start off by talking about the
-
the, the big one...
YouTube.
-
Y: I mean, I feel like I've been on
YouTube, and watching youtube for so
-
long, that I think the first time I
really thought,
-
"Oh! I feel validated in this hobby" was
when i went to my first VidCon in 2012.
-
and that was when like you'd have all these like-
minded people who are like, "Yeah,
-
online media is a cool thing. YouTube is,
like, this amazing thing!" And for me it's
-
been like this great community where, you
know, no matter what happens in life, or
-
no matter what changes, YouTube is still
there.
-
Y: So I think YouTube is kinda like this constant for me.
P: I feel very similar feelings about
-
P: youtube. Um, especially because for most of
my life, I've been trying to find a
-
community where I fit in. And I had various, like, geographically-centered communities. You know:
-
high school, college, uh, things in the DC
area where I lived. But when i discovered
-
YouTube, I discovered all of a sudden I could connect with
not just people were nearby, who may or
-
P: may not have anything else in common
with me besides geography [Y: Right] but people
-
who literally, like, care about the things that I
care about,
-
P: from the opposite side of the world! That's amazing!
Y: Yeah.
-
P: And as I've just discovered from my move
from DC to LA, this is a community that
-
can stay with me wherever I go!
-
P: So I've now crossed the country and i'm still on
youtube
-
Yeah, it's really kinda like my, my online home.
-
P: Next question, which is: What does VidCon
mean to you?
-
Y: Yeah. Vidcon is like
-
the internet in real life! And it's wonderful!
-
Y: And you're just like-- I always forget
to post on social media, because it
-
Y: feels like [Paul laughs] you're living IN social media,
and inside the internet. And you have, like, all
-
these faces that you've seen for so long,
in real life and, like, "Oh, this is awesome!"
-
Y: and it's just like this great gathering
of YouTube nerds and peopl who just wanna youtube.
-
It's wonderful! If you've never been, I'm
sorry, but i hope you can go soon.
-
P: When I went to my first VidCon, only three years ago!
I mostly went because I'd made connections with
-
people who I really liked and they said,
"Hey! Are we gonna see you at VidCon?"
-
and I was like, "I don't know what that is!" I've always
tried to connect with people who have a
-
small subscriber count.
-
P: So my fellow vloggers are people who have, like,
you know, a hundred subscribers, fifty subscribers,
-
maybe a thousand subscribers. Those, those
were my people. And when I discovered I could actually, like,
-
P: meet them? Face to face? That was it. I was
sold. I was immediately sold. I went to VidCon,
-
and it was great! Like, I got recognized?! people
knew who I was from YouTube!?
-
P: (in squeaky high voice): It was my first VidCon!
(normal voice) There's just something about the spirit of, like, "We're
-
in this together!" that permeates VidCon
(Y: Yeah!) that makes me just love coming back to it every year
-
Y: I think every time, too, I'm like, "Maybe
this will be my last year!" But there's
-
always reasons, you're like, "Nope. I have to
go next year, because these people are
-
coming next year, too!
-
Y: So, it's like a never ending cycle, like,
I'm still going to go to this!
-
P: How about NFI? What does Nerdfighters
Info mean to you?
-
Y: I found out about NFI,
-
Y: like many people, through pat. (Paul laughs) Pat, Pat is
amazing at networking--
-
P: Last year, in particular, she was on a mission!
-
Y: Yeah, I mean this year, too - she had her business card, she was, like, ready to
-
go! So I've done a couple videos on NFI,
and I think going to the meetup
-
Y: made me want to be even more part of
NFI, and like be more involved in
-
that community, because I think there was--
more people than expected showed up,
-
first of all, (P: More people than I expected!) yeah!
it was wonderful and I think so many great
-
people are just so intelligent and
just have such great things to say
-
Y: so it's great to have everyone in one place. Yeah.
P: I've contributed to some other
-
collab channels, but NFI is the first one
that I really invested into and I'm so
-
glad that I have, because like you point out,
there--
-
P: These are people who are very
intelligent they're very socially aware
-
for the most part, and they care about
the themes that Pat and Dave come up with
-
P: for every week. Um, and it's, uh, you can see the
passion and the creativity and the intelligence
-
of all these members of NFI who come
from so many different walks of life! From young
-
Zainab in the UK to Yolanda and myself in disparate
parts of the United States with our disparate
-
racial identities...
-
I mean you get lots of different
perspectives on NFI and I love that! It's like a
-
little microcosm of the YouTube universe!
and yet we all kind of, like, get along!
-
Y: Yeah!
P (squeaky): That's beautiful! (Y: That's great!) It's so
-
nice! i'm gonna try to remember to insert, like, a photo of the huge meet up that we
-
had! (Y: It was wonderful!) I-- Uh, at this point in the video,
if i forget, just imagine tons of the
-
best people (Yolanda laughs) and that's-- that's the photo.
P: And you just mentioned it, so here's another thing:
-
P: What does nerdfighteria mean to you?
Y: Man! I think Nerdfighteria was like my
-
real introduction to youtube. That, like, the
YouTube community. Because i had, like,
-
Y: somehow found Charlie and through him I
found the vlog brothers and then I found
-
Nerdfighteria and that was, like, "Oh! A
bunch of, like, enthusiastic nerds about
-
Y: like, everything! About all kinds of
subjects no matter what! You could find,
-
like, your little subgroup within Nerdfighteria.
-
Y: I think I found Nerdfighteria when I was
still in high school, so that was like a
-
really cool community to have online,
when i felt like i couldn't always fit
-
in at school.
-
Y: I think, though, as I've gotten older, Nerdfighteria--
I mean I'm still, I still feel part
-
of it.
-
I don't think I've been as active in Nerdfighteria?
-
Y: I still watch vlogbrothers, I still
watch their videos, but I'm not,
-
I guess, actively part of Nerdfighteria?
-
Y: I think that's why NFI has been
really cool, because I've kind of been going back into
-
it. That's been, like, a smaller
community, because Nerdfighteria has grown
-
so much!
-
But you still have like those smaller
groups within Nerdfighteria that are
-
still that smaller community that make
you feel part of it still.
-
P: Yeah, that's really nice. I feel like I
first discovered Hannah Hart (Y: Okay!)
-
And then through Hannah Hart I discovered some
other people and I just kept, like Ashley Mardell,
-
P: then also discovered John Green through Hannah Hart, somehow. (Y: Oh, okay!)
-
And then i discovered the vlogbrothers
videos... Even though I was, like, enamored of
-
the vlogbrothers and watching their
videos and learned about Nerdfighteria
-
P: that way.. kind of similar to Ahsante, I
never really felt like a part of
-
Nerdfighteria because how often have you
seen an Asian person on their, on their
-
channel? I can tell you explicitly
the first time I saw an Asian person on their
-
channel:
-
P: Sabrina.
Y: Right. Yeah, I was gonna say.
-
P: When Sabrina substituted in because she won the Nerd Factor
-
Y: Yeah
P: That, that's when I thought, "Oh! Maybe
I can participate in this after all!"
-
P: It's only been, like, 600 videos and
-
finally an Asian person shows up. Maybe
i can now participate in this.
-
P: I like it! (Y:Yeah!) I just don't feel like I'm a part
of it, necessarily. But at VidCon not only
-
is there Nerdfighteria, there are people
who just go for VidCon itself.
-
Y: Yeah!
P: And, like, my favorite panel since
the beginning has been Less Than Famous.
-
Y: Okay...
P: So what does the Less Than Famous panel and concept mean to you?
-
Y: I remember when, I think it was
talenthatter who started this
-
and the idea was just like wow this is
great this is kind of what we've been
-
Y: looking for because it was getting to a
point where there was like, only these huge
-
youtubers and like, they just,
-
the smaller community was starting to
feel like we weren't important. And we
-
Y: needed some kind of platform, some kind of
space to be able to talk about our own
-
experience on youtube, being a smaller
creator because we're not doing this
-
full time, this isn't our day job. That
was like this really cool opportunity to
-
Y: have small youtuber voices amplified.
I think the last year was the first time i
-
auditioned for Less Than Famous, didn't get on,
-
that's fine, but there's like so many
audition videos you find because of Less
-
Than Famous, and you find so many small
youtubers because of it.
-
Y: Because there's like the small youtuber tag [P: Yes!] out
there, too, but people sometimes try to do
-
that just to get more views and whatever.
-
Y: I've made one, doesn't matter. [laughs] But, uh,
like Less Than Famous I think is more
-
community-focused and more about being
involved in the community. So finding
-
those audition videos, I think you find
people who are really part of YouTube
-
and really kind of are what, what VidCon
was about when [phone sound] it started and
-
Y: hopefully continues to be.
P: Less Than Famous was one of the first panels that
-
I was really excited about.
-
I think that, uh, i think like Linda Barsi
tweeted out about it and my friend Alex
-
P: Turlockosaurus tweeted out about it,
before I went to my first VidCon
-
So I was very excited to go and i loved
it. From that first Less Than Famous panel,
-
I decided I was gonna just audition for it.
I'd-- until I get on to it
-
P: or become famous. Because it gives me a
chance to really figure out what I want
-
from the community and what I want to bring
to the community. Because I think you're
-
right! I mean a lot of people do, do things
related to smaller creator, related to
-
P: little youtube, et cetera, but they're doing
it to get out of there. And I'm not gonna
-
ever turn down subscribers-- That's
great!
-
There are also lots of videos that are
by people like myself, by my friend
-
P: Ahsante who was on last year's Less Than
Famous, by my friend Justin Dennis who was on
-
this year's Less Than Famous, by myself
and by Yolonda, where our video auditions
-
are very clearly about the fact that we
care about this smaller creator
-
P: community and YouTube and YouTube
community at large.
-
And we want to contribute something to
it by being on that panel. And THAT'S what
-
I love! When people like that are
selected, I just, I'm just so, so happy! [Y: yeah] So
-
P: happy about it. I'm gonna audition again for it
next year! It'll be my third audition!
-
You can't stop me! Unless you ask me to
stop.
-
I think I'm gonna wrap it up by asking one last thing:
Race and Representation!
-
P: So, what does that mean to you? Both, both
within the context of the VidCon/YouTube
-
experience and just in general?
-
Y: What was cool this year was they had,
like, the main stage panel but then they
-
had a separate Creator Discussing
Diversity workshop or some kind of panel.
-
So they had different opportunity-- It wasn't
just like: This is your one chance to
-
Y: discuss diversity, GO!
-
They had, like, different opportunities,
It was great! VidCon has been, at least, listening to
-
the feedback from attendees.
-
Y: and saying, "Okay! Clearly you want more
diversity and we're going to provide
-
these platforms for you to continue
discussing it and we're going to invite
-
the people who, you know, you want to see
represented!" Which is awesome. But race
-
and Y: Representation specifically has... has kind
of, I hope, opened up that conversation
-
more, or at least brought awareness to
it more. Especially with online media, because
-
it's such... It's a more accessible
platform than TV, than film, that it is
-
Y: easier to have diversity and
representation on online media, but we still
-
don't often see it at these bigger
conventions and
-
and these panels, so at least VidCon
taking that initiative to having
-
Y: that, is great to see!
P: You're saying all the things that I want to say so, I will add
-
P: to it [Y: Yeah.] And I will add to it by saying that,
you know, outside of VidCon,
-
there's often a response to racial
representation in media that if we have
-
like one person of this color or one
person of this identity type
-
that's all you need! We've done it. We've
fulfilled our "diversity requirements". And
-
P: I heard a couple people around VidCon
talking about how there was a lot of
-
race and representation at VidCon both in
the literally named Race and Representation
-
panels, the discussing diversity panel...
There was a YouTube and Represent-Asian
-
P: panel... [Y: Mm-hmm]
-
P: Yes! So I heard some people make-- remarking about
how there seemed to be a lot of that and
-
my immediate response thought to that is,
"Unless there are so many people who are
-
people of color on every other panel
that the Race and Representation panel, you
-
have nobody left to put on there--
-
we still need it!" It seems like a lot, but
only because up until now we've had
-
P: little to nothing. [Y: Yeah] My self-designed
track of panels at YouTube [*VidCon] was like:
-
social justice / disabilities / race and
representation track,
-
there were like 200 and some panels that
were available... Specifically the ones that I
-
P: Chose? Had most of the diversity!
-
Y: Yeah! That-- I was thinking about that, too,
because I think the panels I specifically
-
chose were catered toward or had a lot of
diversity.
-
Y: I mean, for me, I'm like, "Great! There is
more diversity!" But overall it's-- there,
-
obviously there's still work to be done
-
P: Yeah. Which is why, one of the reasons why I
really like the fact that, even though I
-
myself do not enjoy attending the Maine
State panels i love the fact that the
-
P: Main Stage is where the Race &
Representation panel happens [Y: Yeah] because it
-
should be! That should be the place where the
teenie-boppers who are going to see their white
-
celebrities that they scream over before
Race and Representation and after Race and Representation
-
station might sit through a service
station here and some shit
-
I want that to happen! So kudos to you,
VidCon, for keeping that up.
-
I really appreciate it so those are all
things i wanted to have our are various
-
shared about. Do you want to chip in
anything else?
-
Y: Uhh, I think I'm good! No.
-
P: Thank you so much for doing this collab with me!
[Y: Yeah, Thank you!] You're in LA for a while now,
-
Y: Yes! I am.
P: So we should do more stuff together!
-
Y: Yes!
P: Yaaay!
-
P: YouTube friends! Y: YouTube friends.
P: if you liked this video, please be sure to share it so that other people
-
can see it. Let me know what you thought
about our responses to these things in
-
the comments below, or tell me anything
that matters to you because I want to
-
know what matters to you. And then how do
i wrap this thing up?
-
Paul: What do I say at the end?
[music gets louder]
-
Yolanda: Tomorrow
-
will be even better!
-
Paul: Yeah, it will!
[music gets loudest, ends]