The Online Communities I Belong To

Hello Humans! Today I thought I would write about my 4 most favorite YouTubers. Yes, they are all "Let's Players," but they make me laugh until I'm crying. They've connected me to a new community that I never knew existed. I recently joined "The Gaming Club" here at BYU-H where a bunch of students get together every Friday night to play games. Not just only video games, but board and card games as well. I'm super excited to get started in this club and learn some new and interesting games, both on the computer and off. I'm also excited to meet and become closer to so many new and interesting people. It's amazing how much closer some of my friendships have gotten, both between my family and my actual friends, from watching and laughing at these Let's Players.

"How's it going Bros? My name is PewDiePie." I thought I would start with the King of YouTube himself: PewDiePie. This Swedish Meatball currently boasts over 50 Million subs on YouTube, hence the 50 Mill Club. He live streams practically every night, and posts one 10-minute video full of totally original content daily. Too many jokes were in that last sentence. Anyways, the Pewds loves to over-rage and over-react to games, making his videos hilarious. My favorite videos of Pewds include his "Ya Laugh, Ya Lose" challenges, and his horror game lets plays. There isn't much more to say about the Pewds, except that he's the best at what he does. "Brofist," or "Sister-Fister," or "Fam Squad Jujitsu."

"Hello everybody, my name is Markiplier." Next we come up to THE KING OF FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY'S!! I originally got into Markiplier through his Five Nights at Freddy's play through, and just fell in love with his sense of humor. He rose to popularity through Five Nights at Freddy's, like a lot of other YouTubers, but Markiplier kept the momentum from FNAF going. He currently has 18 Million subs, and is currently taking a break to go on his Improv "You're Welcome" Tour, and come up with some new content. Me and my friend get to go to his show in January, and I couldn't be more excited. He makes me laugh harder than any YouTuber, maybe besides MatPat. I connect really well with Markiplier because he was going to college for Engineering, so he likes to refer to Physics, Math, Science, and Engineering a lot during his let's plays. He does Charity LiveStreams every month for a different charity of his choice, and raises a ton of money to help people out through the community he's built. I'm very happy to say that I'm a part of his giving community. "Thank you everyone so much for watching, and as always, I'll see you, in the next video! Ba-Bye!"

"Top of the morning to ya laddies. My name is JackSepticEye." Oh Jackie Boy. What are we going to say about you? This loud, obnoxious, beautiful bouncing baby boy with green hair, from Ireland is one of a kind. While he releases two videos everyday, ranging from 10 to 180 minutes, I literally watch him all day. While I'm doing my homework, when I'm bored, when I'm falling asleep, when I'm waking up, and if I'm going anywhere. Throughout many of his let's plays, you see his insides come out. He gets super emotional and will go off on tangents about how we should be better people and change the world for the better. He is one of the most caring people I know on the internet. I personally connect to Sean, because he's Irish, and I'm 25% Irish! He's also super passionate about everything he cares about, and is defiantly a child at heart, just like me. "Thank you guys so much for watching, and if you liked it, PUNCH that Like button in the face, LIKE A BOSS!! And, high fives all around, wha-choo, wha-choo. Thank you guys, and I will see all you dudes IN THE NEXT VIDEO!!!"

"Hello Internet, Welcome to Game Theory," or "Hello Internet, welcome to Film Theory," or "Hello Internet, Welcome to GTLive." Pick any of these three intros, and you have found Matthew Patrick, or more commonly known as MatPat. He and his wife Steph host GTLive (Short for "Game Theory Live"), a live-stream Mondays through Fridays at 4pm Pacific Time. I actually may have worked my schooling schedule so that I can have 1pm Hawaii Time free, just so that I can watch GTLive. It's one of the best parts of my day, to come together with MatPat and Steph and watch them play games, interact with other theorists, hide behind Peepachu, and to blame Jason. Much like Markiplier, I came across MatPat through his Game Theory channel, with his FNAF theories. I watched a ton of them, and loved that someone thought scientifically about video games. I finally came across one, where MatPat mentioned the GTLive channel, and I immediately started watching their streams. The best ones are "Spoopy Game Fridays," or "TGISGF," (short for "Thank goodness it's Scary Games Friday). I loved that MatPat and Steph tried to remain as Family Friendly as possible, and didn't swear or talk about dirty things, and when they did, there was always a "Mature Stream" disclaimer, so I could click out of it. Me and my cousins all love watching MatPat, and do it whenever we're together. MatPat and Steph do even more for the YouTube community than just play video games and make theories about them, but they also have a company where they help newer YouTube channels become the channels they want to be. They also love to connect with their fans, and ask for their input all the time, during live streams or at the end of theories. I am also very grateful to consider myself a Game Theorist. "And remember, that's just a theory, A GAME THEORY. Thanks for watching," or "And remember, that's just a theory, A FILM THEORY. Thanks for watching," or "And remember, that's just a stream, A LIVE STREAM. Thanks for watching."

I am so grateful to consider myself a part of these three communities of giving, love, and having fun. One of the traits that unites all of these diverse channels is how the hosts are so interactive with their fans, following, and community. Whether that's Markiplier going on his tour, MatPat and Steph live-streaming everyday to talk to their fans, JackSepticEye being very active on Social Media, or PewDiePie doing fan challenges every week, these guys love to be close to the communities they've built. I'm so happy that I've found something that can make me smile and laugh no matter how bad or good my day has been. Hopefully you will too! Stay wild, flower child.