Eli Aronson Junior Taylor Pulver and Senior Michael DiCostanzo know a few things about running a YouTube channel. While they may not have the fame of a well-known YouTube celebrity, they each run creative, low-budget channels. Taylor Pulver began posting YouTube videos in sixth grade. Her inspiration came from watching lifestyle videos as a young middle schooler. She posted two videos to her channel, except there was one problem: “I got too scared to tell other people about it and continue uploading videos,” she says “I wish I would’ve stuck with it.”   Although Taylor stopped after uploading only two videos, a part of her missed being a YouTuber. So, last year, she decided to give it another shot. She knew she loved editing and filming— and she was good at it—so this time, she was more confident in herself. Taylor also decided to tell as many people about her channel and make it as public as possible. YouTube is more than just editing and posting videos, though. “I’ve learned a lot about myself in the process of creating Youtube videos. Most importantly, I’ve learned I shouldn’t let what others think limit me,” she says. Not only has she grown as a person, but her editing skills have vastly improved. All the videos on her channel, called Taylor Blayke, are a combination of a bunch of snippets throughout her day— she likes to think of it as a lifestyle channel. It was super important for Taylor to learn as much as possible about editing to make her transitions, and the video itself, as smooth as possible. Even if her videos seem fancy, she says that she keeps the editing pretty simple. She uses only iMovie and her camera. Taylor does Youtube for fun and has no financial motivation. She does not feel the need to  attach advertisements and make seven dollars for every one thousand views. She does it instead to make people laugh and give people something to relax to, for the opportunity to work hard on something she loves and receive feedback. Senior Michael DiCostanzo, known as D.I. to most, runs a basketball oriented YouTube channel called IversonDropsMJ. Most of his videos, he says, are filmed in his backyard with different shooting games. He loves to play with his friends and impersonate NBA players within their various competitions. While a lot of of the channel is videos of himself, he also makes NBA analysis videos with predictions, rankings, and mock drafts.  “If you’re a basketball fan,” D.I. says, “my channel is the place to be!” D.I is a two year Latin varsity player and a long time basketball lover. “I’d go outside, set up my camera, and just start messing around, trying out new moves, and seeing how cool I could look,” hee says. From there he would put the videos into compilations and send them to his friends to get a reaction. This was the birth of his YouTube channel.   Eventually, D.I decided to hop onto the whole YouTuber side of making videos, leading to the launch of IversonDropsMJ over five years ago. Today he has over one thousand subscribers. The other side to D.I’s launching is relatable for most Latin students. He loves YouTube. He says that he often gets caught in a “black hole” watching the recommended videos section on YouTube. Being a famous basketball YouTuber would be a dream. “Imagine making videos for a living, doing what you love, while working in the comfort of your own home. That’s like the epitome of a dream job for me, and I guess you could say I’m on the what I like to call #RoadToHavingABigEnoughChannelToWhereICouldMakeALivingOffIt.” Similar to Taylor, D.I has feels that his channel has fostered his own personal growth. He says it forces him to tap into “[his] creative side.” Without “IversonDropsMJ,” he wouldn’t feel as determined in basketball, school, or any other activity. He cares deeply about the growing his image and sharing his ability with as many people as possible. Jokingly (maybe not so much), he says that “If I thought about school the way I think about the channel, I’d be on my way to Harvard.” D.I’s editing process is very much like Taylor’s. He keeps it fairly basic with just mixing videos and adding text and music. Nonetheless, he calls it a “grueling” process, yet when he is in the “zone,” he doesn’t mind it. He does his best to make each new video better than the last. There are a lot of YouTubers with content very similar to D.I.’s, but it’s a long process to reach what is known as a top basketball YouTuber— guys like Brandon Armstrong (known as BdotAdot5), Marcelas Howard, Mike Korzemba, and KickGenius. Top basketball YouTubers get offered to go to NBA sponsored events or work with NBA players. “If that’s not motivation, I don’t know what is,” D.I. said. While Taylor and D.I have different ambitions within their YouTube careers, the common motive is that they have fun. Check out Taylor Blayke and IversonDropsM and support your Latin peers with their endeavours on YouTube.]]>