While distance learning has been difficult for the whole Stanford community, one group has been disproportionately affected by the costs of living at home: college YouTubers. These students, whose content relies heavily on flaunting rosy experiences of bike crashes and sometimes catching a meal, have found themselves suddenly scrambling for video ideas that will keep their high school fanbases interested and their view counts high.
Some students have fared better than others. “I don’t really post all that often,” Akay Kim ’22 said. “When I do upload a video, it’s like a nice little treat. The majority of my views are coming in from my ‘HOW I GOT INTO STANFORD’ video anyway, so right now I’m just coasting.”
For others, however, the consequences were much direr. “I was uploading pretty regularly about campus life before the pandemic hit,” Jane Kowalski ’23, owner of the popular channel The Jane Lane, said while filming her next video, “What’s in a STANFORD Student’s Spice Cabinet?” “But now I obviously don’t have that option, and I’ve seen my views suffer for it. I’m doing my best to adapt to these unprecedented times, but it’s difficult.”
Many YouTubers expressed frustrations at the University for not providing enough interesting content. While most agreed that Stanford’s decision to cancel an on-campus winter quarter two days before the start of said quarter was an interesting bit of tea, they felt that it was too little, too late.
“I’m a bit disappointed, to say the least,” said Dahlia Hu ’24, who had hoped to cement her status as a Stanford YouTuber in the 2020-21 school year. “I had this whole plan mapped out where I would film a dorm tour, a day in the virtual life, and my first time getting a burger at TAP. None of that is possible anymore.”
Still, Dahlia remained optimistic about her prospects as a college influencer. “The Stanford name has provided me with a lot of YouTube capital, for which I am very grateful,” she said. “Maybe I’ll make a video ranking my first quarter courses or one about how I maintain a 4.0 GPA. I think it’s too early to give up hope.”
Editor’s Note: This article is purely satirical and fictitious. All attributions in this article are not genuine, and this story should be read in the context of pure entertainment only.
Contact Michelle Fu at ‘at’ mifu67 stanford.edu.